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Poll: How many are flying the flag on your street today?

I was disappointed.

4th of July

Y'all have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Celebrate the creation of the greatest country to exist.

America, Why I Love Her

Mom

Age 88 and at home in her bed holding my brothers hand, my Mom passed peacefully on today to be with my Dad and the rest of our family and friends that have gone before her.

She was a great old dame.

Her passing is not a sad thing. She's been sick for years and in and out of the hospital for the last two, but her complaints were minimal, she just wished she could get up and do more.

She was a stay-at-home mom all through my brothers and my young years, but when we got into Jr. High, she decided to go back to work. Her money was for fancy things for the house...and buying crap for my brother and I, and having someone to talk to beside the dog.

Mom told my brother yesterday that she had a good life and that even though she would like to stay around, she was ready to go.

Is This A Surpirise???

I took a "test" today on "The Best Political Quiz" site. I gotta say, I was stunned by the result!

Well, It Didn't Take Long, Did It?

The G-20 Summit started today and....



within hours the destruction starts.

Thousands protest summit in Canada; vandals smash windows, torch police car
Published June 26, 2010
Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) — Black-clad demonstrators broke off from a peaceful protest and torched a police cruiser in the financial district and smashed windows in a shopping district after veering off from the planned protest route.

A group, dressed all in black, smashed the windows of a bank, a coffee shop and some stores before heading to an area where Canada's largest banks are headquarted, smashing restaurant and shop windows there.

The roving band of protesters in black balaclavas then turned north and broke shop windows for blocks with baseball bats and hammers. They also broke windows at police headquarters.

Police with shields and clubs earlier pushed back a small group of protesters who tried to head south toward the security fence around the site of the G-20 summit. Some demonstrators hurled bottles at police.

And what is it that warrants all this destruction. (From Free Speech Without Focus
June 25, 2010 - 9:23 PM | by: Michael Tobin)

In the end, a staggering amount of money is spent on the manpower that maintains order while these demonstrators want to challenge it and I still don’t get the point. Most of the interviews I’ve done arrive at the goal of “Raising Awareness.” But in the attempt to raise awareness of everything, you communicate nothing.

A party for quasi-revolutionaries to wreck havoc on society is all this is. But don't worry too much. [emphasis:mine]

Toronto Police Sgt. Tim Burrows said authorities are quite pleased that the protests have been tame so far compared to what they've seen at previous summits. Hundreds of protesters moved through Toronto's streets Friday, but police in riot gear blocked them from getting near the summit security zone downtown.

Burrows said police will be watching splinter groups within the protest who he said have promised violence.

"From what we've seen in previous summits we're quite happy with what our protesters are bringing to the table with the exception of a few," Burrows said before Saturday's march.

"They've protested peacefully. There have been a few people that have decided that they wanted to step out of line and test our response and they found themselves where they should be."

Tame so far...setting a police car on fire and busting windows for blocks on end is considered tame now? Remember, this is just day one of two, but hey! grab the kids and attend after all according to a sponsor of the march:

The march, sponsored by labor unions and dubbed family friendly, was the largest demonstration planned during the weekend summits.

The Right Is Out Of Control

Just look at the news today.

Judge Faces Death Threats After BP Gulf Oil Drilling Moratorium Ruling

‘Green’ Energy Company Threatens Economics Professor … with Package of Dismantled Bomb Parts


Toronto G20 summit: car with extra gas and weapons found; arrest made


G20 lockdown cuts into downtown business
Hotels are full but restaurant tables are empty

T.O. man charged with possessing explosives in G20 probe

What? WHAT?

Oh! These are lefties?

Well it's a damn good thing they aren't Tea Partiers, or we could have had some real damage done here.


Asshats

Truth In Advertising

I think I may vote for this guy...he's honest.

Return From Rottfest

Actually I got home four days ago, but I had such a marvelous time, working on not enough sleep that I lost one day. I loved being there so much, that I stayed over an extra day. The few extra bucks for "Business Class" paid off right there, being I could change flights without penalty.

The Rottfest was a gathering of some of the nicest, most interesting and informative people I have ever meet. An eclectic group for sure. A military doctor, a long haul truck driver, LEO's, teacher...not to mention all the myriad jobs we had each had in the past.

There was three firearms instructors there, along with a pile of various long and short arms. Got to shoot a .45 and .40 semi-auto handgun, plus a custom built AR-15 ("Bad Karma") and 50 rounds through one of these bad boys:



An HK PS90

We even managed to break the indoor range we were shooting at. An armor piercing round got mixed into a clip and a weld on the backstop split. (I didn't do it!) I did get a couple on pointers on my stance and I didn't get yelled at for any mistakes in range etiquette or safety.

One of the guys offered to build a custom AR-15 for me at a price that is less than I could get a basic off-the-shelf one for here and I think I'd be a fool to pass him up on the offer.

I've already got my calendar marked for Rottfest 2011.

YeeeHaaww!!! An Update

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was heading to Texas for Rottfest 2010. I'm psyched for the trip and getting to meet the LC's that are going to be there...but (and why does there always have to be a but?) After I got my plane tickets, made arrangements for boarding my dogs and got the cash out of the bank needed for beer...er..for expenses, the "Check Engine" light comes on in my pick-up?

I swear my family seems to have a curse on it sometimes. When things are going smooth and you think you can relax and enjoy yourself for a bit....WHACK!!! something bad pops up at the last second.

Ah well. I'm not going to let it ruin the trip. The truck will be in the same shape when I get back. It'll just set back getting that HDTV I've been looking at for the last 6 months off a few more, and I'll have to keep using the semi-crappy battery eating Kodak camera for a while instead of that bitchen Nikon SLR I wanted to get for this trip.

If my truck is the biggest problem I have right now, I guess my life isn't really all that bad.

Have We Forgotten?

I'm coming in just under the wire here, and it doesn't make me happy.

I knew that this anniversary of our countries finest moment was here, and yet I almost let it slip past. I forgot to put my flag out this morning, and even though I finally realized what this day was, I put off posting.

I am ashamed!

There was very little on the news today about a day that shaped my entire life.

That D-day could pass with such little acknowledgment of the sacrifices of the generation before mine makes me fear more for the generation that is coming behind mine.

What is this day? What did it mean to those in Europe that where waiting for someone to throw off the oppression of NAZI socialism?

I give you a video of a French citizen who, even though he had to go through an interpreter, needed to express his feelings about what America did for his country.



God bless our soldiers both past and present. May we always stand for right and to free those who are under fascist regimes.

May we not forget what they did, EVER.

Why Do We Bother?

Once again our elected officials ignore the Constitution, the California State Constitution in this case.

California Assembly Passes Racial Preferences Bill
By La Shawn Barber • June 4, 2010 10:09 AM

[All emphasis:mine]

California legislators and the governor should carry a copy of the state constitution in their pockets and refer to it when writing and signing bills. It’s a useful guide, laying out what the people have a right to do and what the government shall not do. For example, Article I, Section 31 reads in part:

“The State shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.”

New law where things got crossed? No!

Thirteen years ago, 54 percent of voters passed Proposition 209, which added this language to the state’s constitution. But politicians act as though it doesn’t exist. Last October, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who swore to uphold the constitution, signed into law a bill that directs state departments to award government contracts to the lowest responsible bidder subcontracting 15 percent of the work to minority-owned businesses and five percent to female-owned businesses. The contractor who fails to do so will be rejected, even if he’s the lowest bidder.

Extra points for being not white or being a girl, being you know those people can't compete on their merits, and the hell with what it costs.

If you think that the lawsuit in the works over the above law would slow them down, think again.

The latest attempt to circumvent the law came yesterday, as the California Assembly passed a bill that would allow the (taxpayer-supported) University of California and California State University systems to consider skin color in admissions.

It doesn't matter what the Supreme law of the State says, theses elitists know better and in order to get an equal outcome, they write unconstitutional laws to attempt to achieve their goals. It doesn't matter that they tried this before and it didn't work, it just led to a high percentage of minorities dropping out of college because they were not prepared to handle the load.

If someone is not academically ready to go to University, that is what City Colleges are for. If you can complete 2 years at a CC and you've got the grades, then is the time to continue your education. Plus it saves a ton of money for all sides.

Even if racial preferences accomplished what social engineers and the professional civil rights industry hoped, they are discriminatory. Preferring one individual over another based on race means the other individual is passed over based on race. Has anyone read the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act lately?

As I’ve said so many times, I could recite it while comatose, the civil rights movement’s goal was to dismantle government-sanctioned and government-mandated racial discrimination. Blacks fought to be treated fairly as individuals protected by law, and not judged based on group membership. How things got turned around, where some blacks started demanding special treatment, is another topic for another post.

Nuff said

Love Your Children More Than You Love Death

With the Israeli's interdiction of the "Gaza Flotilla" this week I decided to take a little tour through You Tube land and see what videos were around on everyday life there. We always hear about the starving children and lack of water and gasoline, and I saw LOTS of videos depicting this. The thing I noticed about most of the videos with his perspective was that they were put out by "Human Rights" groups to show that their getting "much needed" supplies to the dying people of Gaza.

I took me a while, but I did find these, all taken in 2010:

Gaza Grocery Store



Seems to be a fair amount of food there and nobody seems be rushing the store for supplies.

Drive Through Downtown Gaza



Lotsa single occupied vehicles there for a place that has no gasoline.

Then I tripped across this and I think I may have hit a a clue as to why these people are having a hard time fitting in with the rest of the world.

Muslim Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony



Starts out cute doesn't it? Then 50 seconds in you start questioning what these 5-6 year old kids are being "taught"?

What is your Path?-
Jihad

What is your most lofty goal?-
Death for the sake of Allah

Allahu Akbar...Huh?

Let's compare here:

Kindergarten Graduation Video

YeeeHaaww!!!

Heading for Texas next week!

Going to Rottfest 2010 where I'll finally get to meet some of the people that I've been "talking" to for about 7 years now on the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler. Outside of a couple of plane changes in Dallas, I've never been to Texas and I'm really looking forward to visiting. It should be a good time. Beer, guns, BBQ...not all indulged at the same time (Mheh!).

This will also serve as a scouting mission. I have seriously thought about retiring to Texas, but being I've grown up in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, I'm not sure how comfortable I'll feel in a place where they say if you stand up straight, you can see into Oklahoma. I did survive a year in Phoenix, so I've lived in a relatively flat area before.

The flight should be interesting. Burbank to Las Vegas, sit (gamble) for an hour, change planes, fly to El Paso, then to Dallas. Coming home is even more fun. I actually go east first, well SSE, Dallas to Houston, then to Las Vegas, sit (gamble) for an hour, then home to Burbank. I even upgraded to "Business Select" (woohoo!), which give me the elite privilege of boarding in the first hoard AND one (1) free drink. I also can bypass the line up to the security checkpoint, but I always arrive early (an ACD I developed at around age 30), so that won't make a difference flying out. Coming home, I'll have to trust my hosts to judge traffic getting me to the airport with time to spare.

The trip will only cost me only one vacation day, so with my work schedule (4 on/4 off)I still will have what works out to 21 days off, if I took them in a block. I just won't have any money to go anywhere. I'm hoping to go to Korea next April to visit my son and see some of the Far East. If I don't go while he's over there, I'll never get there. (Of course if the NorKo's go berserk and actually start a war...I ain't going). Looking at today's airfares to Korea...I'm going to rack up a sh**load of credit card miles to afford the trip.

Just have to set up boarding the dogs and I'm outta here.

On Edge

I'm not sleeping easily these days.

Since March 26th, I've been a bit more on edge. I have a dog in this hunt. It's my boy. He's one of the 28,500 U.S. troops, facing 1,003,000 NorKo....and I'm hoping that his 540,000 ROK buddies are more motivated and better trained than I've been led to believe.

In the Koreas, Five Possible Ways to War

An Incident at Sea

Shelling the DMZ

A Power Struggle or Coup

An Internal Collapse

A Nuclear Provocation

When Chris enlisted I knew he could be put anywhere in harm's way, but Korea was one of those places that stuck him in a scenario that could go in any direction at any time. In the ME at least you know he's in a hot zone. In Germany, you figure he gets to travel and see some of the world. In Korea, even before the Cheonan, I was uneasy because it is soooo unstable there.

Our military is tied down in the ME, support is going to be slow getting to Korea if things go bad. Plus it looks like we are going to have to back Israel over the blockade incident which will require more assets committed there.

I guess I' just going to have to get use to restless nights for the next 14 months until his post is up. Of course I'll trade my anxiety to, at least, having things stay at the status quo.

An Alternate Reason?

I was listening to Talk Radio on the way home from work this morning and they we discussing the L.A. County Supervisors vote on a boycott of Arizona.

L.A. County votes to boycott Arizona over immigration law

I suppose the only thing that surprised me was that the vote was 3-2.

It did get me thinking though. I was wondering what other reason all these cities and counties would have to protest a state trying to enforce the law?

It suddenly dawned on me that their motive might possibly be SELF PRESERVATION!!!

When this law kicks in, illegals are going to flood out of Arizona, and they ain't going back to Mexico. Where are they going to go? L.A., San Diego, San Francisco, Boulder, Austin, New York, Oakland, Seattle, El Paso and Columbus. All these cities voted to boycott and put themselves on the list that the illegals are going to head for because they know they can find sanctuary there.

Kind of a double edge sword here. These cities are already quaking under the weight of paying for the amenities given out. What's going to happen when those 450,000 vacate Arizona and take up residence in their new barrio then apply for food stamps, WIC, go to the Emergency Room, ect. ? Now that they've advertised (again)that they are willing to take in people that don't pay taxes...and if you make 25K or under, you don't pay taxes...hell my kid the last time I did his returns not only got back what he paid, they decided he should get MORE back on top of that. If it was at least "Zero Sum", I might not have gotten upset, but he got a bonus thrown in. The taxes I paid got redistributed to him, plus I was getting the pleasure of providing his room and board.

The weeks around July 28th (the enactment date of SB 1070) should be interesting.

Memorial Day 2010

Today is a day to honor our fallen heroes. There are many posts and videos all over the net today doing that, so I decided to do something a little different. I wanted to post something on why we honor these fine young men and women. What it is about these people that deserve our praise and honor?

This video of Oliver North describes why.



God bless our troops!

Ask A Simple Question...

From A-Mess-NBC:

CHUCK TODD: The curriculum in the Texas public schools just got a major rewrite. Critics say the new, more conservative curriculum is revising history and the revised Texas textbooks could soon be seen, actually, in classrooms all over the country. Evan Smith is the CEO and editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune. So, I have to ask, Texas is not the largest state in the union. Last time I checked, it was California. So, why is it that what Texas does with its textbooks gets, has a better chance of getting replicated in other schools across the country than what California does?

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2010/05/25/msnbcs-chuck-todd-knocks-texas-conservatives-new-history-textbooks-e#ixzz0oyBi8BUa

[emph-mine]

Simple answer, Texas has money to pay for their textbooks, not IOU's.

Let's Boycott The Easy Stuff

I'm sure we've all read this letter from Gary Pierce of the Arizona Corporation Commission:

Dear Mayor Villaraigosa,

I was dismayed to learn that the Los Angeles City Council voted to boycott Arizona and Arizona-based companies — a vote you strongly supported — to show opposition to SB 1070 (Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act).

You explained your support of the boycott as follows: “While we recognize that as neighbors, we share resources and ties with the State of Arizona that may be difficult to sever, our goal is not to hurt the local economy of Los Angeles, but to impact the economy of Arizona. Our intent is to use our dollars — or the withholding of our dollars — to send a message.” (emphasis added)

I received your message; please receive mine. As a state-wide elected member of the Arizona Corporation Commission overseeing Arizona’s electric and water utilities, I too am keenly aware of the “resources and ties” we share with the City of Los Angeles. In fact, approximately twenty-five percent of the electricity consumed in Los Angeles is generated by power plants in Arizona.

If an economic boycott is truly what you desire, I will be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation. I am confident that Arizona’s utilities would be happy to take those electrons off your hands.

If, however, you find that the City Council lacks the strength of its convictions to turn off the lights in Los Angeles and boycott Arizona power, please reconsider the wisdom of attempting to harm Arizona’s economy.

People of goodwill can disagree over the merits of SB 1070. A state-wide economic boycott of Arizona is not a message sent in goodwill.

Sincerely,

Commissioner Gary Pierce

I, for one, would look forward to the city of Los Angeles to stop taking electricity from Arizona. It seems that my city, Glendale, has 5 generators, 3 of which just sit idle because they have not been upgraded to the newer "Clean Air Standards".

They have been fired up in recent years though to get us through the brown outs. If we stop counting on Arizona's generation, want to bet that Glendale doesn't get an exemption to fire up those extra generators.

More money for my city, which like every city in Kalifornia, could use some extra cash.

Racial Profiling...Broken Window

First off, I'd like to post a chart on who the illegal aliens are in this country.

For 2006:



So! If you're "brown skinned" and in this country illegally, you belong to the group that makes up 91% of the illegals in the country (Whereas illegal Canadians make up 0.00375%).

Who comprises the bigger problem here, and which ethnicity is more likely to run into contact with the police?

I can't wait for the ACLU and the SPLC to hit us with the "statistics" that point out that Latinos are being "disproportionally" affected by the law enacted in Arizona.

The "Broken Window" comes from the policy LAPD put into practice over a decade ago. "If you allow one broken window to go un-repaired, it drags down the rest of the community as more widows go un-repaired".

By ignoring the illegals here, we just allow more illegals to come with the feeling that they will be given a bye.

Then you get the lazy cops that don't want to do their job:

Police Chief Thomas Manger of Montgomery County, Md., in suburban Washington said he doesn't have the resources or the desire to enforce federal immigration violations by people who aren't disrupting the community.

"If they're not committing a crime here, frankly, I'm not sure how it enhances public safety to target those people for removal," he said.

Police Chief...this guy needs to be replaced yesterday. "If they're not committing a crime here,...", WTF? They have already committed a crime. Why is that so hard to nail down? Does this SOB tell his officers to ignore someone that doesn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign to not write a ticket, because they could be tackling real crimes? I bet not. ($$$$).

On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed the latest challenge to the law in federal court on behalf of labor unions and others.

ACLU and MALDEF, I'm not surprised, but NAACP? Every Black run Blog I've gone by seems to support the Az law. I know that the NAACP is founded on the principle of having their constituents kept in perpetual poverty or Sharpton and Jackson couldn't afford their $2000 suits for their TV appearances to condemn the racism in this country while they actually fight against their own race.

Tucson police officer Martin Escobar also filed a lawsuit, arguing there's no "race-neutral" criteria for him to suspect that someone's in the country illegally. Some say it would be impossible to enforce without relying on indicators such as skin color, clothing and accent.

Well Officer Escobar, quit!

If you can't do your job, in these economic times, there is somebody to fill in and do the extra work you don't want to do. Fuck! You ask for a license, like you do at every stop you make. If they have one, that's proof of legal residence...if they don't have one? You what? Let them go anyways...maybe just because they're brown?

They worry Hispanic crime victims will be too scared to call for help, or eyewitnesses will refuse to cooperate in murder investigations.

Let's look at "Sanctuary Cites":

Some of the 31 American cities are Washington, D.C.; New York City; Los Angeles; Chicago; San Francisco; Santa Ana; San Diego; Salt Lake City; Dallas; Houston; Austin; Detroit; Jersey City; Minneapolis; Miami; Denver; Baltimore; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; New Haven, Connecticut; and Portland, Maine. These cities have adopted "sanctuary" ordinances banning city employees and police officers from asking people about their immigration status.

Look at the crime rate statistics of these cities compared to the rest of the country. It ain't pretty. Even though there is is no way you will get deported, the crime rate is beyond horrific, and like was exposed last year, these cities when they do have to deal with someone who is a major felon and illegal, they put them on planes "on the honor system" that they will stay on the plane until they get home, or just put them on a bus to another city.

The members of MS-13 are more feared than the cops, so who is running the streets?

I know it's never going to be perfect, but get the border under control, get the bad asses out of my country and then...and only then should we talk about bringing the ungrateful illegals into the light.

And I Don't Blame Them

The cactus in the photo at right planted along the Arizona border with California gives a pretty good indication of the reaction of that state to the boycott directed at them by the Los Angeles city council over the new immigration law. However, what is the opinion of folks in California? If a Los Angeles Times poll showed overwhelming support for the boycott, do you not think this would be front page news? Well, the results were overwhelming...97.6% of the respondents to this L.A. Times poll were opposed to the boycott of Arizona. The poll question: "Was the L.A. City Council right to pass a boycott of Arizona?" Here are the results:

Yes. Arizona needs to feel the consequences of enacting a bad law. 2.1% (378 votes)

Yes, though the boycott should be more of a symbolic gesture than an official measure. 0.4% (64 votes)

No, but only because doing so is probably illegal and not in L.A.'s interest. 4.2% (771 votes)

No. The city should mind its own business. 93.4% (17,030 votes)


Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2010/05/14/la-times-downplays-overwhelming-result-own-online-poll-arizona-boycott#ixzz0o1cUeZFt

For my part, My son and I went to Phoenix for 3 days last week and took in a D'backs/
Dodger game and purchased food and gas.

While I was out there, I talked to some people and they are pissed that L.A. is telling them that they have no right to deal with a very bad and scary problem. I wish I had the results of this poll while I was there so I could point out it's just the liberal elitist's in government that are pushing the asinine boycott.