But we cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people that there will be no mercy, and his forces step up their assaults on cities like Benghazi and Misurata, where innocent men and women face brutality and death at the hands of their own government. These are the words of President Obama as they relate to us entering Libya’s internal conflict. Isnt it amazing how we pick and choose when we will be just and righteous? Half of Africa is constantly in stages of civil unrest. Sudan and Chad have been killing their own people en masse for years, and no president has cared. Hamas is constantly pestering Israel, and vice versa, but we just encourage them to be diplomatic.  Hussein gasses the kurds, but when we attack him we are scandalized for it. The list goes on, injustice happens daily in the world, but lets face it people, we need to get our own house in order. To me, its high time we step back and let the world sort itself out for awhile. Nobody is reimbursing us for the world police force we currently deploy, lets see if they miss us when we aren’t there. Personally, I hope they dont. A little disorder in the world may prompt some US companies to bring their jobs back home, where its stable, instead of subbing out cheap labor in city states that are only viable due to our own intervention.

Another weird thing

Why is it that some sections of society believe it is  ok for a woman to “choose” whether or not to end a pregnancy (thus ending the life of an innocent) but at the same time that same sector revolts against the death penalty, (which ends the life of a criminal)?

I can’t even fathom the logic there, how do you even make those arguments without trying to define ending a life differently?

Just so you know, I am out for killing them all. Dont want the baby? Nuke it. You cant be trusted by society? Hang ‘em high. You were innocent? My bad. Next.

Isnt it just AMAZING?

Over and over I hear how we BAILED out the BIG corporations on Wall St. We SAVED corporations that made BAD decisions, we allowed greed and gluttony to be rescued by our unscrupulous government, when we should have let them FAIL.

I for one AGREE, but I ask you this…. Why is it a scandal when the government does this for a corporation, but its done EVERY DAY, WEEK, and MONTH in the form of….WELFARE!

GASP! from the crowd…I can hear it now.

Big corporations made decisions based on self interest that backfired and put them in a hole. An unwed mother of three on welfare has done the same. Dont even try to tell me she hasnt, your argument in invalid.

Big Corporations that received bailouts were deemed “too big to fail”. Our social scavengers make us too weak to succeed. Evolution works because those that dont fit in the current environment are weeded out. Newspaper companies are going out of business because people get news on the internet. Its a normal course of progression. Mother nature doesnt like it when you dont follow her rules.

Should we end ALL social programs? Certainly not. Should we change the programs? Certainly so. Evolve, keep what works, dump what doesnt. Whats wrong with allowing people to run up a tab on social services, and when we have done what we can, cut them off? At that point, its sink or swim baby, but you are DONE with the handouts.

Welfare HAS to change, the programs need to teach skills or provide services, not just give a reason NOT to work.These services hang around year after year because they make people NOT on those services feel better about themselves. Honestly, I could not care less. Go ahead, throw out the random, emotion filled “what if it was you!”. Well its not, your argument is invalid.

So if you want to complain about something that REALLY costs us tax money, look NO FURTHER than our social services programs.

Media Coverage

Recently I’ve become even more skeptical of the medias reporting, and I dont just mean CNN, or MSNBC or Fox (wait, they arent REALLY a news company, are they Mr. President?). Its all of them.

I saw a report on Fox about a man in Libya who “sacrificed everything” for his familys freedom. (OK, I’ll bite and hold on a bit longer before I click to another channel.) This man in Libya, tired of repression and a dictatorial regime, gave his life for just the chance, nay, the DREAM that his family could enjoy a better life. Such a noble presentation, makes you want to root for the Libyan people and their dreams of a new day.  What did this guy do, you may ask? He loaded his car with explosives and drove into a government compound, blowing up himself and the Government representatives there. WTF? Didnt we used to call someone who did that a suicide bomber? The same guy doing the same thing in Iraq would have gotten ZERO coverage, you only would have heard of how his cowardly attack affected the lives of Americans and their families. Shouldnt the same action get the same coverage?

I simply cant WATCH the news anymore, now I have to filter the “news” based on what is opinion, what is political, and what covers only PART of the story. How the heck are my kids supposed to understand what is going on in the world when all they get is one sided, opinionated reporting?

When Russia “invaded” Georgia a few years ago, the news didnt report that S. Ossetia had REQUESTED Russian support, that Georgia had INVADED S. Ossetia, or that the Ossetians were “Valiantly fighting for their independence”. All you heard about was the tension caused by Russia. The real facts, if reported, were that S. Ossetia had declared its own independence from Georgia in 1992, but had only been recognized as a separate nation by a few other countries.  S. Ossetia requested Russian troops to come into their country (which the Russians  did) and that this action caused Georgia to claim it had been “Invaded”. If you still considered S. Ossetia part of Georgia (which Georgia did) then the Georgians are right.

Point is, the days of information are quickly changing into the age of opinions and half-truths. I dont like it. I dont care if it isnt sensational, I’d rather have factual and boring than TMZ any day.

 

Millionaires getting duped out of millions

Boy O Boy. I am getting so tired of hearing about the poor millionaires getting “duped” out of millions. The latest is John Elway, and once again, I have no pity.

Now dont mistake my lack of pity for anger against “rich” people. If you have made your money and you are well off, then my hats off to you. I dont think you should pay a higher tax rate than me (which you do) and I think you have the right to better things in life, simply due to your resources (which you do).

What I dont have is pity for when you make investments that fail. I cant afford to risk the money I have, simply because I cant afford to lose it. If you can afford the risk, then go for it. Just dont complain when the risk doesnt pay off. I think back to when Charles Barkley was in the news for his gambling “problem”. He made the point that he likes to gamble, and he can afford to gamble, so where is the problem? Amen to that logical line of thinking, brother.

The defense that Elway or any of the others was “duped” sits poorly with me, as it takes away the responsibility of the investor. If you dont do your research with diligence, that one is on you. Either greed, laziness or complacency could be used to describe what happened, but I would be willing to bet (if I could afford to as Sir Charles can) that if you looked hard enough, there were indicators that this was not a solid investment.

Now its underwater loans!

This is already ridiculous, and its getting worse! NOW the Obama administration has decided that people who owe more on their house than its currently worth should have some of their debt written off by their mortgage company. WTF!!!

So those of us who made GOOD decisions and didnt jump in over are heads are left to tread water, while those making BAD decisions have the life-ring thrown to them. Dont cry me some river about “unforseen circumstances” or some crap like that. If you buy your house with the intent on reselling it at a profit, you are gambling, plain and simple.  If you invest all your money with Bernie Madoff and he runs away with it,  well that was your choice as well. You lost your job due to the economic downturn? It sucks, but living in a 400,000 dollar house really shouldnt be an option for you anymore. I’m not saying any of this is nice, or fun, but its freaking REAL. We are turning life into some juvenile game where we can hit the “save” button and start over when we dont like the outcome.

Just like with the banking companies, AIG, Health care, its all come down to the government taking away any responsibility from individuals or corporations for their actions.  When the government has all the responsibility, they also have all the power. This is all getting very messed up , very fast.

Obamacare

Isnt this sort of  “The end justifies the means”? We NEED universal healthcare REGARDLESS of the sacrifice? I dont think anyone will dispute that we need a system to control the cost and affordability of health care, but its not at the risk of any liberty granted to me by the constitution.

Everyone applauding Obamacare just remember this old quote -

“In Germany, they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
By the time they came for me, there was no one left to speak up.”

– Poem based on speeches by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

You let the government overstep its reach, you let them start taking things away because it benefits you now, you are just stepping in line and waiting until its YOUR turn to have something taken away.

Fault of the System? Dont think so…

There has been a story running on the radio about the problems in D.Cs’ 911 system. They are based around the story of a child that died hours after she was brought to the hospital. Here is the story as it is being told – http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/04/paramedics-response-studied-in-childs-death/

Basically the paramedics were called at 5 in the morning for a child having trouble breathing. Paramedics didnt deem it an emergency, gave the parents instructions and left. At 1:45 in the afternoon they were called back, picked the child up, sent her to the hospital, where she died later.

My question is this…Why the HELL arent the parents being held to the fire? You didnt take your kid to the Doctor after feeling like there was enough of a problem to call 911? You let your kid get SO sick it took 2 911 calls, and never had her looked at by a doctor? Now Ill give you the benefit of the doubt on the first one, kid woke up sick, you panicked and called. But to NOT take your kid to the doctor after that, and then call 911 again? I’m thinking there is a strong case for child abuse here.

But what does the news report? The fault of the first 911 responder. Why put the responsibility where its due? Not when there is someone else to blame.

Why do we Americans keep electing the same old crooks?

Charlie Rangel is a prime example.

Straight off the web – “Embattled House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., said Thursday night the Ethics Committee will publicly admonish him for allowing a private corporation to pay for trips he and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus took to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008.Embattled House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., said Thursday night the Ethics Committee will publicly admonish him for allowing a private corporation to pay for trips he and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus took to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008.”

His excuse? The trip was approved (the trip mind you, not how the trip was funded) and although his staff members knew how it was funded , HE did not. Bullshit. You are the Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee. You are the committee who made the rule that the person submitting taxes is responsible for the tax return, NOT the preparer. Is this really so different? As a leader, you are responsible for your people, you cant just throw your hands up and claim ignorance.

Now the funny. This article on the internet is a day old. If you go to the Ways and Means Committees website there is a news tab. NO mention of this. Isnt that special?

This guy has been mired in controversy for years, how do the people of New York still believe he is the best option? Is he running against Attilla the Hun or something?

Threats againt IRS Rising….How ODD

Just watched a video on Yahoo about threats against the IRS, and how agents now sometimes have to bring armed guards with them when they go out to audit.

I cant get the image of Robin Hood out of my mind, when the tax collector comes to the door with the sheriff and squeezes the last coin from the coffers of the peasant.  I mean, who didnt sympathize with the poor tax collector in that situation?

Taxes are just like guns, implemented properly and they are a tool for good. Use them wrong, and they are an instrument of evil.