When you think of section 8 housing, you probably don't think of
rooftop pools and personal wine storage, but more and more apartment
complexes are getting into the business of accepting government
subsidies for housing. These days, a number of luxury complexes across
the country that offer everything from in-home manicure services to
theater/screening rooms are setting aside at least some of their units
for affordable housing[1]. The main reason is not that the complex
owners have hearts of gold for those in need, but rather that those
section 8 subsidies are an exchange for funds for building and
maintenance as well as, in some cases, permission to develop.
Section 8 started about three decades ago with the National Housing
Act (NHA). The act was intended to put housing projects out of
business and provide better housing options for individuals receiving
federal aid. The plan seemed like a good one because it largely
eliminated the need for government housing and maintenance of that
housing, but it has eroded over the years thanks, in large part, to
the open-ended nature of the program that enables recipients to remain
on government-funded housing indefinitely. Section 8 rents are based
on income, so once a recipient lands an apartment – particularly a
nice one – it disincentivizes any improvement in income because even a
small jump will quickly render the new rent unaffordable.
"What you're talking about is a kind of entrapment situation,"
explained Russell Dano, an Arlington, Virginia city planner. He added,
"There's a disincentive to do better in the world" with the caveat
that, in his opinion, people are not "as economically mobile as we
believe them to be." However, Heritage Foundation scholar Robert
Rector warned that the real issue is not whether or not section 8
housing has a place in these developments, but why the developments
include it[2]. "What you have is a corrupt log-rolling between these
big developers and the bureaucracy and they feed off each other," he
said, adding, "Washington and local governments run these very
unbalanced programs [that] give high benefit to a limited number
[while others] don't get anything."
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
snopes.com: Letter to President Obama - Harold Estes
This tough old Navy Chief laid into Obama pretty heavy. Of course
Obama is insulated by the big boys but maybe one day he will get it.
http://goo.gl/QDV2
Obama is insulated by the big boys but maybe one day he will get it.
http://goo.gl/QDV2
Monday, March 23, 2015
Brett Favre's wife will quarterback the green bay packers
Brett Favre's Wife
In a news conference, Deanna Favre announced she will be the starting
Quarterback for the Green Bay Packers football team next season.
Deanna asserts that she is qualified to be the starting QB because she
had spent 16 years married to Brett while he played QB for the Packers
- even though she has actually never played football at any level from
grade school up, never ran the offense of any team, nor ever played
the game.
During this period of time, she became familiar with the definition of
a corner blitz, the nickel package, man-to-man coverage, so she is now
completely comfortable with all the other terminology involving the
Packers offense. A survey of Packers fans shows 50% of those polled
supported the move.
Does this sound idiotic and unbelievable ... or familiar to you?
Hillary Clinton makes the same claims as to why she is qualified to be
the President of the United States and 50% of Democrats polled agree.
She has never run a city, county, or state during her "career" as
being Bill Clinton's wife. When told Hillary Clinton has experience
because she has 8 years in the White House, my immediate thought was,
"So does the pastry chef, and the person who picks up dog crap from
the White House Lawn."
When it comes to running the State Department, her biggest achievement
was getting a US Ambassador and three other Americans killed, by
pretending terrorism had been defeated.....Her words still
echo..."what difference does it make?"
In a news conference, Deanna Favre announced she will be the starting
Quarterback for the Green Bay Packers football team next season.
Deanna asserts that she is qualified to be the starting QB because she
had spent 16 years married to Brett while he played QB for the Packers
- even though she has actually never played football at any level from
grade school up, never ran the offense of any team, nor ever played
the game.
During this period of time, she became familiar with the definition of
a corner blitz, the nickel package, man-to-man coverage, so she is now
completely comfortable with all the other terminology involving the
Packers offense. A survey of Packers fans shows 50% of those polled
supported the move.
Does this sound idiotic and unbelievable ... or familiar to you?
Hillary Clinton makes the same claims as to why she is qualified to be
the President of the United States and 50% of Democrats polled agree.
She has never run a city, county, or state during her "career" as
being Bill Clinton's wife. When told Hillary Clinton has experience
because she has 8 years in the White House, my immediate thought was,
"So does the pastry chef, and the person who picks up dog crap from
the White House Lawn."
When it comes to running the State Department, her biggest achievement
was getting a US Ambassador and three other Americans killed, by
pretending terrorism had been defeated.....Her words still
echo..."what difference does it make?"
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Something to reflect on the next time you hear blacks whining about how tough they (and they alone) had it
The Irish Slave Trade – The Forgotten "White" Slaves
The Slaves That Time Forgot
Originally published in 2008:
They came as slaves; vast human cargo transported on tall British ships bound for the Americas. They were shipped by the hundreds of thousands and included men, women, and even the youngest of children.
Whenever they rebelled or even disobeyed an order, they were punished in the harshest ways. Slave owners would hang their human property by their hands and set their hands or feet on fire as one form of punishment. They were burned alive and had their heads placed on pikes in the marketplace as a warning to other captives.
We don't really need to go through all of the gory details, do we? We know all too well the atrocities of the African slave trade.
But, are we talking about African slavery? King James II and Charles I also led a continued effort to enslave the Irish. Britain's famed Oliver Cromwell furthered this practice of dehumanizing one's next door neighbor.
The Irish slave trade began when James II sold 30,000 Irish prisoners as slaves to the New World. His Proclamation of 1625 required Irish political prisoners be sent overseas and sold to English settlers in the West Indies. By the mid 1600s, the Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat. At that time, 70% of the total population of Montserrat were Irish slaves.
Ireland quickly became the biggest source of human livestock for English merchants. The majority of the early slaves to the New World were actually white.
From 1641 to 1652, over 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. Ireland's population fell from about 1,500,000 to 600,000 in one single decade. Families were ripped apart as the British did not allow Irish dads to take their wives and children with them across the Atlantic. This led to a helpless population of homeless women and children. Britain's solution was to auction them off as well.
During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia. Another 30,000 Irish men and women were also transported and sold to the highest bidder. In 1656, Cromwell ordered that 2000 Irish children be taken to Jamaica and sold as slaves to English settlers.
Many people today will avoid calling the Irish slaves what they truly were: Slaves. They'll come up with terms like "Indentured Servants" to describe what occurred to the Irish. However, in most cases from the 17th and 18th centuries, Irish slaves were nothing more than human cattle.
As an example, the African slave trade was just beginning during this same period. It is well recorded that African slaves, not tainted with the stain of the hated Catholic theology and more expensive to purchase, were often treated far better than their Irish counterparts.
African slaves were very expensive during the late 1600s (50 Sterling). Irish slaves came cheap (no more than 5 Sterling). If a planter whipped or branded or beat an Irish slave to death, it was never a crime. A death was a monetary setback, but far cheaper than killing a more expensive African. The English masters quickly began breeding the Irish women for both their own personal pleasure and for greater profit. Children of slaves were themselves slaves, which increased the size of the master's free workforce. Even if an Irish woman somehow obtained her freedom, her kids would remain slaves of her master. Thus, Irish moms, even with this new found emancipation, would seldom abandon their kids and would remain in servitude.
In time, the English thought of a better way to use these women (in many cases, girls as young as 12) to increase their market share: The settlers began to breed Irish women and girls with African men to produce slaves with a distinct complexion. These new "mulatto" slaves brought a higher price than Irish livestock and, likewise, enabled the settlers to save money rather than purchase new African slaves. This practice of interbreeding Irish females with African men went on for several decades and was so widespread that, in 1681, legislation was passed "forbidding the practice of mating Irish slave women to African slave men for the purpose of producing slaves for sale." In short, it was stopped only because it interfered with the profits of a large slave transport company.
England continued to ship tens of thousands of Irish slaves for more than a century. Records state that, after the 1798 Irish Rebellion, thousands of Irish slaves were sold to both America and Australia. There were horrible abuses of both African and Irish captives. One British ship even dumped 1,302 slaves into the Atlantic Ocean so that the crew would have plenty of food to eat.
There is little question that the Irish experienced the horrors of slavery as much (if not more in the 17th Century) as the Africans did. There is, also, very little question that those brown, tanned faces you witness in your travels to the West Indies are very likely a combination of African and Irish ancestry. In 1839, Britain finally decided on it's own to end it's participation in Satan's highway to hell and stopped transporting slaves. While their decision did not stop pirates from doing what they desired, the new law slowly concluded THIS chapter of nightmarish Irish misery.
But, if anyone, black or white, believes that slavery was only an African experience, then they've got it completely wrong.
Irish slavery is a subject worth remembering, not erasing from our memories.
But, where are our public (and PRIVATE) schools???? Where are the history books? Why is it so seldom discussed?
Do the memories of hundreds of thousands of Irish victims merit more than a mention from an unknown writer?
Or is their story to be one that their English pirates intended: To (unlike the African book) have the Irish story utterly and completely disappear as if it never happened.
None of the Irish victims ever made it back to their homeland to describe their ordeal. These are the lost slaves; the ones that time and biased history books conveniently forgot.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
We all already know this, but it is nice to see it with graphs and figures
It's Official: Americans R Stoopid
Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
As Americans, we tend to be pretty full of ourselves, and this is especially true of our young people. But do we really have reason for such pride? According to a shocking new report from the Educational Testing Service, Americans between the ages of 20 and 34 are way behind young adults in other industrialized nations when it comes to literacy, mathematics and technological proficiency. Even though more Americans than ever are going to college, we continue to fall farther and farther behind intellectually. So what does this say about us? Sadly, the truth is that Americans are stupid. Our education system is an abysmal failure, and our young people spend most of their free time staring at the television, their computers or their mobile devices. And until we are honest with ourselves about this, our intellectual decline is going to get even worse.
According to this new report from the Educational Testing Service, at this point American Millennials that have a four year college degree are essentially on the same intellectual level as young adults in Japan, Finland and the Netherlands that only have a high school degree…
Americans born after 1980 are lagging their peers in countries ranging from Australia to Estonia, according to a new report from researchers at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The study looked at scores for literacy and numeracy from a test called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, which tested the abilities of people in 22 countries.
The results are sobering, with dire implications for America. It hints that students may be falling behind not only in their early educational years but at the college level. Even though more Americans between the ages of 20 to 34 are achieving higher levels of education, they're still falling behind their cohorts in other countries.
In Japan, Finland and the Netherlands, young adults with only a high school degree scored on par with American Millennials holding four-year college degrees, the report said.
How in the world is that possible?
I can tell you how that is possible – our colleges are a joke. But more on that in a moment.
Out of 22 countries, the report from the Educational Testing Service found that Americans were dead last in tech proficiency. We were also dead last in numeracy and only two countries performed worse than us when it came to literacy proficiency…
Half of American Millennials score below the minimum standard of literacy proficiency. Only two countries scored worse by that measure: Italy (60 percent) and Spain (59 percent). The results were even worse for numeracy, with almost two-thirds of American Millennials failing to meet the minimum standard for understanding and working with numbers. That placed U.S. Millennials dead last for numeracy among the study's 22 developed countries.
It is in this type of environment that Coca-Cola can be marketed to Americans as "a healthy snack".
As I mentioned above, our system of education is one of the biggest culprits. From the first grade all the way through post-graduate education, the quality of education that our young people are receiving is absolutely pathetic. In aprevious article, I highlighted some statistics from USA Today about the declining state of college education in America…
-"After two years in college, 45% of students showed no significant gains in learning; after four years, 36% showed little change."
-"Students also spent 50% less time studying compared with students a few decades ago"
-"35% of students report spending five or fewer hours per week studying alone."
-"50% said they never took a class in a typical semester where they wrote more than 20 pages"
-"32% never took a course in a typical semester where they read more than 40 pages per week."
I have sat in many of these kinds of college courses. It doesn't take much brain power to pass the multiple choice tests that most college professors give these days. The truth is that if you fail out of college you really, really have to try hard.
In another previous article I shared some examples of real courses that have been taught at U.S. universities in recent years…
-"What If Harry Potter Is Real?"
-"Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame"
This is a national crisis. Parents should be screaming bloody murder about the quality of the education that their children are receiving. But because very few of them actually know what is going on, they just continue to write out huge tuition checks all the time believing that their kids are being prepared for the real world.
To show how "dumbed down" we have become, I want to share with you a copy of an eighth grade exam from 1912 that was donated to the Bullitt County History Museum in Kentucky.
Would eighth grade students be able to pass such an exam today?
Would college students?
As you look over this exam from 1912, ask yourself how you would do on it…
In addition, I find it very interesting that the reading level of the State of the Union addresses delivered by our presidents has steadily declined since the inception of this nation.
And it should be no surprise that Barack Obama's State of the Union addresses have been some of the dumbest of all.
But could it be possible that I am being too harsh?
After all, scientists are now discovering that our diminishing intellectual capabilities are actually the consequence of natural processes.
For example, a Stanford University biology professor named Gerald R. Crabtree has published two papers in which he detailed his conclusion that humans have been getting dumber for thousands of years…
Are humans becoming smarter or more stupid? Comparing our modern lives and technology with that of any preceding generation, one might think we are becoming increasingly smarter. But, in two papers published in Trends in Genetics, Gerald R. Crabtree of Stanford University claims that we are losing mental capacity and have been doing so for 2,000–6,000 years! The reason, Crabtree concludes, is due to genetic mutations—which are the backbone of neo-Darwinian evolution.
Why is this happening?
Professor Crabtree believes that this loss of intellectual capability is due to the accumulation of errors in our genes…
Based on data produced by the 1000 Genomes Project Consortium and two recent papers in Nature, Crabtree estimates in the first article that, in the past 3,000 years (approximately 120 generations), about 5,000 new mutations have occurred in the genes governing our intellectual ability. He claims most of these mutations will have no effect, while about 2–5 percent are deleterious and "a vanishingly small fraction will increase fitness." Crabtree bases his conclusion that humankind is losing mental capacity on the ratio between the deleterious and the beneficial mutations.
Our DNA is mutating, and it has been for thousands of years. And no, those mutations are not helping us. Each one of us has tens of thousands of errors in our DNA that we have inherited, and we will add even more errors which we will pass on to future generations.
Given enough time, many scientists believe that humanity would eventually degenerate into a bunch of gibbering idiots incapable of rational thought.
Or could it be possible that a large segment of the population has already arrived at that state?
Thursday, March 19, 2015
The media loves violence and hates good deeds
Chicken In A Blizzard
Two years ago Chick-fil-A made national headlines when company president
Dan Cathy spoke out in support of traditional marriage. Liberals and gays
came unglued and launched massive protests against the restaurant chain.
Several mayors spoke out saying they would not allow any more Chick-fil-As
to be built in their cities.
They tried boycotting the Christian owned company, but that backfired.
Instead, Chick-fil-A had a world record day with many locations selling out
of food to the hundreds of thousands of supporters. Is it any surprise that
the only news the liberal mainstream media has reported concerning
Chick-fil-A has only been the negative?
Remember a couple of weeks ago when the ice storm hit the south? The
mainstream media showed footage of miles of cars stranded on the frozen
interstates. Several national news broadcasts that I saw reported about
school kids trapped on busses for almost 24 hours because of all of the ice
and parents going frantic wondering where their kids were.
In all of the icy gloom and doom, I bet you didn't hear about the heroic
and generous actions of a Chick-fil-A along Highway 280 in Birmingham,
Alabama, did you?
Mark Meadows, owner of the Chick-fil-A closed early the day of the storm
and sent all of his employees home. However, the employees and Meadows
soon discovered that they were not going to be able to get home with all of
the stranded motorists stuck on the roads. Some of the cars near the
restaurant had been stranded for up to 7 hours.
Meadows and his employees fired up the kitchen and began preparing chicken
sandwiches as fast as they could. They prepared several hundred sandwiches
and then Meadows and his staff headed out and began distributing the hot
meals to the stranded motorists on both sides of Highway 280.
Some of the drivers tried to pay them for the sandwiches, but Meadows and
his employees refused to take a single penny. Audrey Pitt, manager of the
Chick-fil-A, explained why: "This company is based on taking care of people
and loving people before you're worried about money or profit. We were just
trying to follow the model that we've all worked under for so long and the
model that we've come to love. There was really nothing else we could have
done but try to help people any way we could."
However, Meadows and Pitt were not through with their Good Samaritan
efforts. They helped push cars off the roads, up inclines and whatever else
they could do to help. Then they kept the restaurant open overnight so that
stranded motorists could have a warm place to be. A number of motorists
slept in booths or on the benches.
Then in the morning, they again fired up the kitchen and prepared chicken
biscuits for their overnight guests and once again they refused to accept
any payment. During that 24 hour period, this Chick-fil-A restaurant
opened their kitchen, their doors and their hearts to hundreds of stranded
motorists and they did so refusing to accept any payment. As one source put
it, Meadows and his staff lived up to the words Jesus spoke in Matthew
25:35 which states:
"For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you
gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in…"
Their actions were truly generous and heroic as they also braved the frigid
temperatures to hand out hundreds of hot meals to complete strangers. And I
bet you never heard anything about this from the mainstream media. Their
liberal bias and intolerance would never allow them to report on a
Christian company doing something so positive for so many.
We need to support this and other Christian companies that are trying to
spread the Good News of the Gospel through their daily work.
Pass this along and bypass the ah media! And ask your local paper
editor why he failed to report this.
Two years ago Chick-fil-A made national headlines when company president
Dan Cathy spoke out in support of traditional marriage. Liberals and gays
came unglued and launched massive protests against the restaurant chain.
Several mayors spoke out saying they would not allow any more Chick-fil-As
to be built in their cities.
They tried boycotting the Christian owned company, but that backfired.
Instead, Chick-fil-A had a world record day with many locations selling out
of food to the hundreds of thousands of supporters. Is it any surprise that
the only news the liberal mainstream media has reported concerning
Chick-fil-A has only been the negative?
Remember a couple of weeks ago when the ice storm hit the south? The
mainstream media showed footage of miles of cars stranded on the frozen
interstates. Several national news broadcasts that I saw reported about
school kids trapped on busses for almost 24 hours because of all of the ice
and parents going frantic wondering where their kids were.
In all of the icy gloom and doom, I bet you didn't hear about the heroic
and generous actions of a Chick-fil-A along Highway 280 in Birmingham,
Alabama, did you?
Mark Meadows, owner of the Chick-fil-A closed early the day of the storm
and sent all of his employees home. However, the employees and Meadows
soon discovered that they were not going to be able to get home with all of
the stranded motorists stuck on the roads. Some of the cars near the
restaurant had been stranded for up to 7 hours.
Meadows and his employees fired up the kitchen and began preparing chicken
sandwiches as fast as they could. They prepared several hundred sandwiches
and then Meadows and his staff headed out and began distributing the hot
meals to the stranded motorists on both sides of Highway 280.
Some of the drivers tried to pay them for the sandwiches, but Meadows and
his employees refused to take a single penny. Audrey Pitt, manager of the
Chick-fil-A, explained why: "This company is based on taking care of people
and loving people before you're worried about money or profit. We were just
trying to follow the model that we've all worked under for so long and the
model that we've come to love. There was really nothing else we could have
done but try to help people any way we could."
However, Meadows and Pitt were not through with their Good Samaritan
efforts. They helped push cars off the roads, up inclines and whatever else
they could do to help. Then they kept the restaurant open overnight so that
stranded motorists could have a warm place to be. A number of motorists
slept in booths or on the benches.
Then in the morning, they again fired up the kitchen and prepared chicken
biscuits for their overnight guests and once again they refused to accept
any payment. During that 24 hour period, this Chick-fil-A restaurant
opened their kitchen, their doors and their hearts to hundreds of stranded
motorists and they did so refusing to accept any payment. As one source put
it, Meadows and his staff lived up to the words Jesus spoke in Matthew
25:35 which states:
"For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you
gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in…"
Their actions were truly generous and heroic as they also braved the frigid
temperatures to hand out hundreds of hot meals to complete strangers. And I
bet you never heard anything about this from the mainstream media. Their
liberal bias and intolerance would never allow them to report on a
Christian company doing something so positive for so many.
We need to support this and other Christian companies that are trying to
spread the Good News of the Gospel through their daily work.
Pass this along and bypass the ah media! And ask your local paper
editor why he failed to report this.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
This page from Erick Erickson's diary should help you see why he is my hero
I was an elected Republican official. Before that I was a Republican
political consultant and campaign manager. I have been a lawyer for a
number of Republican candidates.
Today, I see Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)N/A collaborating with Democrats
to line up votes to expand government.
I see Republicans in Congress waffling on Obamacare and thinking of
fixing it. I see Republican Governors slowly folding over expanding
medicaid and state exchanges.
I see John Kasich tell me Jesus wants him to expand government in Ohio.
I see 300 Republicans beg the Supreme Court to impose gay marriage on
the nation by unilateral fiat because they're inconvenienced by it as
a political issue and want to move on.
In Georgia, I see the State GOP raising taxes and refusing to pass
religious liberty legislation. I see a party in the pocket of
millionaires giving the middle finger to the middle class. And I see a
bunch of politicians prostituting themselves to billionaires and
trying to repackage their policies as "conservative" when they are
not.
What the hell does the GOP stand for anymore other than "we're not
Obama"? No kidding. He's more competent.
The GOP, at this point, stands for nothing and the highest bidder at
the same time.
It is my hope that, at the RedState Gathering this year and on the
campaign trail, the GOP Candidates will start painting the picture of
what the GOP should stand for. I am frankly tired of the candidates
throwing chum in the water. We already know Obama sucks.
So tell us what the country will look like after for years of you.
Tell us what the Republican Party will stand for. What fights are
worth fighting even if you might lose? What hill is worth dying on?
Right now, the GOP sees no hill worth dying on unless Sheldon Adelson
or someone cuts them a check first. They see no cause worth fighting
for unless they've mapped out their surrender strategy first.
Frankly, I'm just tired of a party with a bunch of prostitutes in
charge who'll spread eagle for the highest bidder and run at the first
hint of trouble.
political consultant and campaign manager. I have been a lawyer for a
number of Republican candidates.
Today, I see Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)N/A collaborating with Democrats
to line up votes to expand government.
I see Republicans in Congress waffling on Obamacare and thinking of
fixing it. I see Republican Governors slowly folding over expanding
medicaid and state exchanges.
I see John Kasich tell me Jesus wants him to expand government in Ohio.
I see 300 Republicans beg the Supreme Court to impose gay marriage on
the nation by unilateral fiat because they're inconvenienced by it as
a political issue and want to move on.
In Georgia, I see the State GOP raising taxes and refusing to pass
religious liberty legislation. I see a party in the pocket of
millionaires giving the middle finger to the middle class. And I see a
bunch of politicians prostituting themselves to billionaires and
trying to repackage their policies as "conservative" when they are
not.
What the hell does the GOP stand for anymore other than "we're not
Obama"? No kidding. He's more competent.
The GOP, at this point, stands for nothing and the highest bidder at
the same time.
It is my hope that, at the RedState Gathering this year and on the
campaign trail, the GOP Candidates will start painting the picture of
what the GOP should stand for. I am frankly tired of the candidates
throwing chum in the water. We already know Obama sucks.
So tell us what the country will look like after for years of you.
Tell us what the Republican Party will stand for. What fights are
worth fighting even if you might lose? What hill is worth dying on?
Right now, the GOP sees no hill worth dying on unless Sheldon Adelson
or someone cuts them a check first. They see no cause worth fighting
for unless they've mapped out their surrender strategy first.
Frankly, I'm just tired of a party with a bunch of prostitutes in
charge who'll spread eagle for the highest bidder and run at the first
hint of trouble.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Monday, March 16, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Friday, March 13, 2015
This Photo Made Animal Lovers Furious, But If You Look Close Enough It's Absolutely Hilarious
This story can help you better understand how stupid Liberalites are (and I say that kindly because they refuse the help they need). There is something in their mind that keeps them lost in a dream. Liberalites confuse cause and effect. Their silly hearts rule over what could be decent minds. They prefer make-believe to reality. They once were shamed when others called them knee-jerk, but they have slack-jawededly accepted the name as mysteriously "honorable." What better term is there to wake them? They spasm before thinking.
Short and sweet
These two short sentences tell you a lot about our very culture:
1. We are advised to not judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works.
And here's another one worth considering.
2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. How come we never hear about welfare running out of money? What's interesting is the first group "worked for" their money, but the second didn't.
Think about it...
1. We are advised to not judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works.
And here's another one worth considering.
2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. How come we never hear about welfare running out of money? What's interesting is the first group "worked for" their money, but the second didn't.
Think about it...
Monday, March 9, 2015
A report that came my way: A-10 driver perspective
Friends, this is from a friend of mine, who is a retired Air Force Jet Pilot who saw lots of action in Vietnam in his F-100 and other fighters. He gets this information from sources in the military that not many of us are privileged to receive. I find it very depressing and I am truly concerned that a continuation of this sort of treacherous and traitorous leadership puts us in grave danger. We can not win a war against a foe that is allowed to be casual knowing that we are in the air, and capable of bombing them, and we don't. How can this happen to us? What is going on here? I am sending this to everyone I know, who I don't perceive is a sympathizer with our leaders. Unfortunately, there are many of them. If I have made a mistake, and you don't agree with me, please let me know, so that I will remove you from my list . And, if you receive this twice, I apologize.
The squadron is doing fine. Everybody is happy to be here and we are doing some good work. The A-10s are holding up well and the technology we have have on the jets now (targeting pods, GPS guided bombs, Laser Guided bombs, Laser guided missiles, tactical data link, satellite comms), and of course the gun, make the A-10 ideal for this conflict. We are killing off as many ISIS as we can, mostly in ones and twos, working with the hand we are dealt. I've never been more convicted in my career that we facing an enemy that needs to be eradicated.
With that being said...I've never been more frustrated in my career. After 13 years of the mind-numbing low intensity conflict in Afghanistan, I've never seen the knife more dull. All the hard lessons learned in Vietnam, and fixed during the first Gulf War, have been unlearned again. The level of centralized execution, bureaucracy, and politics is staggering. I basically do not have any decision making authority in my cockpit. It sucks. In most cases, unless a general officer can look at a video picture from a UAV, over a satellite link, I cannot get authority to engage. I've spent many hours, staring through a targeting pod screen in my own cockpit, watching ISIS shitheads perpetrate their acts until my eyes bleed, without being able to do anything about it. The institutional fear of making a mistake, that has crept into the central mindset of the military leadership, is endemic. We have not taken the fight to these guys. We haven't targeted their centers of gravity in Raqqa. All the roads between Syria and Iraq are still intact with trucks flowing freely. The other night I watched a couple hundred small tanker trucks lined up at an oilfield in ISIS-held northeast Syria, presumably filling up with with oil traded on the black market, go unfettered. It's not uncommon to wait several hours overhead a suspected target for someone to make a decision to engage or not. It feels like we are simply using the constructs build up in Afghanistan, which was a very limited fight, in the same way here against ISIS, which is a much more sophisticated and numerically greater foe. It's embarrassing.
Be assured that the Hawg drivers are doing their best.
------------------------------------
[Footnote: The above report might seem confusing until you remember that the President was raised in a Muslim household and thinks kindly of Islamic State. It would be unfair to expect him to think in terms of "Shock & Awe"]
Saturday, March 7, 2015
There goes my vacation in Greece---they want me to wear a body camera and a wire
Athens (AFP) - The Greek government plans to hire an army of amateur tax sleuths -- including tourists -- in a bid to fill the gaping hole in the country's finances, according to an embarrassing leak published Friday.
The document, which purports to list the seven major reforms Athens will present at a crunch meeting of the Eurogroup in Brussels on Monday, claimed these "casual onlookers" could be equipped with hidden cameras and recording devices to catch businesses dodging tax.
Friday, March 6, 2015
Everyone liked the no-politics day, so here is another diversion
More Homographics
Homographs are words of like spelling but with more than one meaning. A homograph that is also pronounced differently is a heteronym.
The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
They were too close to the door to close it.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let's face it . . . English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea -- nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
This shoots a hole in the gun-grabbers claims
Interesting statistics
https://www.youtube.com/embed/pELwCqz2JfE?rel=0&autoplay=true
https://www.youtube.com/embed/pELwCqz2JfE?rel=0&autoplay=true
Near the end he makes a point that where gun ownership is highest, murder is lowest.
Have a deadpan face when you ask your kids these questions
1. Is it good if a vacuum really sucks? 2. Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand? 3. If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know? 4. If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words? 5. Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a 'whack'? 6. Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing? 7. Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing? 8. Why do "tug" boats push their barges? 9. Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game" when we are already there? 10. Why are they called "stands" when they are made for sitting? 11. Why is it called "after dark" when it really is "after light"? 12. Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected? 13. Why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites? 14. Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things? 15. Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds? 16. If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it? 17. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting? 18. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? 19. If you are cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right? 20. Why is bra singular and panties plural? 21. Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead? 22. Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase? 23. How come abbreviated is such a long word? 24. Why do we wash bath towels? Aren't we clean when we use them? 25. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle? 26. Why do they call it a TV set when you only have one? 27. Christmas - What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of your socks? 28. Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway? |
A Pilot Speaks Out .
YOU WORRY ME!
By Captain John Maniscalco, American Airlines Pilot
I've been trying to say this since 911, but you worry me. I wish you
didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I
love, that your colour and culture still blended with the beautiful
human landscape we enjoy in this country But you don't blend in
anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.
I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your
homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing
my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't
fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing
can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
On September 11, ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country.
They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally
stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed
them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons,
wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favourite coaches,
fearless public servants, and children's mothers
The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of
the Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I
don't want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that
has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As
a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an
irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference
between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim Americans and the
Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our
schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the
protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that
will slaughter MORE of the same good neighbours and children?
The events of September 11 changed the answer.. It is not MY
responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country,
with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with
all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to
determine it for me.
I want to know, I DEMAND to know and I have a right to know, whether
or not you love America ..... Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do
you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you
pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation;
that He will protect it and let it prosper? Or do you pray that Allah
will destroy it in one of your Jihads? Are you thankful for the
freedom that this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the
blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for
this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by also paying
the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ?? If this is your
commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at
this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions YOU are
taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States
of America . Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death
of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent....
No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks,
because I worry about what is unprovoked to you I am not interested in
any more sympathy; I am interested only in action. What will you do
for America - our great country - at this time of crisis, at this time
of war?
I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I
want to hear you chanting 'Allah Bless America '. I want to see young
Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military I want to see a commitment
of money, time and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to
this nation as a whole.
The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding
the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize right now in
Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them
over to us, NOW! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of
action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community
close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have
posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened
lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.
The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the
media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with
making sure that the United States proves who was responsible before
taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow
Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and
abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing
'leaders' like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.
IF the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love
for all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and
statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up What good is it
if the teachings in the Koran are good, pure, and true, when your
'leaders' ARE teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and
intolerance? It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if huge
numbers of the world's Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed
incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form
that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose
structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide.
A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world.
A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day
after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the
streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning
the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members
convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the
great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form
whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to
show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of
Islam.
We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for
that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us -- our
rights under the greatest constitution in the world. I want to know
where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my
right and the right of every true citizen of this country to DEMAND
it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and
sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting
you and your family.
I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother,
my neighbour, my friend, as a fellow American..... But there can be no
grey areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance, and it is up to
YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand. Until then, "YOU WORRY ME!"
CANADIAN COMMENTS:
I totally agree with this sentiment. I hope you will forget all about
the 'political correctness' mandate we've had rammed down our
throats, and see if this doesn't ring true in your heart and mind. For
Canada , with all the multiculturalism we've been told is so
important....why should we not, as Canadians, expect that the millions
of new people immigrating to our country will show their love for our
country, their allegiance to our country, their willingness to obey
the laws of our country, and acceptance that we are a Christian
country? Just because they are able to enjoy exercising their own
religion, they should NOT expect us to be ashamed of ours. They knew
Canada was a Christian country when they came here. Why are we erasing
Christianity because immigrants who are unwilling to adopt our way of
life expect us to? There is just too much insanity in the world, and
we have to start taking a stand.
I hope you will forward this, so that others will feel they are not
alone if they are starting to feel the same.
BRITISH COMMENTS: At last a clear non-racist example of the concerns
that the vast majority of our Nations population probably share. The
pilot's letter encapsulates all that is fair and just about national
pride and protection of one's national culture. I fear it may be too
late here in UK , BUT we too want our country back in the form that
attracted all these different cultures to come here in the first
place!! In all our conversations with a wide range of friends and
acquaintances we have not met one that disagrees with our own views.
If only we all had the courage of our convictions to pass this on, it
is a statement that should be accepted as the heart-felt feelings of
someone with honest commendable national pride.
Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists to date have been
Muslims. Stand up and be counted!
Australian Comment: Best email I have had in years it needs to be in
every paper every day until we get some answers.
By Captain John Maniscalco, American Airlines Pilot
I've been trying to say this since 911, but you worry me. I wish you
didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I
love, that your colour and culture still blended with the beautiful
human landscape we enjoy in this country But you don't blend in
anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.
I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your
homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing
my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't
fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing
can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
On September 11, ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country.
They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally
stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed
them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons,
wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favourite coaches,
fearless public servants, and children's mothers
The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of
the Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I
don't want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that
has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As
a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an
irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference
between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim Americans and the
Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our
schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the
protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that
will slaughter MORE of the same good neighbours and children?
The events of September 11 changed the answer.. It is not MY
responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country,
with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with
all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to
determine it for me.
I want to know, I DEMAND to know and I have a right to know, whether
or not you love America ..... Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do
you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you
pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation;
that He will protect it and let it prosper? Or do you pray that Allah
will destroy it in one of your Jihads? Are you thankful for the
freedom that this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the
blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for
this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by also paying
the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ?? If this is your
commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at
this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions YOU are
taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States
of America . Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death
of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent....
No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks,
because I worry about what is unprovoked to you I am not interested in
any more sympathy; I am interested only in action. What will you do
for America - our great country - at this time of crisis, at this time
of war?
I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I
want to hear you chanting 'Allah Bless America '. I want to see young
Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military I want to see a commitment
of money, time and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to
this nation as a whole.
The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding
the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize right now in
Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them
over to us, NOW! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of
action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community
close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have
posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened
lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.
The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the
media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with
making sure that the United States proves who was responsible before
taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow
Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and
abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing
'leaders' like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.
IF the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love
for all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and
statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up What good is it
if the teachings in the Koran are good, pure, and true, when your
'leaders' ARE teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and
intolerance? It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if huge
numbers of the world's Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed
incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form
that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose
structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide.
A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world.
A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day
after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the
streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning
the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members
convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the
great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form
whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to
show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of
Islam.
We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for
that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us -- our
rights under the greatest constitution in the world. I want to know
where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my
right and the right of every true citizen of this country to DEMAND
it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and
sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting
you and your family.
I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother,
my neighbour, my friend, as a fellow American..... But there can be no
grey areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance, and it is up to
YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand. Until then, "YOU WORRY ME!"
CANADIAN COMMENTS:
I totally agree with this sentiment. I hope you will forget all about
the 'political correctness' mandate we've had rammed down our
throats, and see if this doesn't ring true in your heart and mind. For
Canada , with all the multiculturalism we've been told is so
important....why should we not, as Canadians, expect that the millions
of new people immigrating to our country will show their love for our
country, their allegiance to our country, their willingness to obey
the laws of our country, and acceptance that we are a Christian
country? Just because they are able to enjoy exercising their own
religion, they should NOT expect us to be ashamed of ours. They knew
Canada was a Christian country when they came here. Why are we erasing
Christianity because immigrants who are unwilling to adopt our way of
life expect us to? There is just too much insanity in the world, and
we have to start taking a stand.
I hope you will forward this, so that others will feel they are not
alone if they are starting to feel the same.
BRITISH COMMENTS: At last a clear non-racist example of the concerns
that the vast majority of our Nations population probably share. The
pilot's letter encapsulates all that is fair and just about national
pride and protection of one's national culture. I fear it may be too
late here in UK , BUT we too want our country back in the form that
attracted all these different cultures to come here in the first
place!! In all our conversations with a wide range of friends and
acquaintances we have not met one that disagrees with our own views.
If only we all had the courage of our convictions to pass this on, it
is a statement that should be accepted as the heart-felt feelings of
someone with honest commendable national pride.
Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists to date have been
Muslims. Stand up and be counted!
Australian Comment: Best email I have had in years it needs to be in
every paper every day until we get some answers.
Monday, March 2, 2015
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