VirtualBox by Oracle

If you have not heard of VirtualBox by Oracle you are missing out on a "very good" thing. VirtualBox is an Oracle product that allows you to create multiple virtual PCs within your existing system. These can be Windows, Linux, Mac or others. Using this software you can run Windows XP on an Intel Mac. You can run OSX on a Win8 system. You can even run Win95 or 2000 Server on a Win7 system.

I have one Win XP Pro, 2 Win 2000 Server, a OS X 10.8.2 and an Ubuntu all as virtual environments on my Win8 laptop.

The best part is, the software is free. Yep, free!

So, if you like to play with different operating systems but don't want a bunch of hardware or you want to be able to play your old PC games but they won't install on Win8, why not give VirtualBox a try?

Post Turtle...

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old Texas rancher, whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Obama and his bid to be president.

The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Obama is a "post turtle".

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a "post turtle" was. The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a "post turtle".

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain. You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he is up there, and you just wonder what kind of a dumb ass put him up there in the first place.

iPhone call blocker

At this time, there do not appear to be any affective call blockers for the iPhone. I have heard various explanations for this situation, most of which revolve around iPhone carriers pressuring Apple into not making them available so that the carriers can charge subscription fees for inadequate alternate services.

I can't say that I do not give these theories some merit.

Until such time as cheap or free iPhone call blockers are available (without jail-breaking your phone), here is an option that though not ideal, does offer some protection.

Step 1) Download one of the many "silent" ring tones that are available on the net (or you could purchase one from the iTunes store).

Step 2) Get your ring tone into iTunes (if you purchase it from iTunes, skip this step) by just dragging the ringtone into iTunes. If it does not appear under your Tones folder, check the file information to see if its "kind" is ringtone, it should be. I had to get out of iTunes and back in once or twice before it appeared for me.

Step 3) Sync your ringtone with your iPhone.

Step 4) Setup a new contact on your iPhone titled "Spam Caller" or any other name you wish.

Step 5) Edit the contact so that the ringtone is your silent tone, vibrate is none, text alert is none and text vibrate is none.

Step 6) Enjoy less spam calls. They will still appear in your call list but at least you will not be bothered by them in real time.

NBC at it again...

NBC just can't seem to play fair. Is it even remotely possible to call them a news organization at all? Recently they aired their deceptively edited Zimmerman 911 tape to make it look like Zimmerman was a raciest. Well their editors are back! This time they are editing tape from the Sandy Hook hearings to make it look like 2nd amendment supporters are heckling a witness. Follow the link and view NBC's version and then the actual tape.

Unbelievable!

OK, fine, you do not believe in the individual right to bear arms and you would like stronger, stricter gun laws. OK. I get that. I do not believe you are right but I get it. If you feel that your position is so strong and that you have logic on your side, why lie? Why fabricate "proof" that the other side is not legitimate? Why can't you just present the "facts" and let people make up their own minds? Is it because the majority of the country does not have the same options as you do and if you give them the actual facts, you will never get your way? Is it because your position is not legally or morally justifiable and so you have to resort to emotional dirty tricks to try and sway low information voters to your side? You certainly act that way...

Mayor Bloomberg uses bodyguards to bully journalist in DC

Follow the link, read the article and watch the video! Mayor Bloomberg, at the DC US Conference of Mayors on January 18. A reporter dares asks the mayor about his security detail (he has at least 5 armed guards, some of them NYPD) being armed and not only gets rebuffed but followed and questioned by one of the guards who also happens to be NYPD.

Is the "stop" even legal or would that be considered unlawful restraint by the guard? Is the guard working as a police officer or a guard? Is he out of his jurisdiction either way?

So it is OK for Mayor "Big Gulp" to have armed guards (which I have no problem with) but not OK (in his mind) for you or I, the lowly masses to be able to protect ourselves. Nice...

We the People, petition site

There is a petition site for people to petition the government to recognize and/or do things. The site is here. There are a lot if silly things there that will never see the light of day but there are some real gems in that mine if you dig deep enough. Here are one or two that you might consider signing...


Place all members of the government under the same healthcare legislation that ordinary citizens are, with no exceptions


require the U. S. Senate to pass a budget for the upcoming fiscal year as required by law


Shorten excessive copyright terms


We Demand Obama Issue Executive Order Making White House, Federal Buildings and Events Gun Free Zones


Press charges against David Gregory for possession of a 30-round, high capacity assault rifle magazine in Washington D.C

Obama takes his first step in "doing something" about gun violence

And his first step is to sign a whole pile of executive orders that have been summarized here for you.

Of course he did forget to do one or two things that would actually help with gun violence but hey, his commission did not have very much time to pull all of this together.

What could he have done that would actually make a difference?

1) Come clean on Fast and Furious and issue an executive order ending any similar programs the government currently has in progress and forbid any more from getting started.

2) Make it clear that "gun free" zones don't work. If armed guards are good enough and safe enough for his kids, how about yours and mine?

3) Push the states for national reciprocity for concealed carry. Having normal law abiding citizens suddenly become criminals because they drove into the wrong state is just plain wrong.

4) Actually enforce our boarders.

5) Violent illegals should be deported as quickly as possible.

6) Push to end "no knock" warrants. Too many innocent people are shot and/or killed when the warrant is served on the wrong address.

I am sure that there are other things that are just as simple that should have been included on the list but these (though they would have a positive affect) don't push his agenda and so are beyond consideration. Too bad.

Paul Krugman and the trillion dollar coin

In this column Paul is asking what all the fuss is over the trillion dollar coin idea. For those not familiar with this, it is basically to get the treasury to mint a coin with a face value of 1 trillion dollars. Once minted, the coin would be deposited with the fed and presto, an extra trillion to spend!

I am no nobel prize winner like Paul so I do not have his keen credentials to lend my opinion the same weight as his but I will present mine anyway.

Paul, you should immediately give back your Nobel prize. The fact that you are even entertaining this idea as an option should disqualify you from your current prize and cause the loss of all of your degrees as well.

A 12 year old knows this is nothing but a gimmick yet you treat it as a serious option.

I understand that this plan (to have an instant trillion dollars created out of nothing but about an ounce of metal) is simply a much shorter and quicker version of what the fed is currently doing (running the printing presses 24/7 and cranking out the green backs) as well as the decades long government raid on the SS fund (where the majority of the money is simply IOUs) . So please explain to me how doing this would that not have inflationary affects, further debasing our currency? Either inflation will rise or this "coin" is really a loan and the money will need to be paid back. You have to pick one or the other. It is not like treasury will, as part of minting this coin crap out 1 trillion in gold to back it up. It is backed by air and nothing more, just like most of our existing currency.

If this is such a great idea, why not go all in? Mint 20 or 30 of them. Bingo, you have not only paid off the current national debt but also given the country a surplus so Obama and congress can carry on with their spending ways!

While you are at it, might as well set the income tax rate to 0. You have just as much of a chance of paying off all of this current and future government debt (which is zero in case you are having trouble keeping up) with income tax rates at current levels, zero or even 100%. So you might as well let the sheep feel grateful before the whole place comes crashing down.

It is amazing that those that hold themselves up as "our" intellectual betters would rather champion ideas such as this instead of being the adults in the room and push for the real spending and entitlement reforms that are needed in order to get our fiscal house in order. We are bankrupting our kids, grandkids and great grandkids and instead of trying to get things under control Paul and others want to just keep the party going for a little longer.

The truth about Ethanol

Ethanol as a fuel source is a bad answer. It takes food out of consumption and turns it into bad fuel. By bad fuel, I mean it takes more energy to produce ethanol from corn than you get from the resulting ethanol. Most recent information on the process states that it takes 1.5 gallons of fuel energy to produce one gallon of ethanol fuel energy.

So, producing ethanol results in:

- higher food prices due to the loss of food corn

- higher energy prices due to the process loss from producing ethanol

- higher vehicle maintenance costs due to the corrosive affects of ethanol on nonmetallic engine parts

All so the ethanol lobby can make lots of money for a product that makes no economic sense and so "greens" can feel better about "doing something" for the planet that actually makes things worse for the planet.

Things will only be getting worse as the ethanol additive rates are set to increase from up to 10% ethanol to the newer up to 15% ethanol standard.

Bob Munden, you will be missed

Bob Munden, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as “The Fastest Man with a Gun Who Ever Lived” has died at the age of 70. You have to watch the videos of this man in action to appreciate exactly how fast he was. He could shoot two targets so fast that it sounded like a single shot.

Here is a YouTube video of the man in action. He demonstrates his speed about 2:40 in.

Fiscal Cliff Reality

As a commenter on another blog posted:

16 months ago, government promised that if we bought them one more bottle of booze they would take a good, hard look at themselves, get some counseling, go into rehab, quit drinking. As a show of their sincerity, they even put out a contract on themselves - if they weren't clean and sober by January 1, 2013, some goons would come around to rough them up and drag them off to dry out. Well, they didn't quit drinking, they didn't sober up, they didn't seriously take a long, hard look at themelves, the counselors threw up their hands and walked away saying it was hopeless - all we had left was the knowledge that come January 1, 2013, the goons were going to show up and force them to quit drinking. But the bastards managed to get the hit called off. And there was much rejoicing.

There is nothing to rejoice about. This was no "good deal". This was no "save". This was breaking a promise and kicking the can down the road again. As Glenn Reynolds is fond of saying "What can't go on forever, won't" and this spending won't and when it does finally stop, it will be all kinds of messy.

Typical sane, freedom loving, tolerant Democrats...

Actress Marg Helgenberger: ‘One can only hope’ NRA members get shot

Texas Democrat John Cobarruvias, called for NRA members to be shot

Joyce Carol Oates (author): If a sizable number of NRA members become gun-victims themselves, maybe hope for legislation of firearms?

University of Rhode Island professor Erik Loomis retweets: Murder anyone who thinks teachers should be armed and thinks that all NRA members should be considered as supporting terrorists

Additional death threats targeting the NRA and NRA members.

Mötley Crüe vocalist Vince Neil is more conserned about the threats posed by guns than drunk drivers (he was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and DUI and though these are clearly not the same thing it does highlight his hypocrisy (he has murdered more people with his car than I have with my gun).

Funny how these oh so tolerant people want to hurt and kill those that they have a difference of opinion with.

These are but a few examples of how the "enlighten left" view those that dare think that the 2nd amendment is just as vital and worthy of protection as the first.

Progressive Democrats continue racist tradition...

Over at Gateway Pundit they have a sampling of tweets from Democrats denouncing the selection of Tim Scott to replace DeMint. As one of the commenters notes, "Truly, the Progressive comments say a great deal about the hate in many a Progressive heart that stems back to the segregation in the deep South perpetrated by Southern Democrats." Democrats have worked hard to promote the idea that it is conservatives and Republicans that are racist but it has and appears to continue to be Democrats that truly are racists. They attack Democrat minorities with the weapons of low expectations and dependency and they openly attack Republican minorities as inauthentic, race traitors and uncle Toms.

Veterans Day

History of Veterans Day

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.

The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and

Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and

Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated: "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible."

On that same day, President Eisenhower sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.

In 1958, the White House advised VA's General Counsel that the 1954 designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since March 1989 when VA was elevated to a cabinet level department, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee's chairman.

The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.

The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

Marine Corps celebrates 237th birthday today!

Happy Birthday Marine Corps!

Pretty much says it all...

In remembrance, September 11...

Thought of the day...

Those who are not compelled to take responsibility for their failures are ultimately prevented from taking responsibility for their achievements as well.

Dancing with the stars...

Boy Debbie Wasserman Schultz sure can dance! Watch these video clips. The first of the vote and the second of Debbie's follow up with the MSM after the DNC chair forced the acceptance of the "God and Israel" amendment to the DNC platform.

"It was a technical oversight", right...

"There wasn't any discord ", right...

"It was absolutely two thirds", right...

The vote was taken 3 (THREE) different times and the booing was at least as prevalent as the support. You can see that Villaraigosa is not getting the outcome he wants and does not know how to proceed. Eventually he gets help and is told to just do it. There was no way it was 2/3s in favor. The chair pushed it through in order to try and avoid further embarrassment. They can't even do a honest vote in their own convention.

Even after this was seen with everyone's own eyes, not everyone on the MSM panel can call it like it is and one member tried to cover for the delegates. What a big steaming pile of horse ****! This is the current, inclusive DNC. No room for God, no room for Israel, no room for voters.

The party of inclusion

Some examples of the Democratic party's big-tent inclusiveness...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Feels like Déjà vu

Voter Fraud

In Minnesota’s 2008 disputed US Senate election, won by Al Franken — who proceeded to cast the deciding vote in favor of ObamaCare — the margin of victory was 312, but it turned out that 1,099 votes were cast by felons who were ineligible to vote. Many of them have gone to jail, but Franken has remained in the Senate.

Read more

When I grow up...

Voter fraud in Minnesota

Comparing criminal records with voting rolls, the group identified 1,099 felons -- all ineligible to vote -- who had voted in the Franken-Coleman race.

243 people either convicted of voter fraud or awaiting trial in an election that was decided by 312 votes...

Don't tell me that voter fraud is inconsequential or is too small to matter or does not exist. It is PAST time for voter ID laws for all.

Exec Bullies Chick-fil-A Worker, Then Promptly Gets Fired For It

As a CFO, Mr. Smith should most definitely have known better than to berate an employee of a company he has issues with. What was he thinking? Well I hope he is satisfied with the results of his smug attitude and behavior.

Don't forget to watch the video. He can't seem to contain his glee while hoping that a near by group of collage(?) kids is planning to hold a sit in. Maybe now he has more time to attend sit ins himself...

Pres. Obama, the gift that keeps on giving...

"Solyndra LLC officially released it bankruptcy plan this week. The official word from it is that taxpayers will recover only $24 million of the about $527 million that the failed solar panel company drew from its $535 million federal loan guarantee"


On top of that, the loan was structured so that private equity would have a higher standing during bankruptcy than the tax payers in direct violation of standard Energy Department policy. Do you think it had anything to do with the fact that one of them has close ties to the WH?


The Obama WH is setting a new standard in sleaze and back office deals. So much for all of that transparency we were promised...


http://washingtonexaminer.com/taxpayers-to-recover-only-24-million-from-solyndra/article/2503861

Have they no shame?

Obama campaign sues to restrict military voting

The article hypes the military voting angle (which has some merit) but I think the bigger issue is the suits to get the law reversed on the control and verification angle. Specifically the ACLU is part of the suite due to the restrictions placed on poll workers, restrictions placed on vote counters and the stronger voter ID requirements. The ACLU suite opposes the law's limits on poll worker assistance to voters.

They oppose the restriction of "assistance" (i.e. helping a voter complete their ballot). Sorry but if you can not figure out how to complete the ballot maybe you should not be there. I want your vote to be your vote, not that of the poll worker who "helped" you complete it.

I also don't want vote counters trying to determine voter "intent". Sorry, if you could not take the time and care to only fill in one circle or punch (completely) one chad, your vote is invalid and should be set aside. I would like to see some statistics of how many "unclear" ballots wind up breaking Democrat.

Lastly, if you do not have a valid photo ID, no vote for you! It is that simple. You have to have valid ID to get cigarettes, buy beer, travel by plane, drive a car, cash a check, and about 100 other things. Most states offer free or reduced cost photo IDs for people that don't drive.

Any improper vote is one vote too many. In some cases, a few hundred votes in a swing state can make all the difference. Each vote is precious and should be protected. Too many good people died to make sure we could.

Pretty good Romney ad response to Pres. OBama's "you didn't build this" speech

As other commenters have noted, it takes a special kind of ignorance to say (and he DID say it) that people that build businesses, did not do it. I know that what he meant to say is that they did not do it on their own but even that is a long stretch. Everyone that pays taxes pays for the infrastructure that makes America possible. That is a given. You get no credit for that but you should also not be put down for that either. It takes a lot of extra effort, will, drive, time and sweat to start up a business and as is said in the ad, most business owners do it on their own. No one helps them make payroll, no one hands them a location, startup money and a winning idea. Each owner has to take their business from nothing to something and make it work every day, day in and day out. Sorry Pres. Obama, they DID do that.

The Surprising Moral Case for Free Enterprise.

A good video to watch and share to answer those that say "it is only fair to redistribute"...

Happy birthday to the U.S. Army!

Happy 237th birthday to the Army!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day History

Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.

The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.

Local observances claim to be first local springtime tributes to the Civil War dead already had been held in various places. One of the first occurred in Columbus, Miss., April 25, 1866, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves, as well.

Today, cities in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1866. Both Macon and Columbus, Ga., claim the title, as well as Richmond, Va. The village of Boalsburg, Pa., claims it began there two years earlier. A stone in a Carbondale, Ill., cemetery carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866. Carbondale was the wartime home of Gen. Logan. Approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried.

Official birthplace declared in 1966. Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y., the “birthplace” of Memorial Day. There, a ceremony on May 5, 1866, honored local veterans who had fought in the Civil War. Businesses closed and residents flew flags at half-staff. Supporters of Waterloo’s claim say earlier observances in other places were either informal, not community-wide or one-time events.

By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation. State legislatures passed proclamations designating the day, and the Army and Navy adopted regulations for proper observance at their facilities.

It was not until after World War I, however, that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, though it is still often called Decoration Day. It was then also placed on the last Monday in May, as were some other federal holidays.

Some states have confederate observances. Many southern states also have their own days for honoring the Confederate dead. Mississippi celebrates Confederate Memorial Day on the last Monday of April, Alabama on the fourth Monday of April, and Georgia on April 26. North and South Carolina observe it on May 10, Louisiana on June 3 and Tennessee calls that date Confederate Decoration Day. Texas celebrates Confederate Heroes Day January 19 and Virginia calls the last Monday in May Confederate Memorial Day.

Gen. Logan’s order for his posts to decorate graves in 1868 “with the choicest flowers of springtime” urged: “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. ... Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”

The crowd attending the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery was approximately the same size as those that attend today’s observance, about 5,000 people. Then, as now, small American flags were placed on each grave — a tradition followed at many national cemeteries today. In recent years, the custom has grown in many families to decorate the graves of all departed loved ones.

The origins of special services to honor those who die in war can be found in antiquity. The Athenian leader Pericles offered a tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago that could be applied today to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in the nation’s wars: “Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.”

To ensure the sacrifices of America ’s fallen heroes are never forgotten, in December 2000, the U.S. Congress passed and the president signed into law “The National Moment of Remembrance Act,” P.L. 106-579, creating the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance. The commission’s charter is to “encourage the people of the United States to give something back to their country, which provides them so much freedom and opportunity” by encouraging and coordinating commemorations in the United States of Memorial Day and the National Moment of Remembrance.

The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation. As Moment of Remembrance founder Carmella LaSpada states: “It’s a way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day.”

original author unknown

Senate Democrats are Sexist!

A news report in the Washington Free Bacon reports that many Senate Democrats including:

• Patty Murray (D., Wash.)
• Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.)
• Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.)

Here are additional Senators that follow Boxer's lead:

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.)—47.6 percent
• Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D., N.M.)—40 percent
• Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.)—34.2 percent
• Sen. Ben Cardin (D., Md.)—31.5 percent
• Sen. Tom Carper (D., Del.)—30.4 percent
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.)–29.7 percent
• Sen. Kent Conrad (D., N.D.)–29.2 percent
• Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.)—26.5 percent
• Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore)—26.4 percent
• Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa)—23.2 percent

Some of these Senators pay their female staffers as much as 46.7% less than their male staffers.

My personal belief is that any gender pay gap that exists is more a result of group experience and behavior than discrimination but these Senators listed above do not hold those views. In fact they go so far as to pass laws forcing others to pay woman as much as men regardless of level of experience, productivity, education, etc. So, it is only fair to hold them to their own standards.


Call and ask them, "Why do you hate women?"

Why does it always seem that to lefties with causes, no sacrifice is too great for other people to make?

Obama is a birther!

Obama is apparently a birther too!

Home of the free

The lesson here (especially for natural-born citizens) is this: simply by accident of birth, you are born with a lifelong obligation that you never signed up for to finance the corrupt misdealings of the political class. And if you choose to abandon this obligation, they will bar you from ever entering your homeland again.

Regardless of what the propaganda says, this is not how a free society treats people. It might look and feel like a representative democracy on the surface, but under the hood it’s the modern day equivalent of feudal serfdom.

The land of the free has certainly fallen a long way

source

The modern feminist...

You've come a long way baby!

A Few of the 23 Million

Over 23 million people have given up looking for work. The current administration does not count these people in the unemployment figures. The actual, reported unemployment rate would be at least 2% higher otherwise. The MSM supports this accounting fraud because it helps "their team". If this were a GOP administration, is there any doubt that each story on the unemployment situation would also include mention of the number of people / percentage of people who have dropped out of the work force?

Occupy Angels

Please, won't you become an "Occupy Angel"? So little can go so far...

Milton Friedman on Donahue (1980)

Just as viewable today as it was then and just as worthwhile.

Korans found in Smelly Sewage, where is the outrage?

Thousands of Korans have been found in the bottom of a sewage canal. Where is the outrage? Where are the riots? Where is the world wide condemnation?

What? You did not know about this? Have not heard about it on the nightly news? No mention in the paper? AP did not cover it?

Wonder why... Oh, there it is, this is all taking place in Pakistan. The perpetrators are not Westerners. Hence no need for outrage and all the rest of the hand wringing that goes along with it.

This is just another example of why I do not want to hear a darn thing about their religious sensibilities and how we need to understand. No. What we need to understand is that radical Islamists will use whatever tools are available to bring down the west. If a bunch of mock rage at a perceived religious slight is what is takes to get the ball rolling, so be it but when you look behind the curtain, you see them doing all and far worst than what they are getting mad at us for.

More "PETA Kills Animals"

Apparently PETA is still at it, killing animals that is. Documents obtained from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) killed more than 95 percent of the pets in its care in 2011.

And don't forget here...

Voter fraud in New Hampshire

James O’Keefe strikes again. This time in New Hampshire, documenting how easy it is to commit voter fraud when the state does not require a photo ID to vote.

Barney Frank, so long and good bye!

Barney Frank is one of those politicians that could serve as a poster boy for term limits. I don't believe in them myself, I believe that we deserve the government we have and if his constituents are dumb enough to keep voting for him, then he is exactly what they deserve. It is just a shame that the rest of the country has to put up with him too. Well no more and about time. Bye bye Barney.

Follow the link to a set of headlines about Barney. They are both good for a laugh and a testament to the quality of the elected class.

OWS movement now a terrorist organization

Why isn't the OWS movement listed as a terrorist organization?

Imagine if a Tea Party gathering included one or more individuals with an explosive device like that. It would be 24 / 7 coverage on all major news networks.

I would be shocked if the Government pursued this though I would expect the opposite reaction if this occurred at a Tea Party.

And NO, this is not at all the same as Tea Party participants legally carrying firearms. That was 100% legal, this is 100% NOT. This is in addition to all of the Tea Party gatherings being orderly, peaceful and following all legal requirements. Again, the exact opposite of OWS.

Veterans Day

History of Veterans Day

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.

The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and

Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and

Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated: "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible."

On that same day, President Eisenhower sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.

In 1958, the White House advised VA's General Counsel that the 1954 designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since March 1989 when VA was elevated to a cabinet level department, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee's chairman.

The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.

The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

Marine Corps celebrates 236th birthday today!

Happy Birthday Marine Corps!

Government involvement in the housing crisis

Once again, the MSM was either lazily or willfully asleep instead of doing their jobs.

As the minority of thinking adults knew, the Government played a major roll in the housing bubble. They accomplished this using a three pronged strategy.

1) They (Clinton and Co.) put pressure on the loan industry to improve their sub-prime portfolios using things like the document outlined at the link (give it a read).

When these missing data were factored in, it became clear that the rejection rates were based on legitimate business decisions, not racism.

Still, the study was used to support a wholesale abandonment of traditional underwriting standards — the root cause of the mortgage crisis.

For the first time, Washington's bank regulators put racial lending at the top of their checklist. Banks that failed to throw open their lending windows to credit-poor minorities were denied expansion plans by the Fed in an era of frenzied financial mergers and acquisitions. HUD threatened to deny them access to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which it controlled. And the Justice Department sued them for lending discrimination and branded them as racists in the press.

and

The regulatory missive, which had the effect of law, advised lenders to bend "customary" underwriting standards for minority homebuyers with poor credit.

and

It warned lenders who rejected minority applicants with high debt ratios and low credit scores to "be prepared" to prove to federal regulators and prosecutors they weren't racist. "The Department of Justice is authorized to use the full range of its enforcement authority."

2) Harry Reid and others (along with being involved in #1 above) used Freddy and Fanny as the carrot to help mitigate lender risk associated with these sub-prime loans that the Government was pushing them to make.

3) Either as a coincidence (really?) or through (at least) tack coordination, citizen groups like the ones (not yet) President Obama was involved in (along with Jessie Jackson and other civil rights groups) put social pressure on these same lenders "from the streets" to improve their minority lending.

Were some bankers greedy, sure. If I was told that I needed to make more loans and that I would not be at all responsible for any bad loans, that in fact they were all going to be guaranteed by the Government and the Government wanted me to make the loans, why would I not? Because it was not the right thing to do? If the Government says do it or else, it is the right thing to do, from a corporate perspective.

Yet another reason why the Government should not be as big an influence in the market as they are. When the Government tries to pick winners and losers, the only thing you can be sure of is that nearly everyone will lose.

Exposing Occupy Wall Street

The complete [ongoing] story of the OWS movement.

Putting the plan into action

I noticed this last night. One of the news stations commented in their story about the economy and about the Republican Congress stalling the President's initiatives. I guess they got the talking points memo...

Obama 2012 bumper sticker ideas

Here are some bumper sticker ideas for the Obama 2012 election cycle:

Obama 2012 cause I'm stupid

Obama 2012 cause now he has some experience!

Obama 2012 cause I need a refill of that "hope and change"

Obama 2012 cause the unions say so!

Obama 2012, its the Chicago way!

Obama 2012 cause Michael needs the frequent flyer miles

Obama 2012 cause I know people that still own their own homes

Obama 2012, you don't want to be called a racist do you?