The Original Musings

Be aware! The definition of racism is changing!

Admit it … almost had you going there, didn’t it?

Something worth sharing!

If you missed Kevin Jackson on The O’Reilly Factor, you’ll definitely want to watch this video of the segment. I find it hard to disagree with anything he says, personally. And for a giggle: I especially enjoyed his statement just after the three minute mark where he remarks that the NAACP has about as much use as a Diet Coke does in Rosie O’Donnell’s diet.

He’s also got a book out which is entitled: The BIG Black Lie: How I learned the truth about the Democratic Party.

More power to ya’ll — maybe Governor Brewer should run for President

This was sent to me by Linda D. (I added the parentheticals.)

I’m a legal American citizen and I must show my ID:

1. When pulled over by the police.
2. When making purchases on my department store credit card.
3. When I show up for a doctor’s appointment. (Or taking my kid to the doctor, Urgent Care, ER, etc.)
4. When filling out a credit card or loan application. (Or for that matter, applying for a job.)
5. When applying for or renewing a driver’s license or passport. (Or getting an ID for my kids.)
6. When applying for any kind of insurance.
7. When filling out college applications. (Or enrolling my kids in school.)
8. When donating blood.
9. When obtaining certain prescription drugs. (Or buying anything with ephedrine even though that ISN’T prescription.)
10. When making some debit purchases, especially if I’m out of state.
11. When collecting a boarding pass for airline or train travel.

I’m sure there are more instances, but the point is that we citizens of the  USA  are required to prove who we are nearly every day! Why should people in this country illegally be exempt? Why shouldn’t we guard our borders as closely as every other country in the world does?

Could there ever be?

Whether you’re reading this before your day really gets underway, or after your day is winding down to a close — or even a day or two after the fact — please take a moment and reflect on why the day is so important. It’s not just a national holiday, a day off work, a day for a picnic or a cookout …

Today is Memorial Day.

“Thank you” simply isn’t enough.

“Remember” isn’t enough either.

And yet, in the end, that’s really all that can be said.

* – You Can’t Make This Shit Up

Here’s a trio of quickies for your reading pleasure.  I ask you:  with news like this, who needs fiction?

Here’s one from the “you gotta be kidding me” files: The victim was wearing skinny jeans, therefore, she could not possibly have been raped.  You want to ask how the hell skinny jeans = not raped, don’t you?  Well, let me explain that for you. Nicholas Gonzales (23) and a 24-year old woman met for drinks in April 2008 and then returned to his house to listen to music. Gonzales claims they then had consensual sex together; the victim says she was raped. She testified that “I struggled to try to get up for a while and then he undid my jeans and he pulled them off.” An Australian jury acquitted Gonzales of rape because they accepted his attorney’s argument that he personally believed it would be “difficult for skinny jeans to be taken off by someone else unless the wearer’s assisting, collaborating, consenting.” [The Frisky]

This being a Census year, we’ve all been faced with the form demanding answers to the list of Census questions (which go well beyond the data they’re supposed to be entitled to — name of the head of household and a headcount for how many persons live there). Failure to complete the form will result in a Census worker being sent to your home to demand the answers in person, and failure to answer the worker will earn you not only a fine, but can also result in the application of ever-increasing “inconveniences” like suspension of mail delivery to pressure you into providing the information.  Now here’s something you may not have known:  Census workers – all of them, even the brand new temporary worker hired just to gather data — are empowered under federal law to actually demand access to any apartment or any other type of home or room that is rented out, in order to count persons in the abode and for “the collection of statistics.”  If the owner of your leased premises refuses to grant the Census worker access to your living quarters — whether you are home or not — the landlord himself will face sanctions and can be fined $500 per occurrence.  In addition, some Census workers are demanding — and receiving – private cell phone numbers from landlords in order to call tenants to try to obtain Census information.  [AJC - Bob Barr]

He’s the President of the United States … why should he have to honor the fallen at Arlington National Cemetery and lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for Memorial Day?  Obama decided to skip out of DC and has gone home to Chicago for the long holiday weekend.  On Monday, instead of the Commander In Chief being at Arlington, he is scheduled to participate in a Memorial Day ceremony at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois and Joe Biden will lay the wreath at Arlington instead.  But don’t worry, Obama will be back in plenty of time to preside over a June 2 ceremony at the White House, where Paul McCartney will be given the Gershwin Prize, a lifetime achievement award for contributions to pop music.  Glad to see he’s got his priorities straight. [GJSentinel] & [Spinner]

… a veritable cornucopia of things to piss you off …

Serving up the latest in Zero Tolerance and Obama fare … mmm, mmm, good!

Appetizer

Five California high school students were told they could either turn their t-shirts inside out or go home on May 5th for wearing t-shirts with US flags on them.  The Vice Principal said he was afraid for the boys’ safety since they were wearing these “incendiary” shirts on the “only day” that Mexican students can express their national pride.  When the boys refused to turn the shirts inside out – pointing out, among other things that the shirts are not a violation of the school dress code, that they each have several different US flag shirts which they wear all the time without challenge, that the Mexican students wear Mexican flag shirts any time they feel like wearing them, and that they felt that turning the shirts inside out was disrespectful to the flag, to them and a violation of their first amendment rights — they were sent home.  On Tuesday, May 11, following a school board meeting in which multiple parents expressed their displeasure at the situation, Superintendent Wesley Smith said, “They have a right to wear those shirts on school campus, on all of our campuses, they shouldn’t have been asked to take them off.” The superintendent also said an investigation into how administrators handled everything on Cinco de Mayo is still underway and should be complete by June, after which they’ll decide if any disciplinary action should be taken.  [FOX News, ABC News]

Wine

Remember when Joe the Plumber asked Obama exactly what he wanted to do if elected, and Obama, speaking off the cuff, said that “it’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance at success, too.  I think when you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody.” Remember when people said that sounded an awful lot like Socialism if not full blown Communism and his supporters accused them of over-reacting and blowing things out of proportion?  Well, on April 28, Obama went off the teleprompter and tried to paraphrase while speaking in Quincy, Illinois.  Here’s part of what he said:  “We’re not, we’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that’s fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or providing good service. We don’t want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy.” Silly me, and here I had no idea that Obama gets to decide when we’ve “made enough money” — or whether or not my success was “fairly earned” providing a good product or a good service.  Furthermore, I must admit that I didn’t have a clue that it was my responsibility to “grow our economy,” core or otherwise.  All these years, I thought I was supposed to be growing my own economy so as to support my family.  [Google It™ or you can *watch* him say it under the fold]

Entreé

Ten-year old Leighann came home from her Texas elementary school in tears, afraid to tell her parents that (for the first time in her life) she had gotten in trouble at school.  Leighann and her friend were under orders to serve a week’s detention during lunch and recess, and they had to write an essay about what they did and why it was wrong.  What had they done? Leighann’s friend gave her a single Jolly Rancher candy.  Leighann’s parents say the punishment was extreme, but school officials insist it was not.  Jack Ellis, superintendent for the school district,  says it’s a matter of following state guidelines to limit the amount of junk food in schools. “Whether or not I agree with the guidelines, we have to follow the rules.” The state Department of Agriculture does in fact mandate that school lunch foods need to be baked rather than fried, nutritious rather than loaded with empty calories and things like that.  But a department spokesman says that there is absolutely nothing in the rules that compels a school to punish a student for bringing his own junk food to school, that their policy does not prohibit friends from sharing a Jolly Rancher candy, and that if a parent wants to pack candy in the child’s lunch, they can.   The department even sent a letter to the school reminding staff that state policy doesn’t outline such punishments but the school is not backing down.  Leighann’s parents say the school routinely goes too far in punishing students:  Students at the school are required to wear a belt.  A few months ago Leighann’s younger brother was given an in-school suspension for failing to wear one even though his father called the school secretary to explain that their new puppy chewed up the boy’s only belt that morning.  The boy was made to “sit in a room all day and stare at a wall.” Leighann’s parents say that they’re pulling their kids out of the school at the end of the school year; if necessary, they say they’ll send them to private school.  [FOX News]

On the Side

Speaking at Hampton University in Virginia, President Obama suggested that “less is more” when it comes to absorbing news content and urged graduates to take a skeptical eye toward news from blogs, cable television and radio as well as modern gadgets like iPods and PlayStations.  Obama told graduates that the class of 2010 is “coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank that high on the truth meter. And with iPods and iPads; and Xboxes and PlayStations — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation. So all of this is not only putting pressure on you; it’s putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy. With so many voices clamoring for attention on blogs, and on cable, on talk radio, it can be difficult, at times, to sift through it all — to know what to believe, to figure out who’s telling the truth and who’s not. Let’s face it, even some of the craziest claims can quickly gain traction. I’ve had some experience in that regard.” You will no doubt recall that last September, the president used a string of major network and cable interviews to scold the media for playing up “outrageous” political comments.  Then Obama and his administration spent much of last fall criticizing Fox News in specific. It’s now starting to seem that targeting cable and blogs has become something of a hobby: In February, he urged Democratic senators to turn off their televisions. He singled out FOX, CNN, MSNBC and blogs, urging the lawmakers to get out of the “echo chamber.” In March an e-mail was sent to Senate staffers warning them not to visit The Drudge Report out of concern for a non-existent virus.  Pointing out that nobody has used the media more masterfully than Obama, Brent Bozell, president of Media Research Center, says that in order to prove his “sincerity” about media and technology gripes, Obama should delete his massive e-mail list and take his staff off TV.  “It’s just posturing on his part. He is trying to put himself in opposition to those forces to improve his status with the public.”  [FOX News]

Dessert

Two years ago, 5-year old Ryan lost part of his left leg in a lawnmower accident.  His leg was amputated below the knee, and he wears a prosthetic limb.  Ryan is a kindergarten student, and the bus ride from his home to the school is about an hour long.  He and his 7-year old sister used to ride the bus to and from school every day, but that stopped earlier this month because the school has informed Ryan’s parents that they must transport Ryan and his sister from now on.  Why?  Kids on the school bus — older kids, some as old as 13 — have been bullying Ryan, calling him names and taunting him.  They’ve stolen Ryan’s backpack.  They’ve tried to pull off his prosthetic leg.  Ryan’s dad spoke with the parents of  the kids involved and he thought the matter was resolved, until May 4th, when Ryan was given a black eye after being punched on the bus by a 13-year old who is one of the biggest kids on the bus.  After talking to the boy’s parents and getting nowhere, Ryan’s dad asked the bus driver and the school principal to do something about it, because “He’s young, he’s five, he’s disabled. I can’t ride the bus and stand up for him, you know. He can’t defend himself, so who easier to pick on than a kid who gets punched in the eye and sits quietly in the corner.  I asked for the child to be disciplined. I asked for him to be suspended from school to teach him a lesson because there’s a zero tolerance for bullying.  Instead we were told Ryan will no longer be on the bus, that it’s not safe for him or my daughter and that we have to drive them the round trip.” When Ryan’s dad complained, the school district offered to pay for the gas to make the trip each day.  [CBC News]

You’ll find that video under the fold, as promised. Think of it as the after-dinner mint.

Read the rest of this entry »

You would think the President of these United States would be aware of what he is presiding over.

I suppose the reason three different people forwarded an AP article to me is because they’ve been subjected at one time or another to my ranting about misuse of the term “Democracy” to define our system of government.  It irritates me to no end to listen to some dumbass wax lyrical about our “Democratic” government and how other countries should adopt “Democracy” so that they too can enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Despite my ire, I usually do not bother to correct imbeciles, primarily because I generally go out of my way to avoid controversy or conflict. If it’s irritating enough, I typically come home and rant about it on my blog rather than engage in frustrating and often futile attempts to educate idiots.

Given sufficient provocation, however, there can come a point when (regardless of what the subject may be) the person(s) doing the speaking have managed to invoke my input. Sometimes it’s because they include me in the conversation despite my attempts to politely demure. Other times it’s because the person(s) they’re talking to may not be beyond salvation and for whatever reason I have decided I give a damn about their being misled. Occasionally it comes about because I decide to Stir Shit Up™, which (depending on my mood) can be either cathartic or entertaining.

I can embark upon a rant of epic proportion to explain that while our government relies on some aspects of “Representative Democracy” we are actually — by both definition and design — a “Constitutional Republic.”  I like to begin by mentioning the Pledge of Allegiance: “… and to the republic, for which it stands …” And I point out that in Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, it clearly states: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.” And then, after I’m all warmed up, I really get going.

In this case, though, I can’t actually take it up with the person who said it, so I’ll have to do it here.

In a blunt caution to political friend and foe, President Barack Obama said Saturday that partisan rants and name-calling under the guise of legitimate discourse pose a serious danger to America’s democracy, and may incite “extreme elements” to violence.

The comments, in a graduation speech at the University of Michigan’s huge football stadium, were Obama’s most direct take about the angry politics that have engulfed his young presidency after long clashes over health care, taxes and the role of government.

… [In his 31-minute speech, Obama] … took direct aim at the anti-government language so prevalent today.

“What troubles me is when I hear people say that all of government is inherently bad,” Obama said after receiving an honorary doctor of laws degree. “When our government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, government is us.”  ^{(emphasis mine)}

In our “democracy?”   Exactly what “democracy” is that, Barry?

In the most common contemporary usage of the word and what (in my experience, anyhow) 95% of people mean when they use the term, Democracy refers to a system of government (either direct or representative) chosen by the people. Inevitably when this comes up, someone will trot out “of the people, by the people and for the people” in an attempt to demonstrate that our form of government is a Democracy just exactly as the Founding Fathers intended. Democracy, they proclaim, is when the people call all the shots, and that’s what we do when we elect our leaders.

Accurately defined, a direct Democracy is a form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly — through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums, etc. To reduce it to its barest essentials, in a direct Democracy the people are making the decisions and the government is enforcing them. A representative Democracy is one in which the people elect the leadership. These leaders are then entrusted to make the decisions (theoretically subject to the will of the people), and to enforce them. On all but a small scale neither form of this will actually work and the Founding Fathers knew as much.

The fact of the matter is that Democracy was very much opposed and criticized by the Founding Fathers.

Many states allow for policy questions to be decided directly by the people by voting on ballot initiatives (those which originate with the people) or referendums (those which originate with the state). You’ll notice that the Constitution does not provide for national ballot initiatives or referendums. The reason, bluntly, is they were not confident that the people had the wisdom to make complex decisions for the benefit of all rather than based on self-interest and/or to not allow themselves to be persuaded by artful argument.

In Federalist No. 63, James Madison wrote that “There are particular moments in public affairs when the people, stimulated by some irregular passion, or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be most ready to lament and condemn. In these critical moments, how salutary will be the interference of some temperate and respectable body of citizens, in order to check the misguided career and to suspend the blow meditated by the people against themselves, until reason, justice and truth can regain their authority over the public mind.”

In Federalist No. 10, Madison observed that one of the most important differences between a Democracy and a Republic is “the delegation of the government [in a republic] to a small number of citizens elected by the rest.” The primary benefit of this, Madison wrote, was to “refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Under such a regulation it may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the same purpose.”

Not only were they worried about the wisdom of the people, they saw great dangers in majorities forcing their will on minorities. Madison worried about the “leveling impulse” of Democracy. In Federalist No. 10, he advocated a Constitutional Republic over Democracy precisely to protect the individual from the will of the majority. He said, in part, “A pure democracy can admit no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will be felt by a majority, and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party. Hence it is, that democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

John Adams defined our Constitutional Republic as “a government of laws, and not of men.” He insisted that our government must be “bound by fixed laws, which the people have a voice in making, and a right to defend.” The power of government officials is thus checked by allowing no single individual to hold executive, legislative and judicial powers; these powers are instead separated into three distinct branches that serve as a check and balance against each other. Our Constitutional Republic is specifically designed so that no person or group can rise to absolute power; further, the power of the majority of the people is checked by limiting that power to electing representatives who are required to legislate within the limits of overarching constitutional law which a simple majority cannot modify.

In summary and simply put, classifying our government as a “Democracy” is wholly inaccurate.  Our Founding Fathers went to great lengths to protect us from a pure Democracy. It bothers me that our President isn’t aware of this fact.

I’ve quoted some more of the article under the fold, or you can go read the entire thing here.  Do at least read the bit under the fold — you’ll enjoy ol’ Barry’s advice on citizenship and listening to opposing viewpoints. 
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This would be funny if it weren’t true …

Derwood sent this one along.

IF YOU…

…CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR

…CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

… CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET SHOT.

… CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

…CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

…CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

…CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

BUT, IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET:

A JOB, A DRIVERS LICENSE, SOCIAL SECURITY CARD, WELFARE, FOOD STAMPS, CREDIT CARDS, SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE, FREE EDUCATION, FREE HEALTH CARE, A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON, BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE , THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY’S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON’T GET ENOUGH RESPECT

…AND, YOU DON’T HAVE TO PRESS 1 TO SPEAK IN ENGLISH!

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION.

I’m so glad we always put ourselves first when we try to do what’s best in our country.

You should enjoy these!

A FOX News article tells how 7,500 people sold their souls because they didn’t read the fine print.

A computer game retailer revealed that it legally owns the souls of thousands of online shoppers, thanks to a clause in the terms and conditions agreed to by online shoppers.

The retailer, British firm GameStation, added the “immortal soul clause” to the contract signed before making any online purchases earlier this month. It states that customers grant the company the right to claim their soul.

“By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions.”

GameStation’s form also points out that “we reserve the right to serve such notice in 6 (six) foot high letters of fire, however we can accept no liability for any loss or damage caused by such an act. If you a) do not believe you have an immortal soul, b) have already given it to another party, or c) do not wish to grant Us such a license, please click the link below to nullify this sub-clause and proceed with your transaction.”

The terms of service were updated on April Fool’s Day as a gag, but the retailer did so to make a very real point: No one reads the online terms and conditions of shopping, and companies are free to insert whatever language they want into the documents. [...]

The company noted that it would not be enforcing the ownership rights, and planned to e-mail customers nullifying any claim on their soul.

A surprising (at least to me) 88% of shoppers did not check the box which would have negated the soul-selling whilst keeping the transaction. That’s scary. I’m guess I’m anal or something because I actually DO read all the fine print. I almost got burned one time on eBay when I didn’t read all the terms and conditions of the sale which stated that if the winning bid was under a certain figure the postage and handling for the $10 item was $99. Since then, I go looking for crap in the fine print before I virtually sign on the dotted line.

From Hit & Run comes this notice of a challenge: the First Annual Everybody Draw Mohammed day, to be specific. Michael writes:

Via Dan Savage’s blog at The Stranger, some clever chappie (I don’t know who) has declared May 20, 2010 “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day,” in support of Matt Stone and Trey Parker and in opposition to religious thuggery.  [...]

I will be employing my tremendous skill as an illustrator, of course, and expect that my colleagues will do the same. If they refuse, they will be declared weak-kneed, namby-pamby, quisling infidels and will be shamed on this blog (Though such idle threats rarely work these days; perhaps I could threaten them with a painful death, which seems to do the trick). If readers would like to show their solidarity, please email your Mohammed masterpieces to me here: [obscured by me - go to his site to get the address, I don't want to contribute any fodder for spambots! I already admitted I'm paranoid about crap like this.] The best ones will be published on Hit & Run, which, along with the concomitant death threat, is reward enough.

I have to confess, I’m kind of surprised by Comedy Central pulling the episode. I didn’t realize they were that wimpy. You can’t honestly tell me there haven’t been dozens upon dozens of more offensive South Park episodes — why weren’t they pulled? I’ll tell you why: because Censorship = BAD. Shame on Comedy Central for caving.

Finally, you’ll get a kick out of this one … From the BBC News, an interesting little typo occurred on one page of a cookbook. Seems that although almost every recipe in the cookbook called for “salt and freshly ground black pepper,” one recipe had a tiny faux pas …

An Australian publisher has had to pulp and reprint a cookbook after one recipe listed “salt and freshly ground black people” instead of black pepper.

Penguin Group Australia had to reprint 7,000 copies of Pasta Bible last week, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported.

The reprint cost A$20,000 ($18,000; £12,000), but stock in bookshops will not be recalled as it is “extremely hard” to do so, Penguin said. [...]

The publisher professed amazement as to why anybody would be offended by the “silly mistake” but has assured that anyone who complains will be offered a replacement of the corrected edition. Has this dude read a newspaper lately?  Does he not realize how tight people’s knickers are wadded these days?  Personally, mind you, I’d like to get hold of one of the misprints!