"Don't hurt people and don't take their stuff" - Matt Kibbe

12/22/12

Plain Language about Gun Control

Penn and Teller, nobody makes their case in more plain language than them. Well, at least Penn. Teller never speaks in public.

(Rude language alert. Some of the words that Penn Gillette uses in this video are likely to be offensive to some people. Okay... most of the words.)


12/21/12

Fighting for Our Right to Due Process


By Grant Davies

If we allow the people who really make the laws in this country, the Senate/House conferees, to make a  law in secret that removes our most fundamental right - that of habeas corpus - we will deserve whatever befalls us subsequently.

As a country, we went to sleep and allowed these people to shove Obamacare down the throats of the 3/4 of the American people who responded to the many polls at the time. Now we are stuck with it. At least until it implodes (as it was designed to do) and the debate over changing it to the single payer socialist wet dream begins. But I digress.

So if we sleep through this one, the removal of our right to due process, we might as well turn the clock back to the darkest single day in the history of liberty in America. The day in 1942 when our own government rounded up well over a hundred thousand of our fellow citizens and herded them into concentration camps because they were of Japanese descent. Almost all of their property was taken and never returned. The inadequate apology and the small check the government cut for the few left alive many decades later can never atone for that shame.

Anyone who thinks it can never happen again is foolish. Particularly since these secret conferees and their puppeteers (like the idiot John McCain) have just pulled an "end around" on the 2/3 of the Senators who passed an amendment specifically against such an unconstitutional trampling of our rights just a few weeks ago.

There is one Senator who is fighting with all his might against these forces. (Apologies if there are others who have gotten no attention in the media.) It is Rand Paul of Kentucky. If you value your freedom, I suggest you watch this video. And I suggest you support Senator Paul in his efforts. In this fight Rand Paul is our champion.

From my perspective, this is the single most important issue of the time. Without the right to due process, we have nothing. It has defined who we are as Americans. Compared to the loss of this fundamental right, all other issues before us now shrink to insignificance.

That's my opinion, yours is welcome too.



12/18/12

Treasure, Protect and Mourn Them All -- Reflections on the Newtown Tragedy


The author of the following essay is a mother of three from the Chicago area. It was originally published on a private blog that chronicles the daily lives of her family. I have been given permission to publish it on the sites where I am a contributing writer. Since writing such as this, without expectation, can possibly go viral on the internet, it has been decided to publish it anonymously to protect the privacy of the family. The names of the children have been omitted. Otherwise, it is submitted as written. The perspective of this mother is one that is different from what I have read since the horrific events of last Friday. But I feel it is a reflection of the prevailing perspective of most of the people who have been suffering along with the devastated families of the victims.
Grant Davies

Treasure, Protect and Mourn Them All -- Reflections on the Newtown Tragedy


One thing that will give a person perspective is someone else's misery. Although we have been careful to monitor media in our house and not speak about the recent events in Connecticut, obviously my husband and I have been disturbed and heartbroken about the elementary school children who were gunned down in Newtown. And although it would be painful to learn about this no matter who you are and what your station in life is, this feels particularly painful to us as parents of children who are right around the age of these precious little victims.

When I look at my first grader and her big blue eyes and imagine those eyes being closed forever....when I see my pre-schooler skipping around like her little fairy-elf self, barely touching the ground and imagine never hearing her laugh again...it just destroys me. If I couldn't hold my toddler close to me, as he clutches his blanket and sucks his thumb...I don't know that I could live another day myself. And yet there are parents today who are burying their children one week before Christmas. It hurts to think about it.

What I've found equally frustrating during this time, and it is just an observation really, is that amidst all the reaction, I don't hear people mourning the loss of children everywhere, everyday. Make no mistake, I believe with all my heart that what happened in Newtown was a shocking tragedy and I am mourning the loss of those beautiful children. But I find myself grieving for the children of the south side of Chicago too.

How many of them have been gunned down this school year? Where is the national mourning for these children? Of course there isn't any. Even within our city, we consume these news reports without blinking an eye. We can speculate on the reasons why this is the case. But I won't bother to here, because this isn't a political blog or a blog on social/cultural commentary. However, I have been thinking of the heartbreak that goes on daily for the parents of those children, caught in gang crossfire, and I grieve for them. And how about children all across the globe who live in fear of this sort of thing *every day*? No one expects children in Connecticut to be scared to go to school, thank God. But what about kids in Syria? Or how about child soldiers in Africa? The reality is that the world does a crappy job protecting our children. And every single one of them should be just as treasured and protected and mourned as the ones in Newtown.

I admit, the story has gotten under my skin enough that I've tried harder to stay patient with the kids when they've tested me over the past few days. And when my pre-schooler got ill on Saturday night and my husband stayed with her on the couch, I pulled my first-born into my room and had her sleep with me. All because I could not bear the feeling of being alone and having thoughts of those school children carry me into sleep. Although she was totally asleep when I went in her room, and she is heavy as a sack of concrete mix these days, I carried her into my room and curled my body around hers, reassuring myself that my daughter was alive and healthy and safe, and for at least tonight, we would be together as mother and child.

The risk of living is dying. I know we cannot live in fear and I thank God that we don't. I know I will lose my temper with the kids again. I know I will take them for granted again. We all do this. It's human. Actually, I am not sure how we could survive without this sort of behavior...after all, who could walk around and stay sane if they knew they had to protect a precious jewel every single day - a jewel that has its own thoughts, feelings, actions and plans? It would be impossible.

So we just do the best we can, we apologize when we screw up, we use opportunities like this tragedy to remind ourselves to treasure each moment we're given, and above all, try to love the best we can. It's a disgusting, broken world. I'm taking comfort that for those of us who believe, good always wins and God saves.


12/10/12

Info about Various Charities

As you might imagine, I spend quite a bit more time reading blogs than writing on my own. One of them is called Republic-MainStreet. Quite often I find interesting information and opinions there.

The following information qualifies as useful as well as interesting. Assuming it is correct (I haven't done the fact checking myself), it could be an eye opener as you consider whether you have enough money left over after Bushanomics/Obamanomics to give to any of the listed charities.

It's really just a reminder to do your due diligence each time you give so you will know if you are being a good steward with the funds available to you. So my advice is: if any of these are your favorites, check 'em out before you write the check to see if this info is correct.

Editors note..Shortly after publishing this post a friend sent me this URL. It's another tool to use when checking things out.    Charity Navigator.




12/6/12

Deck the Halls with Macro Follies

With all the recent stories of people stealing Christmas gifts;

I thought I would join in the fun and steal another video from Dan Mitchell and give it to all of you for Christmas. That clears up my list!

So here is the great vid full of wonderful songs for the holidays that I carted away from his site. They are about my favorite subject. You guessed it... Keynesian economics!

Merry Christmas!

12/5/12

Quid Pro Quo as Detroit Swirls the Bowl


As the "leaders" of the most pathetic example of modern day liberalism meet to discuss the method for  blaming someone else for their stupidity, this moron distinguishes herself by her proposed solution.

She claims that "leadership" demands begging for bacon (as she puts it) from Obama because she and the overwhelming majority of other non-thinkers voted for him. It's payback time.

She claims it worked before. Who can argue with logic like that? How long before this comes to Illinois?