When non-experts speak

As I was doing my morning news review, I went to the Drudge Report and saw this screamer headline:"Introducing the world's smallest gun that fires deadly 300 mph bullets! " complete with exclamation point! Many people know me as a certified firearms instructor. And a member of the leadership group ( a late joining member) that was responsible for passing the Minnesota Personal Protection Act (misnamed Conceal/Carry). So, I immediately knew that this was an idiot headline.
300 mph as a deadly speed is relative. A glacier moving at 300 mph would be miraculously stunning. A jet flying at 300 mph is creeping along. A comet speeding at 300 mph is not speeding. A train that goes 300 mph is noteworthy. A bullet at 300 mph is a weak sister. Real weak. 300 mph equates to 440 fps (feet per second). Ballistically that is termed as sub-sonic (sonic or the speed of sound is generally considered to be 1,100 fps). My 45 shoots at a muzzle velocity of around 830 fps. That is considered a slow round. With a heavy bullet. The reason speed is important is because it figures into muzzle energy. Speed and the weight of the round are put into a formula that tells us what the "work" of that round will be. So, taking 300 mph (440 fps and reading the article, the headline is also wrong as the speed is 270 mph and therefore muzzle speed is 330 fps) and that this is a very small round (light weight) and doing the conversion (from the Swiss Mini-Gun website ) equates to less than a foot pound of energy. The Swiss Mini-Gun website also says that the round has less energy than a BB gun. Now, don't get me wrong. I would have no desire to put the muzzle up against any part of my body. Or anything else for that matter as I observe the safety maxim "Don't ever point the muzzle of a firearm at anything that you're not willing to destroy".
But as you read the article, the writer found someone who he described as a "consultant forensics consultant" and "firearms expert " and who spoke in dire terms: puncturing skin and bones, threshold, lethal etc. However, all his warnings of lethality, when put into analysis of the facts as presented, put the specter of serious doubt as to his expertise. And the real agenda of the writer.
And this is same screaming lack of logic, we found an "expert who agrees with our agenda" that you hear from the left-on nearly every issue.

A change of pace

With all the politics we write about, I thought I'd find something that would take a different direction:



Also, what ever you, do NOT click on any of the follow-up videos that reference the Ford SportKa and a cat!

"Because they can..."

The SD35 Republican convention was this weekend. In even numbered years the convention business is to endorse candidates and vote on resolutions. Every two years we endorse for the House of Representatives and every four years we endorse for the Senate also. Senator Claire Robling (R-SD35) gave her report on the Senate. She talked about the Senate vote not to confirm Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau head of MNDOT. Sen. Robling was very upset. She said that Carol Molnau was her representative and was also the one who encouraged her to run for Senate. And Sen. Robling was very clear that the only reason that the Senate DFL majority fired Carol Molnau was because "They could." The DFL has a long memory and no patience. Or grace. Or humility. Or logic. Or economic sense. They are a vindictive lot. And with a veto proof majority they are drunk with power. Sen. Robling also talked about the DFL victory in Tom Neuville's district (SD25) that gave the DFL the ability to override a gubernatorial veto-which they have.
The House of representatives is in a parallel strait. With an overwhelming majority in the House, the DFL is again very emboldened. And the Republicans have no one else but themselves to blame. As Savage Republican has pointed out the problem isn't that aren't enough Republicans in the House. The problem is that aren't enough conservatives (as witnessed by the 6 RINOs that voted with the radical left to override the governor's veto of the largest tax increase in Minnesota history-just when we're looking at an economic slowdown). And why is there now the largest tax increase in Minnesota history that goes NOT for roads and bridges but buildings and bike paths?
"Because they can..." It's what they do. And it's what they do to you.
Ron Carey , Executive Chair of the MN GOP showed up to address the SD35 Convention. I talked to him briefly before his address. I was clear that a perfect confluence of events, given to us by the DFL, has transpired . And that if the MN Repubs can not take back the House this election cycle, the Repubs need to close up shop and clip coupons for a living.
Unfortunately, his address was boiler plate, off the shelf stuff. Here was a golden opportunity to get the troops ready for the upcoming battle. And it was,rather unfortunately, missed.

It's not too late for Sanity in Scott County

Courtesy Minnesota Majority -
Tell Your Metro County Commissioners to Reject the Tax Increase

There may still be an opportunity to block a portion of the massive $6.6 billion transit bill passed by the Minnesota state legislature. The transit bill included over $1.1 billion of funding for mass transit boondoggle programs, funded by an increase in the metro-county sales tax and an increase in the vehicle excise tax.

According to our sources, these tax increases must be ratified by a resolution passed by the Board of County Commissioners within each of the seven metro counties in which these tax increases are to go into effect.

If a County Board rejects the tax increase, it cannot be imposed upon the citizens of that county. If enough constituents take the time to contact their County Commissioners, there’s a chance that we may be able to block these tax increases in some counties.

We have heard that some County Commissioners are telling constituents that they can't stop the sales tax and the vehicle excise tax. Have them read this section of the bill passed by the state legislature. It clearly states that the County Boards must pass a resolution for these taxes to go into effect.


Scott County Commissioners

District Name Phone Alt Phone Email
Dist 1 Joseph Wagner 952-445-7750 612-270-2660 jwagner@co.scott.mn.us
Dist 2 Bob Vogel 952-445-7750 952-461-2384 bvogel@co.scott.mn.us
Dist 3 Jerry Hennen 952-445-7750 952-445-1013 jhennen@co.scott.mn.us
Dist 4 Barbara Marschall 952-445-7750 952-477-5748 bmarschall@co.scott.mn.us
Dist 5 Jon Ulrich 952-445-7750 952-447-2286 julrich@co.scott.mn.us

Taxes and property rights

Yesterday I came across this article on tax cuts in communist controlled Hong Kong. Seems that there is a budget surplus in Hong Kong. Now, here in America the Congress spends the surplus, as does the Minnesota Legislature and then that spending becomes the new budget low level spending limit. Go below that line and the lefty pukes warn that senior citizens will eat dog food while living in a snow bank, babies will starve while they have no diapers and puppies will burst into flames. But, in Communist Hong Kong they cut taxes when they have a surplus. Get this: personal salary taxes (income taxes) were only cut 1%- from 16% to 15%. A 15% income tax! In a communist area. And corporate income taxes were also cut 1%: 17.5% to 16.5%. Most of us here in America would kill to have tax rates like that.
Today,to further point out how far behind we truly are here in America, the IPRI (International Property Rights Index) was posted. It is an exhaustive survey of how property rights are ensured and protected worldwide.
The good news: the United States is in the top 20% of countries worldwide that protect property rights. The bad news: we rank at number 19. Behind Finland, Ireland,even Canada! And of course, Hong Kong.
I remember a scene with Russel Crowe in "Gladiator". As he is going to appear in the Colosseum to fight , he hears the roar of the crowd. Thinking of Marcus Aurelius' command to re-establish the republic, Maximus turns to Proximo and says "Marcus Aurelius had a dream that was Rome, Proximo . This is not it. This is not it! "
And so it would be if our Founding Fathers came back to see what we've done to their dream.

Representative Erhardt

I just heard an interview on KTLK The Chris Baker Show with Rep. Ron Erhardt regarding his proposal to tax clothing (where Erhardt "reaches across the aisle" to a DFL'er Hortman. Not much of a reach. More of a hug.) . What an arrogant tripe! I've requested that Chris put the interview on a separate podcast. Rep. Erhardt says that his proposal to tax clothing is an attempt to start a debate on how to help people that are negatively impacted by the largest tax increase in state history. Chris suggested to Erhardt that all services be denied to all illegals. However, Rep. Erhardt then invited Chris to come to the state capitol. And then went on to say "What do you want to do? Deny rights to illegals?" Erhardt went into full deny/swerve/discombobulate mode after that. Again,here is the link at KTLK.
Also remember that no tax ever stays at a low level-ever. And once the clothing exemption is breached, the food exemption is next (we're already taxed on snack foods). Then prescription drugs. We started out at at 3% sales tax rate in Minnesota. We are now over 100% over that. Do not accept the spurious argument "Well, we have inflation!" The tax rate takes inflated dollars. Tax proponents always lie. Always.

The new Sales Tax - How to save Money

Since others have highlighted the legislators who stuck with this tax for pork bill -
I decided to focus on one of the other groups responsible and benefiting from the pork.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce -
A list of the members is available, but like most large organizations (AARP for instance) most people join not for the politics but for other benefits.
So if you are a member, I would suggest you cancel your membership and use the money you save to pay those taxes.

But that is not to say that there is no one to hold accountable - Namely the board of directors. Here is a list of the companies who have representative on the board.
Kindly let them know why you will no longer be supporting their establishment - You need to save the money to pay for all the new taxes and fees.

Officers:
SJE-Rhombus Controls
Detroit Lakes

Hubbard Radio
Minneapolis

General Mills, Inc.
Minneapolis

Northern State Bank
Thief River Falls

Board Members:

Boise Cascade Corporation
International Falls

Thern, Inc.
Winona

Bennett Office Technologies, Inc.
Willmar

The Bernick Companies
St. Cloud

Ruttger's Sugar Lake Lodge
Grand Rapids

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Minneapolis


Padilla Speer Beardsley, Inc.
Minneapolis

Medtronic, Inc.
Fridley

Northwest Airlines
Eagan

Cambria
Le Sueur

TPS Insurance
Owatonna

L & M Radiator, Inc.
Hibbing

Cargill
Wayzata

Otter Tail Corporation
Fergus Falls

Stanton Group
Plymouth

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America
Minneapolis

Par Aide Products Company
Lino Lakes

Target Corporation
Minneapolis

Coughlan Companies
Mankato

HGA Architects & Engineers
Rochester

Shaw-Lundquist Associates
St. Paul

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Grand Casino
Hinckley

GCI Systems
St. Paul

Xcel Energy, Minnesota, North & South Dakota
Minneapolis

LDI Fibres
New Hope

UPM-Kymmene Blandin Paper Company
Grand Rapids

The Schwan Food Company
Marshall

Linsk Flowers
St. Louis Park

Best Oil Company
Cloquet

Minnesota Power
Duluth

Taylor Corporation
Eagan

Nelson, Tietz & Hoye
Minneapolis

US Bank
Minneapolis

State Farm Companies
Mendota Heights

Best Buy Co., Inc.
Richfield

3M
St. Paul

Custom Products of Litchfield
Litchfield

Grand View Lodge
Nisswa

Rosen's Diversified, Inc.
Fairmont

Alexandria Extrusion
Alexandria

UPS
Minneapolis

Hormel Foods Corporation

Burnsville Chamber of Commerce
Burnsville

HealthPartners
Minneapolis

Ecolab
St. Paul

Morrie’s Automotive Group
Minnetonka

non sequitur

I'm watching "Triple Cross" on National Geographic. It's a special on AQ in America. One character with which I had no familiarity is named Ali Mohamed. He was s sergeant at Ft. Bragg, stole training manuals and was a spy for OBL. Wanting more information I googled Mohhamed's name with the qualifier sergeant and 9-11. I came across this article from our favorite paper, the NYT. All the dates I'm seeing in "Triple Cross" are all 1990's. The article excoriates GWB for not capturing OBL. Yet with all that was happening on Clinton's watch, the NYT article never mentions all the incredible opportunities the Clinton FBI, CIA, NSA and Justice Department had to indentify and hold Mohamed. And it appears that the FBI had incredible evidence on him.
What impresses me is the NYT never even refers to the Clinton failures over eight years. Just that OBL is still loose. Big deal. One man, a symbol. Thousands dead because Clinton failed.
Again, I wonder what Sandy Berger really destroyed. And how harsh that nasty letter to him from the Bush Justice was.
It must have been stinging.

The irony and the stench

I just heard Governor Tim Pawlenty rail on the radical exteme lefty controlled MN Legislature and the largest tax increase in Minnesota history. The Governor says the radical DFL took a bucket full of taxes and dumped it on the taxpaying citizens. And I agree. He then went on to say that Minnesotans are struggling to pay for food, gas and health care. And I immediately saw what Tim didn't. And I asked myself the following question: and why are Minnesotans struggling to pay for these essentials?
1. Food: ethanol subsidies have gone to increase corn prices and therefore any and all foodstuffs rise in price. Culprit: the government.
2. Gas prices: refusal to drill in ANWR, coastal shelf and Gulf of Mexico. Heavy taxes on oil company profits. Bio-fuels and the waste of mandates. No new oil refineries in America in three decades. We now import a significant amount of gasoline. Gasoline. Culprit: the government.
3. Health care: mandates aplenty. Alcohol/drug treatment is mandated even if you don't want it. Psychological counseling services mandated even if you don't want it. Medicare. Heavy insurance regulations. Culprit: the government.
So, when Tim says Minnesotans are struggling to pay for these needed items, he also fails to mention why these items are as expensive as they are.

Canary time

In my four decades in business I've made many contacts. A few have been employed by Cargill, the Minnesota grain and commodities giant. Someone once said that if you wanted to know how much Cargill made, you took the total world sales of corn, wheat, salt and soybeans, subtract what the the other four top grain sellers did and the remainder is what Cargill sold. In the late 80's I was working to put together a few grain deals going to Russia. Someone at the Minneapolis Grain exchange told me that for decades when the U.S. Government wanted to know what the wheat harvest would be in the old Soviet Union, the Feds went and asked Cargill. They knew and knew fairly accurately. They had their own satellite it was said. Cargill employs the best and expects the best. And now Cargill is making a statement that every single ethanol supporter needs to hear: Cargill has suspended indefinitely the construction of a new ethanol plant outside Topeka, KS . According to the Cargill spokesman Bill Brady "The economics are not at a point where we see fit to move forward.The economics are not where they were a year and a half ago ". Two factors contribute to the decision: the cost to build a plant has doubled in five years coupled with the price of corn is now hovering around $5.00/bu. And nothing here should surprise anyone who has even a passing familiarity with basic economics. You always get more of what you subsidize, less of what you tax. Ethanol on its own is not profitable. Its profit comes only from its subsidies. And now even that's not enough to ensure profitability:"Jay O'Neil, senior agricultural economist with the International Grains Program at Kansas State University, said the $5 per bushel corn is putting a squeeze on ethanol plant profit margins.

If the high corn prices continue, he said, margins will be negative."The ethanol industry has fallen on more competitive and difficult times," O'Neil said. "They are going to struggle. You will see a consolidation in this process. Some will go out of business." " Lands! Even with massive government subsidies for the plants, ethanol, farm price supports and then having heavy mandates forcing you and me to put this crap in our cars and trucks these plants STILL can't make money! And anyone hear any lefty, anywhere say "Time to admit this ain't working!"? Nope. The house will burn down before they admit there's a fire. Oh, and here is an excellent article that that old "unintended consequences" of "bio-fuels" heavily contributes to "global warming/climate change" or whatever they're calling it now. Plus the study shows that bio-fuels really do create Man Made Global Warming. And will heavily contribute to global hunger and increased prices all the way around. The solution: drill. ANWR, the coastal shelf . Get government out of the way. End CAFE standards that kill us and do nothing except let politicians feel they "doing something". End all ethanol subsidies-now!

Save us, Oh Lord, from politicians and their good intentions!

As it should be

Prairie Pravda reports that Raul Castro is now Cuba's President with the headline "Raul Castro succeeds older brother Fidel as Cuba's president". In the first paragraph is this little gem:"...leaving the islands communist system unshaken."
The headline Prairie Pravda really wanted to run:
"Raul Castro succeeds older brother Fidel as Cuba's president; Communist system unshaken. Star Tribune Editorial Board celebrates, raises fist in solidarity".

Coalitions, alliances and a leap

I am what most people call a conservative. A real conservative. A radical conservative. Or as Joseph Farah would remind lovers a liberty, a rebel. I prefer the latter. It's truly much more accurate.
There seems to be quite a number of stories on the New York Times piece, more accurately the sorry but not unexpected piece that the Old Gray Whore wrote on John McCain.
Many on the right are heralding the support for John McCain that this story has produced. They believe that this story has provided the catalyst that at last has pulled conservatives to McCain's side. Steve Chapman writes for many at Real Clear Politics on this "coming together" for McCain. I'm not quite there.
All these stories and pronouncements would seem to intone the old Arab saying "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" amongst the right. For me, I have come to expect nothing less from the Old Gray Whore. Personally, I think the GWB Administration has been derelict in not prosecuting the staff on the OGW for treason after the exposed critical operations in the GWOT. But, this is also the same Administration that refused to prosecute Sandy Berger with anything worse than a strongly worded letter in his personnel file. Oh well.
In the chat room at BTR I asked who would this story discourage or disaffect? The Repubs loathe the OGW, the left reveres it as holy writ. So who does this loose? Duane Patterson suggested the independents. Perhaps. My read on this it that it provides a huge weapon for McCain: any story that raises its head above the ridge of "just irritating" can easily be marginalized as "just another New York Times hit piece". Viola'! Instant marginalization.
But still, I'd warn that this rising up regarding the OGW story is not automatically an arrow vote for McCain from the conservative quiver. That will more than likely come from serious consideration regarding the GWOT and Supreme Court appointments.

Time to watch like a hawk II

Not being to get to a computer didn't allow me to follow up on the Cottonwood Bus tragedy.
Nearly all that I suspected and alluded to has now become known. Some of what I suspect about the woman known as Morales is yet to come out. But I suspect that officials knew early, certainly by Wednesday, that Morales was all we now know she is. When Prairie Pravda reports on the maintenance record of the bus but little on the van driver, well...
Yesterday I was watching the MN House of Representatives debate HF2800 and its amendments. One was HF2800A46 requiring that all drivers licenses tests be given in English. And lands you should have heard the hew and cry from the DFLers! You'd have thought Kristallnacht and Night Riders were upon us again! There was a St. Paul DFL hack with a Hispanic last name that went on about "code", "shame", "sadness", "brown people" etc... And he was one of many DFLers with the exact same message. Had I been Minority Leader Siefert, I would have hoped that I could have a recording from the inside of that Cottonwood bus and said nothing in reply to each of these spineless DFLers. All I would have done is played that recording.
And Mayors Rybak and Coleman have declared Minneapolis and St. Paul to be sanctuary cities. Wonder what they have to say now? Did "Morales" ever come through these cities? ever stopped by the police? Do you people remember when Governor Pawlenty suggested that drivers licenses held by legal aliens have and visa expiration date stamped on them? You'd have thought he suggested summary execution from the bellowing lefties.

Much more is going to come oozing out about this.

P.S. This just in: sit down for this- she doesn't speak English. The criminal complaint.

I care about Rural MN

I care about rural MN, and that is why I will help them get representation.
I am looking to find who will run against the RINO named Bud Heidgerken.

After his display on during the transportation debate, in addition to calling for his censure at State Convention (and if he is endorsed, that entire HD), I will also donate to anyone who plans to run against him.

He is bad for MN and must go.


Compare this to Rep. Buesgens -
Who outed this "compromise bill"
In this definition of compromise, a robber sticks you up takes all your money.
He then gives you back half and calls that a compromise.

Time to watch like a hawk

Four dead children in SW Minnesota. Details at first were sketchy. Today, there are more.
One of the victims tells of what he saw: " I saw the maroon van run a stop sign, it blew over the railroad tracks and hit the bus, sending it sliding into me,” Hancock, 47, said from his hospital bed in Sioux Falls, S.D. “The next thing I knew, they were hauling kids out and it was chaos.” And the driver of that maroon van? " Authorities have identified the van driver as Alianiss Morales, 23, who neighbors say works as a turkey processor at the Jenny-O plant in Montevideo, Minn. She pleaded guilty in 2006 to driving without a valid license and paid a $182 fine. State records show Morales has no valid driver’s license, but was issued a Minnesota state identification card." Now, the Star Tribune could get a statement from Hancock, but nothing from Morales? They had to talk to her neighbors and all they could find out was that she worked as a turkey processor? Nothing more? And no drivers license, but a MN state ID card? A prior conviction for driving without a valid drivers license. There are way too many red flags popping up here.
This is a story I'm going to stay on top of.

The machine and the reality

Now, after scewering Savage Republican, let's get back to agreement. SR has stated a number of times that he never counts the Clinton Machine out. Ever. I agree. But it's not the machine anymore that should concern us. It's what the machine is programmed to do.
I caught the last few minutes of "Terminator II: Judgment Day". Ahhnahld, the Terminator took the steel rod through the processor after being hammered and dismembered. But, power was re-routed and the automatic reboot took over. And the Terminator Machine was off and operating to do as programmed. Period.
So, even with Prairie Pravda saying Hillary is on the ropes, that with the machine being broken, the software that runs the machine is still there. The Clintons want the Presidency. They feel they are deserving of the Presidency. What the Democrats want is of little or no importance. The Clinton Machine is programmed to obtain the nomination.
As Jim Geraghty said on BTR today that Hillary's exit in Denver, should that be the case, will not be a sound of adieu, but of fingernails screeching across the floor as she is dragged away from the podium screaming "That nomination is MINE. Do you hear me, MINE!?!"
Programmed for one thing and one thing only.

Yes, you told us...and you KEEP telling us ad nauseum

Recovering from the gifts of Mr. Flu, I blogged yesterday after opening my computer for the first time in four days. After I posted I saw Savage Republican's post on, well, I'm not quite sure what the post was on. He has been direct in supporting Mike Huckabee. Well, it appears that he thinks he's supporting Mike Huckabee. But, you'd never know it from the screeds he's posted regarding Mitt Romney. And especially this last one. I've told Savage Republican that he's been arguing policy, desperately arguing policy while completely ignoring the politics. I've talked to many other conservatives who have the distinct feeling and have stated as such that they see Mike Huckabee using the Baptist Church like John Kerry used his Vietnam experience-shamefully.
Now, Savage Republican and I have always been closely aligned politically, ideologically. We have had one large and dynamic split- Huckabee for him, Romney for me (after Thompson backed out).
This is hopefully as close as you'll get to seeing internecine warfare here on the pages of SavageRepublican.com.
That being said, I have no idea why Savage Republican continues to rant on about Mitt Romney even three weeks after Governor Romney DROPPED OUT.
And Mike Huckabee seems absolutely dead set on his desire to become the the 21st century Harold Stassen.
Knock yourself out guys!
Ain't America great?

Representative John Shadegg-a great friend to liberty and to Amendment X

This morning I read at Captain's Quarters that John Shadegg (R-3D Arizona) is not going to seek re-election. Rep. Shadegg first came to my attention when he proposed (many times it's turned out) a very simple bill that stated that every bill's author must specifically cite where in the Constitution the authority for that bill exists:" The Enumerated Powers Act would require Members of Congress to include an explicit statement of Constitutional authority into each bill that is introduced. It would hold Congress accountable for its actions," said Shadegg " This is merely telling Congress that they need to tell the citizens of the United States how they are honoring their oath of office. The Enumerated Powers Act has gone down to overwheming defeat each time it's been proposed. Overwhelming defeat.If this doesn't tell you everything you need to know about Congress I don't what does or will.
" The Tenth Amendment (aka Amendment X - X being the Roman numeral for 10) states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

"According to the Tenth Amendment, the national government cannot expand its legislative authority into areas reserved to the States or the people," said Shadegg. "It is a well-known fact that the size and scope of the federal government has exploded since the New Deal. Congress continues to operate without Constitutional restraint, creating costly and ineffective programs and blatantly ignoring the principles of federalism."
All that being said, Captain Ed and many others of note have sigend a letter encouraging Congressman Shadegg to remain in the Congress. He is exactly, exactly the type of Congressman we all need to represent us.
Please send him an encouraging email at: http://www.house.gov/formshadegg/emailtemplate.htm or call at 202-224-3121.

SOSO

Last week before Mr. Flu gave me an early birthday present, I came across A Prairie Pravda "Letter of the Day". It was about the author's outrage at the shootings at NIU. She was mentally and emotionally exfoliating. What I usually do is drop to the end of the letter to see if the author confesses to being a member of any group. She did not.
Her first statement was "How many have to die like this, in our civilized democracy, before we decide we have had enough?" A rather peculiar question, but I read on. Then came the money quote: " I am tired of the arguments, neatly and tightly worded and provided by the National Rifle Association. You know, "Guns don't kill -- people do" or "We have the right to bear arms" or "It was our forefathers' plan for our citizens to be able to arm themselves." Blah, blah, blah." And all her irrationality was suddenly laid naked. She went to blame all parties:"It is an election year. Why doesn't either side ever want to bring the issue of guns in our society to the table? I mean, really bring it to the table, not just package it up, shrug our shoulders and turn to other issues. Gun "control" as we have now means there is no control at all. Our country is out of control, and I am afraid we are all becoming numb to it."
Well, Ms. Kim Van Zant-Aune of St. Louis Park, now that you stated stated your perspective, what do you suggest? Your rather lame "gun control as we have it now means there is no control at all" is inaccurate at best. There is certainly control. All law abiding citizens obey gun control laws. Every one of those dead students was obeying the law. The shooter was not under control. What law would you propose that he would have observed? What statute would you have had on the books that would have stopped him dead in his tracks? Only one I know of: having an armed student in that classroom.
We tried it your way: NIU is a gun free zone. How'd that work for you?
Now, I'm going to tell you a real dirty little secret that we firearms owners know that you flamers on the left either don't know or refuse to acknowledge: if you wanted to, you could go and buy, illegally of course, a firearm within 10 miles of your comfortable house out there in that cushy western suburb.
So, if you read this, please tell me in comments 1. What statute you'd propose so this will never happen again 2. Exactly how that statute will work-not how you wish it would work, but the day-to-day mechanics of that law on the streets.
Oh, and a by the way, what would you have done had you been in Cole Hall that day? Stood up and told Mr. Kazmierczak, in absolutely NO UNCERTAIN TERMS that was violating a gun free zone law? I'm sure that he would have, at that point, dropped all his weapons and signed up for a lifetime membership at the VPC (Violence Policy Center).
I'm quite certain.
If only you had been there.
So, to answer Ms. Van Zant-Aune's first question: it seems like a lot more will have to die, thanks to people like you. Hugh Hewitt has on his radio show a quote from Samuel L. Jackson from Die Hard III "I don't like you because you're going to get me killed!"
You're going to get a lot more people killed Ms. Van Zant-Aune.

See, I Told you so.

Mitt Romney was just in the race to get McCain nominated.

Besides the statistical proof I provided earlier,

Now this: Romney Endorses McCain


Hopefully this will end all the, just wait until 2012 when we can endorse a real conservative like Mitt Romney.

We need a real conservative - Mitt wasn't it.

Hanging with liberty

Captain Ed has issued a challenge of sorts regarding the Danish cartoonists that drew a cartoon of Mohamed. Yesterday the Danes announced that they had rounded conspirators that were planning to murder the Danish cartoonists responsible for the drawings. And Danish newspapers reprinted the image. Captain Ed has asked the blogosphere to respond.
So, here is the "offending" cartoon:

Glad to help in my/our own small way.

Thanks Normie, Diane, Hillary, George, Chuck, et al

I'm still waiting to see one report showing that biofuel, biodiesel, or whatever is worth a damn-except to corn farmers. As an aside, I have a friend who has a number of pork growers as clients who are plenty steamed at ethanol because of the huge increase in feed costs because of the extreme market dislocation due to ethanol subsidies. Do you think the feds and states will bail out the pork farmers too along with keeping any and all other price supports and subsidies? Bet on it. And no squawks from the pig farmers. Oops, a correction: the Feds and states won't bail the pork farmers out: you will. By force. Now, on to the reason for the blog.
Hugo Chavez has stopped oil sales to Exxon-Mobil. Venezuela is our fourth largest oil supplier.
So, Senators Coleman, Feinstein, Boxer, Schumer , McCain and President Bush: why aren't we drilling in ANWR, the Gulf of Mexico, the coastal shelves off Florida and California? We have an oil economy. Period. The government only destroys markets. So it can not create one. We need oil. It's a wonderful source of energy. Ethanol, biodiesel, wind does not and has not and will not work. Oil does.
Hey Norm: you are all flummoxed about Northwest Airlines merging with Delta and 2,000 jobs going away. Well, you weren't concerned enough. When Northwest was restructuring under bankruptcy, the modeled cost per barrel was $65. And Northwest management was thought to be quite prudent. Well, $65 bbl was some time ago. And where would oil prices be if we had ANWR online now? If we were bringing in oil from the Gulf? And all the prices linked to oil? And it's OUR oil, produced close to our shores and/or inside our borders. Secure, safe, and ours. Dependable, efficient, effective and now.
No debate. Just get out of the way.

Too slothful, too ignorant, too complacent to be inconvenienced to vote

The caucuses are over in MN. The whining started before the straw poll votes on all the Post-It Notes were even tallied.
Calls for a Presidential Primary were rampant, especially from the DFL . And why these rising voices against being "disenfranchised"? Because people were "inconvenienced".
Here are some comments from the Prairie Pravda story linked above with my thoughts:
"Unfortunately, my voice could not be heard in the caucus last night. I showed up at the precinct to find that I had to sit through an hour meeting and THEN vote. Well, this just didn't suit my schedule (due to a prior commitment) and I had to leave. -mollymay" "Just didn't fit my schedule". A splendid reason to abolish a grassroots system of political involvement from people in your very neighborhood. Maybe you could let your local party leaders know your schedule in advance so the whole state could be run for your convenience. Please get back to us when your schedule permits.
"The Republican caucus system is ALREADY not for everyone ... an evening caucus at a set time already favors (a) those who aren't going to have to hire a babysitter in order to go (b) those with no other obligations in the evening. A primary that is open all day enables everyone to find a time to go and vote.-spmerrill" Let me see if I have this straight- here is a date certain at a time certain that is set months ahead. And there are some people who "aren't going to hire a babysitter" seems like a choice to me. These people chose not to hire a babysitter. Good for them. A choice. And if they chose to bring their children, I didn't see, I didn't post, I wasn't asked to post and I wouldn't post a "No Children Allowed" sign. What's the problem here? I saw plenty of children at our caucuses. And "those with no other obligations in the evening"? Again, how important is it for you to get to your caucus? Seems like spmerrill made a choice. And the caucus was number three in importance. Also seems that spmerrill was looking for the wrong caucus. Spmerrill is right about the fact that the Republican caucus system is ALREADY not for everyone- Whiny snivelers like spmerrill: the DFL caucuses are for you. Go there and whine.
"I was denied the right to partiapate(sic) because I work nights and am unable to attend the caucuses without getting a blemish on my work record-busyboybill" Dear victim busyboybill you whiney sniveler or sniveling whiner (we believe in diversity, pick a title you like)- don't know how to break this to you, but you do not a right to caucus. Plus you are exactly what we've come to expect from a public education. You did have a right to choose which was more important to you: attend a caucus or get a blemish on your work record. You chose what worked for you. You chose that job. That night job. With no blemishes (according to you). If night work proves a disadvantage to you, get another job. But quit sniveling while you whine. Go to the little whiney girls caucus: the DFL. Meanwhile, shaddup!
"Primaries are a much more democratic way to select. Many people are either intimidated by caucuses, or unable to attend.-Biddie" Ah Biddie, you sniveling whiner. So, you prefer something other than YOUR neighbors getting together and discussing what's important to YOUR neighbors. It's better to have a primary with a slick run media campaign with sound bites that don't really and never did inform voters? What on earth is more democratic that the people that live on each side of you meet to discuss and vote on issues important to them? True grassroots politics going ground-up is less democratic? The reason someone is "unable to attend" is because they are in a coma, trying to extricate themselves from a flaming car wreck, in prison, dead (not an excuse not to vote for a Democrat however) or they choose not to attend. And what do you mean they're "intimidated"? Intimidated by sitting on their butts and listening and putting a mark on a small paper ballot? That intimidates them? Yikes! These people must be miserable with the thought of drowning in a shower or in a hard rainstorm. Ah, but wait: when we finally have a Universal Health Care system with all the panache' and success of the Canadian health care system, delivered by the candidates at your DFL caucus, all those phobias can finally be addressed. In the meantime, they still need to stop sniveling while they whine. And you: stop whining while you snivel. Get over to your next intimidating DFL caucus. Hope you "feel" like you're able to attend. And I hope that you don't "feel" intimidated.
Reading these snivelings from these whiners (or whining from these snivelers) goes to prove that we need "reasonable" controls on voting and caucus attending.
I will not be shocked when these little whiney girls want to have a law passed where they can get decaf soy milk lattes after 6:00 p.m if they attend their non-intimidating, mandated provided child care at their conveniently scheduled , fragrance free, affirmative action cleared, empowering, non-judgmental, bio-diverse, non-speciism, PETA, AFSCME,NEA approved, non-peanut snack provided caucuses that has a reduced carbon footprint.
In the meantime, let the adults attend to the business of caucuses.

The Dangers of having Software and Time

So the theory floated that week and today is that Romney is losing because of some great conspiracy between McCain and Huckabee to use Huckabee to split the conservative vote.

A look at super Tuesday victories should put that to rest, Huckabee won conservative states, Romney did not.
But lets put the theory to a test - I looked at all the 2004 red states.
Throwing out Arkansas and Arizona because of home field advantage for Huckabee and McCain (didn't have to throw out any Romney because his home field is blue).

So I took a look at the rest:
In every red state that Huckabee won, Romney came in third.
How about red McCain states? Nope same result Romney in third.
In the few red states that Romney won, Huckabee came in second in each.

So who is hurting who?

It appears that the longer Romney stays in - the more he insure a McCain victory.
Add that to Fred work in S.C. and it looks like one group is doing there best to get McCain elected.

McCain has the Main Stream Media - Romney has money and the alternative media and yet Huckabee keeps beating them both. Maybe this grassroots thing really works.

Precinct caucuses

Here in Scott County, MN (the fastest growing county in MN) we caucused . We caucus below the county level by state Senate Districts (ours being Senate District 35). In my city, savage, we have seven caucus districts. We had well over 300 attendees, many first time.
The big thing was the Presidential Preference Poll. I had to explain a few times that the preferential poll is non-binding and is only a snapshot. Here is the breakdown:
Huckabee 62
Keyes 1
McCain 64
Paul 44
Thompson 1
Uncommitted 1
Romney 181
Romney out polled all other candidates combined 181-173.
I was quite pleasantly surprised.
That being said, I had the opportunity to talk to my Republican "Mom" as she was leaving. I told her that basically I/we were facing the same dilemma as Republicans that Republicans will face in November. I support Romney because he's not McCain. He's certainly a decent man, but not near the conservative I'd want. But, he's the lesser of two evils.
And in November I'll have that same bad choice again: speed toward the cliff at a Barack Obama/Paul Wellstone 192 mph or slow down to a Norm Coleman/Tim Pawlenty 137 mph.
P.S. Just heard NARN say that someone is a recovering Fred Head. Same here. My only excitement is stopping McCain.
And I don't ever want to hear again "Vote For Me. It Will Be Worse With The Other Guy" as a campaign slogan. Sounds like 2006 redux again for me as a conservative.
But, I promise I will vote on November 4th.
Go listen to Bill Bennett tomorrow morning on AM1280 The Patriot. He'll give cogent analysis.

Another reflection

Chad the elder has a very interesting post.

http://www.fraterslibertas.com/2008/02/between-lose-and-hard-case.html

While I don't agree completely with his over premise (that McCain is the only one who can win), I think he has a point with this:

- Romney is a good man with many fine qualities. But if I'm going to sign up for a sacrificial defeat of Goldwater-like proportions, I want it to be with a man of Goldwater-like convictions. With the prospects of a McCain nomination looming ever closer, a number of pundits are suddenly touting Romney as some kind of conservative standard bearer. Yet most of them kept their distance from Romney for all these months hoping for a real conservative to support. Why? Because they doubt if this latest incarnation of Romney is the real deal. There can be a certain nobility and honor in defeat, but not by going down with The Mitt.

That is one of the reason I am supporting Huckabee - He has a proven track record on key issue to me: Life, 2nd Amendment, States Rights and he has not changed his story.

You can disagree with his vision, but a least it is a consistent vision.

I will take pride that I stood for life and honor.

A reflective question

I'd like to posit a question to those who support John McCain.
I'm fairly certain that in the mix of positions of McCain that you have thoughtfully considered perhaps one of them is "He is electable" as President.
My question goes back to a comment by Richard Nixon "You can't win with the conservative vote only. But, you also can't win without them."
So, as you consider voting or supporting for John McCain this Tuesday, be acutely aware that I have never heard so many conservatives so opposed to any Republican as they are to John McCain. Should McCain go on to win the nomination (though if able when I see Mitt Romney tomorrow evening, I'll remind him that the nomination is in St. Paul in September, not this Tuesday in February). A John McCain nomination seriously risks alienating the conservatives to point of voting for someone else, anyone else. Be aware that there is a high likelyhood that McCain will lose a general election bid.
Should Hillary win, I believe, in the military, there will be a repeat of what happened in 1992/1993. I know a high ranking officer who was an Airborne Ranger who retired in 1993 rather than serve under Bill Clinton. His experience and talent was such that the Army bribed him by offering to promote him immediately to general officer status. He turned them down. He told me that a number of officers with his experience also resigned. Just when we need them most, that experienced officer corps may very well resign rather than endure serving under another military hating Clinton. One was quite more than enough.
And how long do you think the left wing lovefest with McCain will last? Do you believe that there are not Keating Five editorials are already written and waiting to be published in the NYT, the LA Times and Prairie Pravda just as soon the gavel comes down on the McCain nomination? The left wing is giddy at the prospect of having John McCain as the Republican nominee.
Actions have consequences.
The Law of Unintended Consequences is in full force with the support of John McCain.

This just in-

Drudge is reporting that McCain seriously considered leaving the Republican Party. Leaving? Wouldn't that be the same as considering whether or not Tip O'Neill is dead? A more truthful version would be that Senator McCain was seriously considering whether he would join the Republican Party. As I'm writing, Laura Ingraham is reporting that McCain and his people were in deep discussions with John Kerry about running with him. Deep discussions.
Former Senator Ric Santorum has just endorsed Mitt Romney on Laura's show.
And he gave an excoriating review and critique of John McCain as Senator Santorum tried to work with McCain in the Senate.

McCain, CPAC and Dr. Schoenleben

Dr. Schoenleben was my dentist when I was a boy. The day before an appointment with him, I brushed my teeth until my gums bled. Yup, I was gonna brush away all the effects of Slo Pokes, Jolly Ranchers and a toothbrush gathering dust. Just watch.Brush, brush, brush, brush...
And so John McCain is walking into the lions den by agreeing to go to CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), the conservative epicenter that he snubbed last year. And I believe there's a bit of the old dread of Dr. Schoenleben in the Senator. How he thinks he's going to walk in make nice with the people (and their love of liberty) that he's poked in the eye consistently for years and walk out feeling good is beyond me. This makes as much sense as the abusive husband telling his wife "I've changed. Really. Not like those other times I said I changed and didn't. This time for real!"
I brush and floss regularly now.

Remembering what made Regan great.

From reading blogs across the spectrum - this seems to be the item that everyone agrees was the best answer last night.



By the way, my wife has been asking, who is the blond next to the Govinator?

And from the archives

After I read the NOW-NY screed on Uncle Teddy's betrayal by endorsing Obama, rather than Monica Lewinski's ex-boyfriend's co-habitant, my brother reminded me why I ignore whatever falls out teddy's mouth:

(Click then click again on the image for a larger view).

Gyno politics and rich irony

Uncle Teddy endorses Obama. And watch the feminists scream!!! This is just too much fun.
Here is the official response from the NY chapter of NOW (from the Times Union blog):

“Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.

“And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. He’s joined the list of progressive white men who can’t or won’t handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not “this” one). ‘They’ are Howard Dean and Jim Dean (Yup! That’s Howard’s brother) who run DFA (that’s the group and list from the Dean campaign that we women helped start and grow). They are Alternet, Progressive Democrats of America, democrats.com, Kucinich lovers and all the other groups that take women’s money, say they’ll do feminist and women’s rights issues one of these days, and conveniently forget to mention women and children when they talk about poverty or human needs or America’s future or whatever.

“This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women’s rights, women’s voices, women’s equality, women’s authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation - to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who ‘know what’s best for us.’”

I've also linked to the comments that are well worth the read. The one that impressed me was the one that took the first sentence of NOW's press release "The ultimate betrayal". The commenter wrote : "Uncle Ted leaving Mary Jo Kopechne in the car was the ultimate betrayal."
Go read the comments. It will be well worth your time.

Saving Lives - Two at a time.

I don't normal promote my local column, as it tend to narrowly focus on the city of Savage, but I think this one would be of interest to those who care about civil rights and life issues:

Why not save two lives at one time?
http://www.savagepacer.com/news/opinions/community-voices-why-not-save-two-lives-one-time-5930

Standing a post on the wall

I just got this from one of my good 2nd Amendment friends.
The more times you watch it, the more detail and precision you'll see. Some of the best editing and timing to detail I've ever seen.
It was filmed at 15 locations.

Talking Points

I hate responding to talking points - But Amendment X doesn't like me commenting in his posts, so here we go:

Talking point 1:
"Governor Huckabee has recently said that he would sign a federal smoking ban"

Answer:
Could you clarify your views on tobacco regulation?
MH: Certainly, I don’t believe that we as a govt have a right to tell people what to do or not do. The issue is one of workplace safety … the same reason that the govt regulates the exposure of radon and other toxic gases in the work place. In AR I signed a bill that banned smoking in certain public areas and businesses, but not in bars/restaurants, because those were places consumers could more easily choose to go to or not. So, in the work place, if we regulate smoking, it is an issue of worker safety. Even though I think it’s an unhealthy habit and is terribly expensive to the country, but when that smoke reaches my nose, that right ends. The responsibility initially lies with the states of course. The only way this would be a federal responsibility is for it taking on that roll as part of OSHA as it regulates other work place safety.
[Not a big OSHA fan, but don't see any issue here from a conservative point of view]
(*Also, Mitt fans probably want to stop pushing this -
"Governor Mitt Romney, who had said earlier in the year that he preferred to leave smoking laws to individual cities and towns, but who now says he is willing to consider a statewide ban." Boston Globe, 2003)

Talking point 2:
"Would push federally mandated, government run health care"

Answer:
MH: Government-run socialized medicine is not the answer but neither is employer controlled insurance. You should own your insurance.
MH: "I think the better idea is to turn [health care] over to each individual...I trust me a lot more than I trust the government or a lot more than I trust the insurance companies." The best way to fix our health crisis is to put the decision into the hand of Americans and reward them for making the correct one.
(*For a good discussion on why employer health care is starting to be a problem read - "liberal fascism", Employer owned, government mandated health care is the problem right now)
(* Also, don't think Mitt Romney fans want to go with this line of attack - Mitt actually implemented Gov't Run Health Care)

"Mandatory weight control"
See above, but even if he was for it can you blame him - look at that picture of him in AK and now.


Since people like talking points -
Romney's Health Care Plan:

Provides Taxpayer-Funded Abortions. Abortions are covered in the Commonwealth Care program that Romney created as Governor. Under the program, abortions are available for a copay of $50.

Guarantees Planned Parenthood A Seat At The Table. Romney's legislation created an advisory board and guarantees, by law, that Planned Parenthood has a seat at the table. Romney's plan established a MassHealth payment policy advisory board, and one member of the Board must be from Planned Parenthood. No pro-life organization is represented.

Incredibly, Romney used his line item veto to strike things from this plan that he found "objectionable" (such as dental benefits for Medicaid patients) but he DID NOT strike the $50 elective abortions or Planned Parenthood's demand that they be given a seat at the negotiating table to ensure the continued EXPANSION of abortion.

As someone said,
Is 50 bucks-per-baby "100% pro-life" to you.

That does not seem too conservative to me either fiscally or socially.

New Post Debate Update:
How about the Second Amendment -
Romney supported an assault weapon ban and the Brady bill yet still claim to support the second amendment?
He explains that those were bipartisan bills that he supported, but trust him, he won't take your guns. I assume he means unless there is bipartisan support to take them. Of course, why take them when he can just support the laws to effectively ban them.

Not quite 10 years ago

I agree with Savage Republican. I'd hate to have my present judged by what I said 10 years ago.
So here is a little something a bit more recent from Mike Huckabee:



And here is Governor Huckabee's recent (not 10 year) explanation about those statements. With an accompanying "Uh, no. That's not how it was Governor" by Carl Cameron:









[Note from Savage Republican:
Actually I think Mike would be very proud of this speech, when taken in context. This was the opening to a Special Session of the Democratically controlled legislature to meet budget shortfalls. So instead of saying no taxes, which he knew would fail anyway, he put a cap on the revenue increase.
If you noticed he says he doesn't care how they do it, just as long as it meets the needs - not feed more government.
One other not so minor note, the taxes that were raised here to met the budget shortfall were TEMPORARY- and were REPEALED 3 year later. When the last time you remember a temporary tax that was actually temporary]

Ya know Bob, that's twenty minutes of your life you'll never get back

OK, I need to see a job description for SecDef Robert Gates. I'd bet the farm that entertaining self-aggrandizing celebrities is not even in the supplemental pages.
So, as Bono keeps his millions and wants governments to force you to give so he can feel important, SecDef Gates takes twenty minutes to talk to Bono about African poverty.
So, Bob, I congratulate you getting a handle on all things important to the defense of America so that you can waste nearly half an hour on a subject that doesn't concern you with someone who lives the life of a millionaire while excoriating us for "not giving enough".
Hey Bob! Hope you at least got an autographed CD out of the deal.
We'll expect your resignation by Friday.

Mitt Romney, Conservative?

One of my core beliefs is that you can not be a Social Moderate and a claim to be conservative on other issues.

The reason being that to be Social Moderate (Pro-Abortion, Gov't Heathcare, Gay Marriage) requires you to use the force of government to go against the will of the people - Not a strong conservative position.
And all of those usually require lots of tax dollars (blowing the fiscal conservative tag.)

So it is with some concern that I see a few conservative I know support Mitt because they feel he is the most conservative of the remaining candidates.

I find this strange given his support for government health care, his implementation of Gay Marriage and he support for abortion and tax payer funded abortions.

He claims to have changed now - but using abortion as an example, even that proves my point. When asked about Roe v. Wade his answer is: "I would ban abortions."
The problem with Roe v. Wade is not just its outcome (abortion) but the main problem is that it is bad constitutional law. That is the answer I want to hear from my candidates (and the answer you hear from good Justices like Alito and Thomas).

As I google, Mitt and Abortion I found this year old post on YouTube.
While I would not want my present judged solely on what I said over 10 years ago - take a look and then tell me again how conservative he is now.

Social Justice, affordable housing and NIMBY

Ah, the truth that "Every revolution eats its children" is on parade and review in Minneapolis.
A left wing church, Mayflower Congregational Church where their motto is:"An open and affirming, peace with justice congregation" has made a decision to practice local social justice. And from that motto you know where that congregation is going. However, to show that they are willing to do as Christ said to care for the poor (not force others to do it) they donated their parking lot to have an "affordable housing" development built. Now, make no mistakes, "affordable housing" means "subsidized housing". But, that they were willing to do and not make others do is commendable.
However, it seems that others in the neighborhood that believe in and proclaim and preach "social justice" like to have that philosophy practiced, well, somewhere else.
Prairie Pravda has an article where a neighborhood resident Harry Kaiser says that he is active in social justice issues at his church, but:" he's not entirely comfortable opposing the housing project that's planned across the street from his south Minneapolis house."It's really tough for me to come out against affordable housing," he said. " Oh. Well then.
This guy shows the naked core and hypocrisy of the left :"Oh yes, I'm all for it as long as it doesn't cost me anything or I don't have to tolerate it!" As long as "affordable housing" is located far from him, well, let him sign the petition or vote for the government that will put it in YOUR neighborhood. But , oh no, not his.
These are the same people that want "smart growth" so, look at their protest signs(click for larger view):

















Ya just got to love the rich irony here and the chutzpah of these lefty frauds.


A P.S. Notice in the Prairie Pravda article that the "affordable housing" is being moved out of the worst areas of the city into middle class neighborhoods. Well, you people in Minneapolis elected R.T. Rybak and all this lefty ilk as YOUR representatives. Congratulations. How does it feel, Mr. Kaiser to hoisted on your own petard? To be face to face with what you force others to have to live next to? Seems that there's proverb about making and sleeping in a bed. Say, Mr. Kaiser, just a quick thought: have you ever asked the appropriate agencies and the City Council when "affordable housing" will be going into Kenwood? Or around Lake Calhoun? Or up and down Minnehaha Creek?
Just a thought.
A form of righteous schadenfreude now being exercised, thank you.

Would you please allow us to throw more money at you?

I've blogged before on the fact that we in America are not dependent on foreign oil. We choose to not use what we have. The liberty hating, capitalism hating radical socialists and radical environmentalists have had their way for far too long. We have incredible oil reserves within our borders: the Gulf of Mexico (which also mentions the abiotic theory of oil), the coastal shelf and the Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 4 (better known by it's new name ANWR). Oh, and let's not forget the huge potential of oil shale!
And so what is GWB doing right now in the Mideast? Pleading with the Saudis (and OPEC) to up production to bring down oil prices! We sit on huge reserves of our own, but GWB is intent on sending more dollars to the Mideast when we could just as easily be drilling and refining our own reserves without risking the dangers of the Straits of Hormuz and the political whims of the Muslim world.
I don't get it at all. And we waste money on ethanol all the while pushing food prices up.
Again, I don't get it.

The law of sowing and reaping

I've written many times about the multi-trillion dollar unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare. These two programs will sink the American Experiment within thirty years, if not sooner. There is not enough money to pay for two programs that currently require between $70,000,000,000,000 to $80,000,000,000,000 to meet those obligations for us Boomers. And the Financial Times reports (free registration required) that Moody's is warning that , based on welfare, Social Security and Medicare payments , the ability of the U.S. to keep exporting it's financial problems will also fail in a decade unless Congress takes real serious action-now! Right now. Junk bond status for Treasury bonds. OW! And that report dovetails with the projections that if major revisions of Social Security/Medicare are not accomplished in the next decade, the entire SS/Medicare system will be in free fall and the probable disaster becomes a certainty.
And when foreigners have no faith that their dollar instruments will hold value, they'll dump them for Euros or gold...just like is happening now. And the Congress and the President can no longer export our debt (Ron Paul has a excellent point when he talks about fiscal and currency issues)
There is a Biblical principle that like yields and produces its own (Genesis 1: 12,21,24). That what is sown is reaped. And so, with the predominance of the left for the last ninety years coupled with the dumbing down of the electorate, we are about to see what is harvested when the wind is sown.
Hang on!

2 for 2 - Ready to Call it

Some are still reading tea leaves, but with two states doing exactly what I felt would happen , I am ready to repeat my prediction from the Christmas Party and as I repeated on NARN.

First DFL - Hilary will win.
While everyone was talking about Obama's momentum, I reminded them Hilary has the machine and predicted there would be talk of issues in voting in NH.
Sure enough - Though not one poll showed her winning, she won.
She has even stronger machines for Super Tuesday.
Remember the Democrats do not just have a straight vote. In most places it is a highly scripted "dance" and he who pays the band gets to call the dance.

On the GOP Side -
- Fred: was 1-2% in NH, I don't anticipate a SC miracle.
- Romney: was also the other big loser in NH. He needed a NH/Mich double. He needs a blowout in Michigan to keep going and I don't see it happening.
- McCain: has his moment, but immigration kills him form now to Super Tuesday.
- Giuliani: Ignored NH, but still he got no mo., no excitement anywhere and Florida will be too late.

So that leaves Huckabee:
He did better in Iowa than expected, did as expected in NH.
I predict he will surprise in Michigan v. Romney & a good showing there leads to SC victory and a close finish in Florida.

So my prediction is Hillary vs. Huckabee

Quote of the day

"It takes a different skill set to campaign for President than to be President".
Fred Thompson is the only one that has that presidential skill set.
From Powerline " Fred Thompson addresses Social Security. He is an impressive and responsible candidate." Another brief but insightful quote: "Thompson: Fred did fine; I liked, for example, his refusal to demonize the oil companies. "
But, I agree with some other quotes on Powerline that points out Thompson doesn't campaign well. He doesn't have that fiery rhetoric that incites the crowds. And unfortunately that counts against him. It's not the message, it's the delivery? Make a good potential president a second tier candidate because he doesn't excite you?
I seem to remember a quote about a book and its cover.
Go to Fred Thompson's site and contribute.


[From The Savage Republican]
I would add that if you know someone in S.C. call them now - Fred needs a big showing there or it is probably over.

N.H. Prediction

Not a big fan of NH Primary so this based on my unscientific guesstimate from other polls.
If this is right on Giuliani - he is the big loser here.
Don't think this will have much effect on Fred unless he doesn't break 5%.
Hope I am wrong on Ron Paul or we will get another mass mailing
(Did anyone else get 10-12 pieces of mail from Ron over the Christmas break?)

I don't think NH will change things much, unless there is a big change over these numbers.

McCain 32%
Romney 31%
Huckabee 11%
Giuliani 10%
Ron Paul 10%
Fred 5%
Other 1%

Iowa Prediction

Here is what I was telling folks at the Christmas party - figured I would post it before polls close.

The Huck will win with at least 30%,
Romney and Fred will fight for second at around 20% each.
Ron Paul and McCain will also finish in the teens.

Unless Fred can win big in Michigan and then SC or Florida -
I predict Huckabee will win the nomination.

More later as to why, just wanted to get it out there.

9:15 Update
Looks like I was close.
Romney and Huckabee seem to have pulled votes I anticipated for Thompson.
Not a good sign for him, He will need to well in Mich but I think his time has past.
Everyone else is where I expected.

And Clinton did better then pundits were saying.
As I mentioned at Christmas, never underestimate the power of the Machine.
Who do you think are Precinct chairs?
Unless Clinton makes a big mistake, her people will allow her to win.
(Think LBJ & Texas for Kennedy)

Old college terms and MMGW

Years ago I first heard the term "gigo". I was in college at the U of M. "Garbage In, Garbage Out". In other words, you get out what you get in. Put water in the gas tank, the car's not running or not running well.
I started out taking microbiology for pre-med at the U of M. Chemistry, organic chemistry, calculus, physics. If my data in wasn't accurate or my observations were flawed, my results would also be flawed. GIGO. Now, if there are widespread data and policy reports based on flawed data, and that laws and mass ecocomic planning were to based on those therefore flawed reports,that would be dangerous. Even unforgivable. And so it is with every single Man Made Global Warming (MMGW) believer and supporter.
Patrick J. Michaels, a Ph.D who is also a senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, has authored an article called "Not So Hot" about the terribly flawed MMGW reports that swamp us. He and Ross McKitrick from Canada's University of Guelph decided to put to the test the theory that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that urban centers only account for 10% of the observed warming. Now, the basis of any experimentation is the ability to duplicate the results. Well, needless to say that Michaels and McKitrick found that the IPCC overstates warming by at least 100%.
One point: information from North American weather stations are fairly reliable. Information is terribly unreliable from Africa and South America (for instance,he cites that weather stations need to be painted white or the temperature data is too warm. And that the priority to keep a remote station painted white is low on the Need to Do list). They also factored in socioeconomic circumstances.
And Michaels asked "Where is the press?" Nowhere with the exception of a few blogs and one Canadian paper.
Go read the article. Send it off to Amy and Norm and Betty and Hakim and Jim. And remember that ethanol, no oil exploration, the new CAFE standards from the new Anti Energy Bill (all are unconstitutional) are all based on the seriously flawed IPCC. But, the left and many RINOs will still be true believers. They know the truth. The facts therefore become irrelevant.
Oh, and while you're at it, ask if Al Gore will be returning his Oscar and his Nobel Peace Prize.

Commodity prices

Drudge reports that gold has surpassed $850/oz and oil is over $100 bbl. And this is being widely reported as news. The price for crude in 1980 was $37/bbl. In inflation adjusted dollars this is about $99/bbl. So we've already been there over a quarter century ago. And again, with the watermelons (green on the outside, red on the inside) stopping any and all domestic oil drilling, India and Red China making significant demand on oil production that weren't there in 1980, I'm surprised it's taken this long to get back to these prices.
As for gold, at $850/oz spot, that translates to about $320/oz spot in 1980. In other words, at $850/oz, the current spot price is about 40% of it's 1980 high point (put another way, gold would have to be at $2270/oz in inflation adjusted dollars to be at the same price in 1980).
Now, the thing about commodity prices, specifically oil, is that production of the commodity makes for fungibility. In other words, if the fools in Congress get out of the way and allow us to develop our own oil reserves, that means we purchase less on the world spot market thereby freeing up production for the rest of the world and easing demand by increasing supply. And our own production is not open to choke points like the Straits of Hormuz and is much more easily defended than Saudi oil fields. Also, remember when the green wienies said that by me filling up my SUV I was pouring money into Al Queada? Well, by drilling our own oil, that problem goes away.
Oh ,and a BTW , if we'd been drilling in ANWR that oil would now be online. So, in effect, Norm Coleman and every single Republican that votes for ethanol, votes against drilling in ANWR and the coastal shelf and in the Gulf of Mexico has sent billions of dollars to Iran, Saudi Arabia and the like. They have cost the American citizens billions in extra costs for nearly everything.
I've said it before: the best thing Congress and any President can do for the American economy is to stay the hell out of the way! Leave us alone! We have done and will always do a better job with money and jobs that you people ever could. Ever!

Thompson: off the bus and into the trenches

I've been asked a number of times my thoughts about the Republican primary race. Ron Paul is the only true strict constructionist in the race. Where he leaves me flat and cold is foreign policy. It appears to me that he fails to fully realize that we smacked the tar baby of entangling foreign relationships in 1917 (those Founding Father guys really knew what they were talking about, huh?). Just another horrible legacy from the early 20th century presidents and Congress. So, Paul is unelectable. Sorry Paulites. Time to breathe real oxygen.
So, I tell people my favored candidate is Fred Thompson. But, his campaign just has not ramped up, caught fire, is a hang fire, whatever.
But today, he has a seventeen minute video that hits all the important points that I find necessary to show people that he is a campaigner of and a leader from the Reagan mold.

Appreciating blazing insight.

Ya know, when Prairie Pravda exhibits deep acumen and wisdom, well, I've just got to congratulate them. The top of the online fold reads "Crackdown Turns Around Crime in Minneapolis". The core of the article reads:"Apprehending the worst offenders and putting more cops on the streets has helped stem violent crime, which spiked last year..." The reporter states that apparently jailing lawbreakers and putting more cops on the streets works in reducing crime! WOW! Who could have known?
So, yah mean having a green roof on City Hall, having an Afro-American Mens Center, jobs training, etc didn't and doesn't reduce crime but arresting criminals does? Huh.
Well, welcome to a world where the sky is blue, Mayor Grossly Apparent.
However, there are still those race pimps that want everything their way. "Still, "I don't think people feel safe in Phillips," said Clyde Bellecourt, co-chairman of the Police Community Relations Council. "I don't see people walking alone at night, and more houses seem to have bars on windows." And yet, Bellecourt and the Police Community Relations Council are suing the Minneapolis Department (story here).
Yup, so the message from Bellecourt and the PCRC is "You're not doing enough to protect us while we're suing your butt!!!"
And if that isn't enough, read this article on Anti-Strib. Then remember how Hizzoner R.T. Rybak went to Governor Pawlenty to beg for more state money to put more cops on the streets of Minneapolis? (Notice how MPR [Marxist Propaganda Radio] spins the article as if the state is to blame for crime in Minneapolis? Your tax money well spent keeping them on the air).
Just a few more in the long list of reasons I don't and will never live in the sinkhole called Minneapolis.