The Violence Worker!

Where Have I Been?

It's been difficult to sit down and write.  There are so many things that I see going wrong that I'm somewhat dispirited.  I see a President who is an avowed socialist.  Our Congress is a mess of self-serving, flatulence-laden pigs, most of whom care about this country and its citizens about as much as a dog cares for a fire hydrant.

We are broke and yet they demand more and more money be spent to justify their office.  We have no more money and yet the special interest groups stand at the trough and demand it like they have a right to it. 

I'm not totally without hope, but the horizen is leaden.  If the Democrats lose power in this upcoming election, they are promising a burn the bridges by passing some really repugnant lame-duck legislation.

So yeah, I'm still here and not planning on going anywhere.  I guess I'll get back into it regularly at some point.  I have a trip coming up to Hawaii next month so maybe that will help brighten my mood.

Stay Tuned!

VW

Obama: The Real Disaster

My god, what a disaster. It's a huge mess. No, I'm not referring to the out-of-control oil gusher off the Gulf coast. We are all painfully aware of what a huge disaster that is. The mess I'm referring to is the the one created by the out-of-control government and adminstration of the Pretender-in-Chief currently occupying a position of leadership and responsibilty for which he lacks the prerequisite level of proficiency (who pays more attention to the golf course instead of the gulf coast) and all those who foolishly and naively supported hiring him for the job in the first place. Now that's a man-caused disaster if I ever saw one.

Most liberals and leftists who are now experiencing feelings of dejection and disillusionment get no sympathy from me. Scorn and disrespect is what I have for them and they have have earned it.

However, I do feel somewhat badly for so many of the young people in this country who, voting for the very first time in their lives during the presidential election of '08, cast their ballot for this snake-oil salesman. How idealistically hopeful they were and so certain of the profound wisdom and know-how possessed by this charlatan. They were mesmerized by someone who appeared to them as some kind of an awesome and super-cool hip-hopped-up version of JFK. They believed this talking dude could walk the walk and that he was the long-awaited solution - the ointment and balm for all our ailments. Young, inexperienced, and easily impressionable minds were exploited, deceived, and betrayed.

Just as in the well-known children's story of the the Pied Piper of Hamlin, this Pied Piper of Chicago captivated the hearts and minds of kids, liberals, and even some moderates and conservatives who should have known better. Each of whom did not do their homework and who, despite not knowing who or what he is and what his devious agenda for this nation was, voted for him. In doing so, each of them stupidly and irresponsibly added their very own personal ingredient to a recipe for disaster. ~JH

Leadership

Think back in your life and think of the people you considered true leaders.  Who are the people lat so inspired you that you would follow them into the depths of hell and back?  Those of us who spent any time in the military can probably think of at least a few. 

Now think of all the qualities that you think are essential for a leader and ask yourself this question:  Is that person Barrack Hussein Obama?  

It took nearly two months and national attention before he met with BP execs and then it was for a 20 minute meeting.  From day one he should have had that meeting and it should have been more then a few minutes.  (As a side note, it might have been instructive [if not a bit humorous] if after say, the first 14 days, someone had asked if he even knew the names of more than just the CEO).  Do you think he could have rescheduled that lunch with Slow Joe Biden today?  It's not like Biden has any insight.  The only thing Slow Joe probably knows about oil is that someone puts it in his car and even then, he probably isn't sure exactly where they put it.

Stating that BP will have to pay is a no brainer.  That was going to happen regardless of who is President.  Between the courts and the cost of the clean-up, they will pay.  It's nice they are putting up 20 Billion in cash, but that does not make the spill go away.  Oh, and boycottiong BP?  If they don't get your money, they can't pay.  That's how that works.

Appointing a czar, meeting with the execs and demanding they pay after two months in does not show leadership.  It shows negligence at worst and ineptitude at best.  People are calling a "crisis in competence" and for good reason,  These are just some of the things he should have been doing since day one along with marshalling every resource available.  He should have also told the EPA to get out of the way.

Case in point:

The Dutch offered to fly their skimmer arm systems to the Gulf 3 days after the oil spill started. The offer was apparently turned down because EPA regulations do not allow water with oil to be pumped back into the ocean. If all the oily water was retained in the tanker, the capacity of the system would be greatly diminished because most of what is pumped into the tanker is sea water.

As of June 8th, BP reported that they have collected 64,650 barrels of oil in the Gulf. That is only a fraction of the amount of oil spilled from the well. That is less than one day’s rated capacity of the Dutch oil skimmers.

Turning down the Dutch skimmers just shows a total lack of leadership in the oil spill. To just leave the oil in the water because regulations do not allow you to pump slightly polluted oil back into the ocean is just plain stupid. The small amount of oil pumped back into the ocean with the Dutch system is tiny droplets of suspended oil that will be quickly broken down by naturally occurring bacteria.

From what I understand, the Dutch booms were eventually deployed, but why did it take so long?

When we elect a President, do we look at leadership as a qualification?  Do we understand that a President's job is not that of dictator, but as a leader.  We don't expect the President to be an expert on deep water drilling, but we do expect him to be able to act in a crisis.

Obama is no leader.  He isn't even much of an administrator.  He is a guy who managed (on sheer charisma) to get elected to the Presidency.  He had no resume, no experience and obviously, no skills.

VW

Helen Thomas - Freedom Of Speech And Consequences

When Helen Thomas suggested that the Jews should be sent back to Poland or Germany or America, it was her opinion.  She said it without any worry that there would be any official sanction from any government entity.  The cops were not going to come to her door and arrest her on hate speech charges. 

That does not mean it came without consequences.  While the government is forbidden to take action, the First Amendment does not forbid private employers from deciding what is appropriate for their employees.  Ms. Thomas was asked to retire because her remarks were not condoned by her employer.  It might be somewhat different for most of us as we are not high profile, public figures like Ms. Thomas, but I'm sure that if something I said became an embarrassment to my employer, I would face some sort of consequences.  Ms. Thomas, now in retirement, can say all that and more if she pleases.  The government did not take away that right. 

Several years ago, I was working somewhere else.  A co-worker and I were on our lunch break, at the break table, discussing  some things about WWII.  We were both into history and we were talking about Hitler.  It was just history and no one could possibly construe our remarks to be in the least bit favorable to Hitler or Nazism, however, someone heard the words "Hitler" and "Nazi" and reported to the manager that he or she was offended.  Our manager pulled us aside after break and told us to never talk about Hitler or Nazis again while at work.  If so, we would face disciplinary action.  End.of.conversation.  We weren't real happy about it, but we also knew that the employer, on his property, could mandate what was inappropriate conversation, regardless of how innocuous it might seem.

Congress shall make no law, but your employer generally wasn't elected.  Long ago it was established that you have the right to yell "fire" in a crowded theater - so long as you realize that you will probably be arrested for causing a panic.

There is a trend to try and codify what some call "hate speech".  It's one thing if your employer fires you over impolitical remarks, but it's another if the government decides it has the right to jail you for them.  Obviously, openly advocating violence has always been, and should remain, illegal.  If someone wants to stand up and say they want to send all the Jews out of Israel or all the Blacks back to Africa, they have that right.  There is no law against it, nor should there be.  If that person than turns and says, if they don't go voluntarily, maybe it should be done at the point of a gun, they still haven't crossed the line.  But if they actually act upon it or say it in such away that it is clear that they are encouraging others, than we need to do something.  It's a fine line, but it's freedom's line.*

That doesn't mean you have to give them a job or keep them employed, it just means as long as it's just talk, they can't be arrested for it.  Freedom comes with responsibilities and if you are irresponsible, you may have to pay a price.  

*And for the record, I do not advocate sending anyone back to wherever they come from with the exception of those who choose to come here illegally.  Just so you don't infer some example I used as something I support.

VW

Whose Ass?

I guess the President is trying to show some righteous anger over the BP oils disaster.  Yesterday in an interview with Matt Lauer he said:

"And I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar; we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick."

For almost two months now, we've seen no leadership from the White House and despite his John Waynesque pronouncement, We probably still won't see much.  In the same interview he indicated he would fire the BP CEO.

We all want to kick someone's ass over this.  Some want to kick YOUR ass for demanding oil and it's various by-products such as gasoline.  Some want to Kick the collective asses of everyone in the oil industry and some want to kick the asses of the President and his administration. 

There's a lot of blame to go around but the president wanting to kick someones ass is about as futile as a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.  Whose ass, Mr. President?

Should we start with BP and the incredible amounts of money they gave to you and your campaign?  (That might be why he really doesn't want to speak to Mr. Heywood.)  Maybe we should start with your EPA folks who have put up roadblocks in front of the efforts by BP, state and local officials to contain and clean the spill.

For sure, there is a lot of blame to go around, but if the President is going go John Wayne on anyone, he should start with himself and work down.

VW

D-Day

Today is the 66th anniversary of Operation Overlord, more commonly known as D-Day.  Since then, an army or two of writers have tried to find the right combination of words that sum up our gratitude for the heroic men who assaulted those beaches to save the world from a great evil.  We've striven to encapsulate the enormity of their task in mere words.  We struggle to wrap our minds around the courage of those men who stepped off of those landing boats and waded straight into hell on earth.  The National D-Day Foundation has confirmed 2499 American troops died that day.  Thousands more were wounded.  We are grateful to all of them.

My only purpose is to remind you of that day.  Like all the rest, I do not have the words to properly put it into any kind of perspective.

God bless our Armed Forces and their families, and God bless America.

VW

Following The Money

Remember the H1N1 or swine flu?  Remember what we were told?  Remember how we were cautioned that it would become a pandemic to rival the 1918 influenza pandemic.  We were told the death toll could be catastrophic in scope.  The World health Organization (WHO) arm of the United Nations spread the alarm.  We were told to get vaccinated to save our lives.  We were given dire warning after dire warning.  The number of cases and the number of confirmed deaths  was duly reported on the nightly news.  It was all over the internet, 25/8.

We finally know why and we should have followed the money.  According to the WaPo:

European criticism of the World Health Organization's handling of the H1N1 pandemic intensified Friday with the release of two reports that accused the agency of exaggerating the threat posed by the virus and failing to disclose possible influence by the pharmaceutical industry on its recommendations for how countries should respond.

The WHO's response caused widespread, unnecessary fear and prompted countries around the world to waste millions of dollars, according to one report. At the same time, the Geneva-based arm of the United Nations relied on advice from experts with ties to drug makers in developing the guidelines it used to encourage countries to stockpile millions of doses of antiviral medications, according to the second report.

Of course the WHO denies it.  They were just doing what they were supposed to do, of course.  It doesn't matter that their experts were also being paid as consultants by the likes of GlaxoSmithKline and Roche.  Billions were thrown at the vaccine makers to produce a vaccine that didn't even work in some cases.  

Just so ya know because I looked it up.  They say about 20 million or more died in 1918.  There were under 15 thousand deaths worldwide caused by the N1H1 bug.

I was suspicious of it from the start.  At the time, I speculated that it might be an invented crisis to move us closer to socialized medicine.

I feel somewhat justified now.  Oh, and by the way, I did not get H1N, nor did I get vaccinated and I did not modify my life or my schedule.

VW

Why Is This Different?

Imagine, if you will, a Black man walking into a coffee shop and being asked to leave because the owner feels "uncomfortable having him in the shop.  Lawsuits would abound, his shop would be picketed by every group in town and rightfully so.  You just can't do that type of thing in America in 2010 -- unless it's a cop.

PORTLAND, Ore. - A Portland police officer says he doesn’t take it personally that he was kicked out of a cafe where he had stopped to get a coffee.

Officer James Crooker told The Oregonian he was surprised he was asked to leave the Red and Black cafe but understands it was hostility directed at his uniform.

Co-owner John Langley says he asked the officer to leave May 18 because he felt uncomfortable having a uniformed officer in the vegan cafe, which is frequented by the homeless, environmental and animal rights activists.

Why is it different?  Why can you not discriminate against one group, but have no problem discriminating against an other?

The Red and Black Cafe is no ordinary coffee shop.  They are unabashedly left-wing extremists.  They are a capitalist operation (for profit) raging against the very system that gives them their existence.

Wonder what would happen if their store was robbed?  Who would they call?

VW

Define Hate

On May 7th, 2010, The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) (and joined by a bunch of radical left wing organizations including the United Church of Christ) filed a petition to have the FCC act upon a petition the NHMC filed back in January of 2009 asking the FCC to investigate what they call "Hate Speech" in the Media.  From their petition:

NHMC et al. respectfully request that the Commission grant NHMC’s Petition for Inquiry on hate speech in media, filed in January of 2009. NHMC’s Petition urges the Commission to examine the extent and effects of hate speech in media, including the likely link between hate speech and hate crimes, and to explore non-regulatory ways to counteract its negative impacts. As NHMC has awaited Commission action, hate, extremism and misinformation have been on the rise, and even more so in the past week as the media has focused on Arizona’s passage of one of the harshest pieces of anti-Latino legislation in this country’s history, SB 1070. (Ed Note:  Emphasis added by me)

Note the language here.  They lie and say it is anti-Latino.

As outlined in NHMC’s Petition, the current media landscape is a safe-haven for hate and extremism. Many communities and individuals do not have the information they want and need to intelligently engage in our democracy. This shortage of information is exacerbated by the vast media consolidation that has unfolded over the past two decades. Studies show that media consolidation diminishes ownership opportunities for people of color and leads to less diversity of voices; this yields a media in which people of color are under and misrepresented. As traditional media have become less diverse and less competitive, they have also grown less responsible and less responsive to the communities that they are supposed to serve. In this same atmosphere hate speech thrives, as hate has developed as a profit-model for syndicated radio and cable television programs masquerading as “news.” (Ed Note:  Emphasis added by me)

It should be obvious that they mean Conservative talk radio and Fox news.  They don't say it, but the only way you wouldn't know who they were explicitly talking about is to be lost in the woods for the last 20 years with no access to radio, TV, Newspaper and the internet.

They also mention the Internet and bloggers:

The Internet gives the illusion that news sources have increased, but in fact there are fewer journalists employed now than before. Moreover, on the Internet, speakers can hide in the cloak of anonymity, emboldened to say things that they may not say in the public eye. Even worse, sometimes anonymous Internet speakers hold their information out as news, leaving the public with the difficult job of discerning fact from fiction.

They do say that they are not asking for regulation.

To be clear, NHMC et al. is not asking – and will not ask – the Commission to compose any sort of content regulations pertaining to hate speech in media. Rather, NHMC et al. respectfully request that the Commission initiate an inquiry into the extent and effects of hate speech in media and to explore non-regulatory means by which to mitigate its negative impacts. In conjunction with opening a docket for public comment on the matter, the FCC should also study the correlation between hate speech and hate crimes. Once this information is collected, NHMC et al. will utilize the data for educational, informational and research purposes. Specifically, NHMC et al. will confront and educate hate distributors about the consequences of hate speech and encourage them to self-regulate.  (Ed Note:  Emphasis added by me)

I can only imagine what they mean by "confront and educate".

I read their whole petition.  As near as I can tell, they have no real definition of "hate" or "hate speech" other than to cite a so-called study done by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.  (there's an unbiased group for ya!)  Having what probably really is a hate group define "hate group" masked in some kind of legitimate scholarship is hardly a fair definition.

This may or may not go anywhere.  Despite their insistence that that are not seeking regulation, that must be the ultimate end of this kind of petition.  If they just walk in to a station manager's office and try and "educate" him, he's going to laugh them out of the building - especially if he is making a profit.  And the NHMC has to know that.

This is nothing more than a veiled attempt to regulate the speech of people they disagree with using a definition of hate that only they seem to know.  It is an assault (albeit a minor assualt) upon the First Amendment.

When it's only one side defining the terms, it is not freedom they are after by doing so.

VW