Rewarding Bad Behavior

7 Years Ago Today, My Memories from 9-11

2008-09-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

I was sleeping on my floor mattress in Clairemont, CA (San Diego) less than a mile from the apartment and Mosque where two of the hijackers lived and "worshiped". Our cable was supposed to be installed that day and my roommate Doug was awakened by the cable guy who said, "Have you turned your TV on yet?" Doug woke me up and told me that the WTC was attacked, the Pentagon was attacked, and that planes were being hijacked. I thought he was joking and tried to go back to sleep in my pre-911 invincible American attitude. When I doubted him but looked at the TV, I was mortified. The second tower had just been hit and I was watching replay after replay and crying like a little bitch. All of the sudden, I started thinking about all of my friends and family in New York, including a few of them who worked in the WTC or right nearby. I figured if these Islamic terrorist animals figured out how to accomplish this mayhem, that they had to have more coming.

I was calling my parents and sister and finally got through to her. She was balling and said, "How am I going to explain to my children that there are such evil people in the world?" I finally made it through to my dad, and I was surprised that he wasn't. My father grew up very aware of what Islamic terrorists were capable of and never put something like this past them. He confirmed that he had reached our Aunt and cousins and that everyone was alright. I found out that Tracy, my brother-in-law's brother-in-law, had decided to go to work late that day, and was on his way to work in the WTC when the attacks were happening. Many people weren't so lucky.

I guess you can call me a 9-11 Democrat, because in the following weeks, not only did I lose my naivete, but I lost my idiotic liberal beliefs. I learned right away, that true evil does exist, that not all cultures are created equal, and that criminals and our enemies only deserve death. Since then, I learned why the country I had taken for granted all of my immigrant life, was the best country on earth, with the best people on earth, and for those first few weeks after 9-11, I saw how tragedy could bring people of all stripes together. How sad that the human psyche can only remember for so long, perhaps it's to keep us sane, but it has allowed many in America to forget whom our real enemies are. So today, like every year, I honor the memories of the people who passed, by jarring my own, watching every possible video, listening to every audio clip, and forcing myself to image their horror. Most of all, I get to see the best of Americans and see the bravery & humility shown that day.

Standing in lines: get used to it.

2008-08-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

No picture could better foreshadow an Obama presidency than this one from Zombie, whom is liveblogging from the DNC in its unique fashion. Honestly, it's a little bizarre, aside from the faux Airforce One and Greek Temple of Oneness from which his holiness spoke.

If people are this forgiving - having to wait in a 2 mile plus line to see their Messiah speak and make promises with no track record to back up his claims - then why not expect that they won't mind facing lines at the pump, in the ER, in a government building, or anywhere else affected by Barack's many suggested limits, rations, and mandates.

There's a funny scene in one of my favorite movies, Moscow on the Hudson, where Robin Williams' character Vladimir sees a line forming around the block of a store in Moscow and asks someone rushing to get into it, "what product do they have?" The lady laughs and says, "Who cares?" Whatever it was, was out of the ordinary, something there was never enough of, and considered a luxury. It could have been toilet paper or paperclips but for them, it was something their neighbor didn't have.

I've heard nearly every speaker at the DNC dropping choice socialist jargon like "level the playing field", "for the common good", "evil corporations", "fair, fairness, fair", etc. On their face, they sound like righteous goals, but when you put bureaucrats in charge of legislating those ideals, "the people" suffer, that is, the people who didn't consider themselves victims before the legislation was proposed.

More Bullsh!t on the Green Movement

2008-07-29T15:36:00.001-07:00

Another Penn and Teller Bullsh!t episode that deals with the politicizing of the Green Movement and the brainwashing that occurs at our universities. Thank g-d my nieces are of above average intelligence. :)

Penn and Teller - Bullshit! - Environmental Hysteria

Penn & Teller's Bullsh!t takes on Al Gore, the Green Movement, and suckas

2008-07-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Watch it! The latest of Penn and Teller's Bullsh!t Showtime series that I can only watch online. I don't get Weeds either. This one takes on the "Green Movement", Al Gore, and guilt driven suckers in general. Although I don't agree with them on all their shows, this one is fully endorsed. I challenge my green friends to sit through this entire episode and in return, I will watch an entire broadcast of Keith Olbermann. What you say?

Time for Some Campaignin'

2008-07-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

Jib Jab does it yet again! This time with even more interaction. See if you can spot your's truly...

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Line me up and pull the trigger, cuz I'm ready to die! UPDATE: Mugabe or Die!

2008-06-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

I was trying to take a respite from posting for a while to catch up with some work and travel, but I could not resist posting this ridiculous incident from the recent BET Awards for all of my liberal friends who consider the Messiah as the next best thing since Disposable Wipes.

As I may have said publicly or written before, I'm less concerned by Obama himself, given his history of throwing every person, position, and idea he held dear under the bus as soon as it proved politically expedient. (So much for the "New Type of Politics" I guess.) No, I'm more concerned with his legions of ignorant, irresponsible, and in many cases, hateful followers, for whom the idea of an inexperienced, BUT Black President, is of utmost importance, above say, a viable energy policy, success in Iraq, or even a lessening of the polarization that this country has experienced in the last decade.

Case in point: P Diddy, Puffy, or Sean Combs at the BET Awards, altering his original illogical motto of "Vote or Die!" into "Obama or Die!". Seriously P, tell us how you really feel!

And while we're on the subject of open-minded, objective, and well informed celebrities who know what real patriotism is and what's good for us "little people", here's Will Smith showing the love to our European friends, of whom we desperately need nothing more than to be liked:

Update: I was wondering why the chant sounded so familiar: "Mugabe or Die!" Oh, the bitter-sweet irony!

Also: Forgot to mention the Hat-tip to Hotair.com where they link to the South Park episode that fits in real well with today's motto...

Monica Conyers (aka Rep. John Conyers' wife) gets schooled by an 8th Grader!

2008-04-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

I've seen this woman screaming over others enough to know she deserved the full wrath of this young girl. Bravo! (hattip Hotair.com)

Who knows? Maybe I'll receive a threat too!

America's new Nazi Hunter: Barack Obama?

2008-04-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

Don't worry American Jews, Barack's got your back! Even with anti-Semitism overflowing in his church, in his inner circle, and amongst his supporters, Barack says "nobody has spoken out more fiercely on the issue of anti- Semitism than I have." Yeah, and nobody has spoken out more fiercely on the issue of racism than Michael Richards, I'm sure.

White people love free health care!

2008-04-09T21:55:00.000-07:00

Haha! I've seen this site, and it's many alternates like www.stuff[*]peoplelike.com, but this critique on white people's love for free health care was awesome! It reminded me a lot of this article on identity politics.

Oh No She Didn't!

2008-04-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

Today's "Quote of the Day" comes from the woman whom has never been proud of her country until her husband was running for POTUS, and who seems to have him by the short and curlies, as we would say if we lived in Texas. And no, I'm not talking about Hillary, but the other socialist:

“The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.”

Head over to the link to see a full deconstruction of why "universal health scare" is a crock, just like most government run programs. Man, do I hate socialists with a vengeance. And yet, these are the same people who scream at people about excersizing choice over their bodies. Sure, you can choose to have an abortion, but you won't be able to pick the doctor and you'll get stuck with some government subsidized and educated hack who couldn't make it in the "real world" nicknamed Dr. Hook. By all means, keep the state out of one decision and give them the power over the rest. Brilliant.

Why listening to NPR makes you depressed

2008-03-27T23:09:00.001-07:00

Everyday I'm on the road, I listen to the archaic car radio and always catch a news cycle from National Public Radio. Known to have a very liberal slant, I have always listened intently from the days of my own college liberalism, all the way through my move towards the center, and slightly past into conservatism/libertarianism. I listen to the local Christian radio station as well if the topic is good and I think both are equally amusing and at opposite ends of the political spectrum. I find I agree with some of the opinions of both, but definitely not all, and I'll find myself laughing out loud most of the time at both. However, I'm always left thinking about the vast difference in their target audience's perceptions of the future, which brings me to a topic I have been wanting to write about, but was beaten to the punch by two great posts from Hot Air.com, one of my daily reads.

It was always my assumption that the Mainstream Media (MSM) lives by the motto, "bad news is good news", but my opinion was validated by a Pew poll about how the media stopped reporting on Iraq when things and news began improving. For me, this is the main reason I rely on the blogosphere for my news rather than the old brick and morter news media that assumes what you need to know and usually has an agenda.

My main hypothesis has been that liberals are way more pessimistic than conservatives, but I hadn't had a chance to get down in the gritty analysis of why this is. Just listening to the depressing state of our economy, country, culture, war, etc. over at NPR and jumping over to Christian radio to hear about how simple faith and prayer will solve all of the world's problems and bring about paradise is one example, but mainly based on the differences between atheists and true believers. Since I'm neither, I consider myself generally happy, but I'm tired of hearing bad news and overly unrealistic, blissful news at the same time. Lucky for me, the Economist had a great article about this topic that focused more on political perspectives and was featured as the Quote of the Day at HotAir.

Old funny: McCain trades jobs with Streisand on SNL

2008-03-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

This is old, but the first time I have seen it. It's a great example of people doing jobs they are unqualified for and a statement on today's extremely opinionated entertainers that assume people respect them equally for their political opinions as their talents.

(hat tip HotAir.com)

Down goes Kwame! Down goes Kwame!

2008-03-24T09:43:00.001-07:00

There's probably a saying somewhere that goes, "If you want to clean up a city, start with it's dirty leaders" but I think it's pretty self-explanatory for (metro-)Detroiters by now. Well, after years of shady business, affairs, corruption, strong armed tactics, cronyism, unsolved murders, etc., the Hip Hop Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, "was charged Monday with perjury and other counts after sexually explicit text messages surfaced that appear to contradict his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide". For many of us, it's about damned time. Some will argue that Kwame finalized the casino deals and cleaned up the downtown waterfront, but hey, even Mussolini made the trains run on time. Detroit needs a lot of things, but bad PR is not one, so for that I say, good riddance.

Obamania means not having to say you are sorry

2008-03-21T08:57:00.001-07:00

I've been saying there is a lot of hypocrisy in the Obama campaign for a while now. I can't understand how a person who surrounds himself with so many people that believe America is evil, wants to lead that same country. And while I've been away, some right wing radio host put up a new Youtube sensation that calls Obama out with his own words:

(hat tip to Hotair.com)

Save the environment, potentially poison your family

2008-03-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

I've been out of the news cycle recently, and while trying to catch up with my RSS feeds, I came across this blog post about the CFL or compact fluorescent lightbulb that environmentalists have bandied about and used as a carrot for the average Joe like me to "do my part" to save the world, and myself a little money after a hefty initial investment of course. I don't know about you, but I'm sticking with my old fashioned, energy guzzling 99 cent lightbulbs. Just wow. What's next? That the globe may not be warming after all?

Czech President Vaclav Klaus Part 2

2008-03-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the second interview with Vaclav Klaus about socialism, communism, global warming, Russia, and democracy, mainly.

Search Attitude

2008-03-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

I love this guy on HBO's Flight of the Conchords, I complain about Google's politics though I use all of their apps, and I'm working on a search project at work, so this was perfect to stumble upon while staying up late working:

Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus Compares Global Warming Movement to the New Communism

2008-03-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

This is Part 1 of 2 interviews. I will post the second one when it comes out. The topic is similar, but different, as the president talks about why there are more Marxist (idiots) in Berkeley, California than in the entire country of the Czech Republic. It has to do with experiencing the horrors of Communism and the pathetic nature of Socialism that people disassociate themselves from it, while in the US, the counter-culture believes in the idealistic, Utopian view of forms of government that have been proven as failures. Poor naive fools. That's why I always say, go live in a place that has nationalized health care first before believing the liars like Michael Moore and the ignorant like Hillary and Obama.

In this interview, he explains why the Global Warming Alarmists are the new socialists, trying to hamper democracy, freedom, productivity, capitalism, and overall, human progress. The 60's are over. The "revolution" failed, and now they need some other way of sticking it to "the man".

I've always had an interest, admiration, and empathy for Czechs since reading a lot of Milan Kundera, but this guy is my new hero:

UPDATE: More hero worship here!

New/Old Idea: Quote of the Day

2008-02-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

Since I never have time to post, but want to keep this blog dynamic, I'll be adding a few quotes and/or headlines with links to them every now and then. Today I ran across this one at HotAir.com which I could not resist posting in it's entirety:

Many people have compared Obama to Ronald Reagan in his ability to promise “morning in America,” but they have focused only on the most superficial part of the Reagan revolution. Reagan didn’t cast himself as the agent of hope, but appealed to the hope within Americans that they could lift up the country, and not the other way around. He focused on the hope of the individual as the true agent of change, and not the despair of the collective that required government intervention.

Nepotistic Useful Idiot Tool Reaches Final Destination: Token

2008-02-29T15:33:00.000-08:00

You may remember this idiot from his interview or shall I say, intellectual ass kicking, at the hands of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, back when he had a very tiny show on the CBC that eventually was canceled, well, because it sucked. Since he hasn't had a job mommy or daddy could find for him in socialist Canada, he took the one that has been vacant for quite some time, or at least since Benny Morris rejected it; token Jew propagandist for Al Jazeera English Edition. Avi is a great example of why I can't possibly be an ethnocentrist, no mater how hard I try.

Asked if Al Jazeera Arabic’s reputation for airing terrorist propaganda played into his decision, Mr. Lewis said the question is “absolutely hilarious.”

“What’s the allegation? That Al Jazeera aired [Osama] bin Laden videos? So did CNN, FOX and everybody else,” he said. “I know that Al Jazeera is a favourite target of nationalist right-wingers in the United States, but as a journalist, I like to judge things on the evidence.”

Journalist. Yeah. As much as Al Gore is a Scientist, I'm sure.

If you need a reminder of the kind of poor and extremely biased journalism people have been growing tired of, look no further than this interview.

Yeah, yeah. Novelists also vote liberally, so what else is new?

2008-02-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

Jewlicious has an interesting post about whom your favorite novelists are supporting for president. Even if I had money to burn, I could think of a million other things to spend it on other than someone's campaign, but I digress.

So, we know that something like 9 in 10 journalists donated to Democrats (which bodes well for "fair" coverage), and we know that most Hollywood types are and have always been in the tank for Democrats/socialists/communists. I'm interested in seeing who the producers (as in, the industrialists, innovators, business leaders, inventors, scientists, economists, etc.), you know, the people who we are all really dependent on for the future of this great country donate to.

I happen to believe most people who operate in the "classical" doctrines as opposed to the "romanticists" would vote more rationally, as their lives are based on facts and truths and not just emotions like swooning journalists and feeling actors happen to live off of. I know that most looters, lazy unionists, entitlement seekers, and generations of lazy intellectuals vote liberally, as in the big government, hand-out promising, even the playing-field type party. Sheesh, I did myself in 2000. Of course, at that time, I believed I was entitled a job when I graduated from college. I also believed that just because you were born, other people should provide you with free health care. Thank g-d those days are gone! I'm more interested in knowing whom the people most vital to the future of this country and the world I may add, are donating to. Screw the "people", tell me about the ones who really make a difference.

Oscars with Stewart Bomb, Same Old Tired Show of Ingrates

2008-02-26T10:55:00.000-08:00

Well, this Jew, for one, dislikes Jon Stewart. I think he is one of our worst examples of our people. He's somewhat funny as a comic, but his foray into politics and his choice to hide behind his comic status when pressed on his politics are pathetic. Either stand by your political convictions or just be a comic. Cutting most of Jonah Goldberg's interview when he's schooling you on his book and on politics, and using your audience to boo everything you disagree with is weak. And par for the course with Jon Stewart and half-jew, and complete idiot, Bill Maher.

Furthermore, people are tired of the Oscars and of Hollywood in general because they're tired of the snotty, rich, and clueless crowd of socialist loving, useful idiots blaming America for everything, believing in and promoting pseudo sciences, having their heads so far up ignorant politicians' asses while pretending to be anti-establishment, and then pretending to support the troops while awarding Oscars to movies that make them look like evil stormtroopers. It's a town full of amazing hypocrites, and unfortunately, many of these idiots are Jews who do more to hurt Judaism and Israel than the most vicious anti-Semites could ever dream to do.

Poetic Justice

2008-02-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

Good. I [expletive deleted :)] hate communists more than scurvy. Especially, rich, talentless hacks who want to be socialists while buying and owning more property than the entire Cuban population could pool together to afford, generating more free-market based income than most socialist states' GDP combined, and speaking out against the government as if it's a nightly ritual. Move to Cuba. Move to Venezuela. Move to North Korea. Move to China (well, kind of). Just move away and take your collectivist nonsense and your stupid Che T-shirts with you. Let the substandard physicians re-use needles and IVs on you after waiting in line for four days. [expletive deleted :)].

WTF? More internationalist socialism from Obama!

2008-02-15T16:53:00.000-08:00

I choose to live in America. I am free to leave at any time. I am free to move to Canada, Europe, back to Russia, or any other country, for that matter. When my parents fled the FSU to come to America, it wasn't because they flipped a coin, rolled the dice, or played roshambo and the US just happened to come up. They/we moved here because this was the freest country in the world; a capitalist system, a system and people that valued hard work, individuality, and fought for other's freedom because it was the right thing to do. Sure, it had its blemishes, turmoiled history, and it wasn't perfect, but there wasn't and still isn't another place like it in the world today.

I'll save you my theory about the world's best and brightest coming to America, leaving their former depraved, backward, and/or mediocre societies for a better life for their family and a chance to pursue the American Dream in all its glory. I won't go into anymore detail, but I believe it, and it doesn't surprise me that the US has been the strongest, richest nation for all these years. But all along, from its creation, the US has had a plethora of ideas and idealists, many naive idealists with the best intentions for "the greater good" [ick], who have lived here all of their lives with disdain for America's greatness, who worship the weak, the incompetent, and worst off, who care more about people half way around the globe, more than the future and well being of their own children.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present for the record, yet another move towards the socialization of America, by none other than Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., future Democratic presidential nominee. It's called the Global Poverty Act, and yes, it's OUR responsibility to solve he world's ills, which is hard to do when you are creating them, at least according to his friends in the UN.

It seems when he's not strong arming businesses into losing money, voting the most liberally in all of the senate, or receiving support from confused communists, he's out trying to force the US to give more handouts and entitlements to the undeserved and allow the UN to penalize the US financially for not accepting global legislation designed to weaken this country in the first place. Please remind me again, is he running for president or head of the UN?

For those that don't click on the links, I'll present a snapshot of what this new Global Poverty Act and the media that refuses to cover it is:

"32. We solemnly reaffirm, on this historic occasion, that the United Nations is the indispensable common house of the entire human family, through which we will seek to realize our universal aspirations for peace, cooperation and development. We therefore pledge our unstinting support for these common objectives and our determination to achieve them."

I think I need to puke.

Obama Hearts Socialism!

2008-02-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

In a desperate ploy to build a track record of his own, Barack Obama is co-sponsoring a bill (S.1945) also known as the Patriot Corporation Act. Based on the subjective opinions of some bureaucrats, unions, and other partisan NGOs, corporations can be deemed patriotic or unpatriotic if they follow the "advice" set forth by this committee.

Apparently, Obama is already trying to strong arm businesses into taking his advice. In the case of Tesco, the parent company of a chain of grocery stores, Obama and his committee are mandating that this chain open stores in low income neighborhoods. Excuse me if I need to remind everyone in what country we live. As far as I know, to this day, businesses in the US are in business to make money, not to provide services to the people for the sake of the "greater good". I suggest Obama visit a couple of failed communist states to see where this path leads.

What's funny, is that this is yet another eerily familiar sign of the degradation of America that Ayn Rand alludes to in Atlas Shrugged back in the 50s when she wrote it. Not to spoil the book for my friends that sadly haven't read it yet, but when government mandates business, everyone suffers. Businesses are forced to operate at a loss, (as in why many larger chains moved out of low income neighborhoods in the first place), and eventually, they can not operate at a loss any longer, and go out of business.

It's not Obama's nor anyone else in the government's choice or authority to mandate where businesses should operate and it's only the market and the business whom hold the keys to their destiny. It's bad enough the US has the highest corporate taxes in the world, and now this? And this dictator is running for president? Sheesh. Yep, get ready for change alright. As in socialism. As in do you have change for this food stamp?