Gnarlyblog

Arizona Grows a Pair.

2010-04-23T21:53:00.010-10:00

Much wailing, wringing of hands, and rending of clothes by the special interest media and the left in general today as Arizona has picked up and run with the illegal immigration ball our federal government has dro... nay refused to even heft. Much of the hubbub among the scourges of our national integrity has been predicated on a lie that is typified as follows in WaPo...

As an immigration bill that nationally embarrasses Arizona becomes bad law, our best hope in my hometown is that the rest of America doesn't do to Arizona what Senate Bill 1070 requires our police officers to do to people with brown skin: "profile" them based on stereotypes and insufficient information.

Bullshit! All one has to do is read the law to know better. I did, and frankly I'm mystified how they came to that opinion... nah, nah, nah, just joking. Obviously the special interest media fabulists didn't come to that opinion by reading the fucking law, instead they did what they always do, they read each other.
The law says as follows:

A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. WITHOUT A WARRANT. MAY ARREST A PERSON IF THE OFFICER HAS PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE PERSON HAS COMMITTED ANY OFFENSE THAT MAKES THE PERSON REMOVABLE FROM THE UNITED STATES.

How in the name of Pablo Escobar is a lawman compelled by those words "to do to people with brown skin: "profile" them based on stereotypes and insufficient information"?
The answer friends is axiomatic, those parameters come from the leftist psyche and their media echo-chamber.

UPDATE: 5/14/10

UPDATE: 5/20/10

Gnarlyblog Joins The Tea Party

2010-04-12T18:27:00.006-10:00

Well you can't really join the Tea Party, cause it isn't a political party per se, which is a really good thing because:
A) I dislike political parties
B) If the Tea Party did indeed become a political party it would disunify believers in limited government to the extent it would guarantee more demokrat leftist tyranny, and...
C) I'm not much of a joiner.

Perhaps some of you in my fantastical readership will have noticed a more strident tone to my entries since I've returned to blogging. The spelling of demokrat in the Germanic fashion for instance. This comes as a natural reaction to the rapidly gathering clouds of leftist oppression I've been watching o'er the last several months, and a desire to cast my genteel conservative instincts aside and fight fire with fire, hammer and tongs for our liberty against the pinko totalitarian rabble.

To that end I will be compiling a new lexicon to more accurately describe our foe. For my second entry into that lexicon (right behind demokrat) I shall hereon refer to the elite popular media, (old media if will) as the special interest media, the reason for that should be obvious.

Fight the powah brothers and sisters.

Glenn Beck & Al Sharpton

2010-04-09T21:17:00.003-10:00

Just caught part of Becks show wherein Al Sharpton was guest; it was pathetic. Why give that race-hustling fuck air time if you aren't prepared to demonstrate what a miserable piece of shit he is?

Hope Beck can avoid jumping the shark till after November.

The Tyranny That Dares Not Speak Its Own Name

2010-04-06T20:42:00.020-10:00

Anyone seen this shit?

Wow, just wow. Whether it's for Smith's obsequiousness, or Obama's galling mendacity, this crap deserves a little parsing:

SMITH: I've been spending time out and about listening to talk radio. The kindest of terms you're sometimes referred to out in America is a socialist. The worst of which I've heard is called a Nazi. Are you aware of the level of enmity that crosses the airwaves and that people have made their daily conversation about you?

Does anyone who actually listens to talk radio believe for one second that Harry's telling the truth? I've heard Obama referred to as a fascist or a socialist both of which by varying definitions are true, but Nazi? Never. Nor for that matter have I heard any real enmity from the hosts of these various broadcasts. Sure you'll hear some hate from the occasional caller but usually that is directed at the hosts, the haters being deranged lefties.

OBAMA: When you listen to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck --

SMITH: It's beyond that.

OBAMA: It's pretty apparent and it's troublesome. But keep in mind that there have been periods in American history where this kind of vitriol comes out. It happens often when you've got an economy that is making people more anxious and people are feeling as if there's a lot of change that needs to take place. But that's not the vast majority of Americans...

True, the "vast majority" of American's have their heads up their asses. But what's not true is the vitriol aimed at the President is any greater now than it was during the last administration when the economy was going gangbusters. In fact, I'd say "(that) kind of vitriol" was much greater then. Also, if Obama is to be believed about the feelings folks harbor for change, then obviously Obama isn't giving them the change they'd hoped for.

...The truth is some of these comments when you actually ask well, this is based on what this notion that Obama is a socialist for example nobody can really (laughs) give a good answer...

Bullshit. For anyone whose paid any attention to Obama's past the question to ask is when did Obama become anything other than a socialist? I've found no evidence that he's come to any other realization than that dictated by being marinated in leftist radicalism since birth.

...much less when they...

SMITH: Right

OBAMA: you know make...

SMITH: They would say mandating that people have to buy health insurance or something like that

OBAMA: the uh, uh, sort of plan proposed by current Republican nominee mitt Romney

SMITH: (nodding)

Okay, besides this being a total tu quoque fallacy, if one bothers to recall Obama's druthers, he didn't want the sort of health care reform Harry and he are suggesting. Obama wanted a (so called) single payer plan, that's what everyone used to call socialized medicine; not that the Obama regimes Trojan Horse isn't close enough.

Obama: Yeah, so it doesn't make too much sense...

(CBS edit)

...it used to be that somebody who said something crazy they might be saying it to their next door neighbor or it might be on some late night AM station at the very end of the radio dial...

So folks who criticize Obama for his well documented socialist pedigree, or whenever his Chicago cum Chavez style totalitarian predilections materialize are crazy? That's called demonization, keep that in mind when Obama says the following...

(CBS edit)

SMITH: Very last question does it bother you a little bit?

OBAMA: Uh you know I eh you end up getting a pretty thick skin on this job, and obviously when you've gone through a presidential campaign there are a lot of things said that thicken your skin. Um I, I am concerned about a political climate in which the other side is demonized. I'm concerned about it when Democrats do it,

My ass

I'm concerned about it when Republicans do it, I do think that there is a tone, and tenor, that needs to change, where we can disagree without being disagreeable, or making wild accusations about the other side, uh and I think that's what most Americans would like to see as well.

What this American would like to see is less sanctimony and more truth from this asshole, and the truth is the public discourse is no harsher then it has ever been, tyrants just can't abide criticism.

I said most Americans have their heads up the their asses, but not so far that they are deaf to certain easily identifiable concepts to which they are viscerally anathematic, one of these is the term socialist. That's why Obama and his minions dare not identify with the name they would otherwise embrace. The fact that their regime is so replete with agendas and aspects that are easily identifiable as socialist, or totalitarian, have given substance to the term it wouldn't have as a mere pejorative when aimed at less radical administrations. These identifiers are not a matter of opinion, they are a matter of public record.
Next time you see Chris Matthews, Bob Beckel, or any one of a number of the Dear Leaders panjandrums, commisars, thugs, toadies, or boot-lickers, raging cause he and his regime are being identified as socialists, be mindful of the 411.

Demokrats and Candor

2010-04-02T21:06:00.005-10:00

Doesn't happen very often, but when it does it's astounding. Most recently...

Old favorites:

Response to a Humbug

2010-03-31T21:46:00.008-10:00

I've never responded to a letter to the editor, but for some reason the libelous little humbug titled Republicans in yesterdays Honolulu Advertiser has gotten under my skin.

I don't know if it's the writers blind and incurious acceptance of the narrative which has reverberated in the leftist echo chamber since Paul Krugman penned this smug bit of sophistry in last Thursdays NY Times, or the Advertiser's lack of judgment in publishing the letter writers lies. Whatever it is my response will probably not make it to the Advertiser's letters section, and if by some miracle it does will most likely be incomprehensible due to lack of context and the constraints of the Advertiser's character limit which caused me to eviscerate my original response.

At any rate, I offer my original letter here in context with that of the liberal pea-brain from Lahaina as the cartharsis I will doubtlessly not receive from 'Hawai'i's complete source'

The Offending Letter:

Republicans

Palin is accessory to acts of violence

On her Facebook page, Sarah Palin stated we need to "reload," and "take aim" at a list of Democrats after the health care bill was passed. Then she put cross hairs on Democratic candidates.

As a result, law enforcement authorities investigated the discovery of a cut propane gas line at the Virginia home of Rep. Tom Perriello's (D-Va.) brother.

A tea party organizer published what he thought was the freshman member's home address on a blog, in case any readers "want to drop by" and provide a "personal touch" to their views.

Republicans like Palin are becoming an accessory to the unlawful actions against Democrats.

An accessory charge is a for person who, though not present during the commission of a felony, is guilty of having aided and abetted another, who committed the felony.

If Sarah Palin didn't mean to encourage unlawful behavior then she would have come out and apologized for not being impeccable with her word — but she didn't.

Sarah Palin should be prosecuted on accessory charges to any crime directed toward the list of Democrats she laid out with cross hairs. This Republican strategy is deeply disturbing!
Justin Hughley
Lahaina, Maui

My Response:

I'm wondering who Justin Hughley is quoting in his March, 30th letter condemning Sarah Palin, Tea Partiers, and Republicans, but whoever it is, it 's definitely not Palin.

A simple visit to the Facebook entry in question belies the writers assertions. There was indeed a placement of cross hairs in that entry, but they were not "on Democratic candidates" as the writer describes, but rather on a map of Congressional districts where as Mrs. Palin writes:

"We’ll aim for these races and many others. This is just the first salvo in a fight to elect people across the nation who will bring common sense to Washington."

It is therefore difficult to understand Mr. Hughley's contention that the cutting of a gas line at the Virginia home of Rep. Tom Perriello's (D-Va.) brother occurred "as a result", especially since the act took place before Palin's blog entry

By the writer's logic it's not difficult to imagine who might be liable for accessory charges in last week's throwing of bricks through GOP office windows in Charlottesville, or the firing of bullets through Rep. Eric Cantor's (R-Va) Richmond office window, and the on-line death threats made to Cantor and his family by the alleged shooter.

Needless to say if I'd had the space I could go on to admonish Mr. Hughley about his ignorance of the law, his typical leftist intolerance of free speech, or that demokrats have manufactured this issue to avoid an argument of their insidious health care bill which they can't win on merit.
But what I'd really like to do here is call attention to this blog post on Verum Serum (hat tip to Daniel Foster at NRO's The Corner) which should cause Paul Krugman to eat his words.

Nutaree Indictment

2010-03-29T15:38:00.007-10:00

Federal indictment of Hutaree members

In what little I know of these sorts of investigations the investigating authorities often spend months, years even following these conspiracies in order to amass a wealth of charges so that incarceration of the guilty parties is certain. What have we here, five charges? The offenders arrested on the pretext that they were about to commit a reconnaissance? Why is interrupting a mere reconnaissance reasonable grounds for terminating an investigation? From what I've read investigators like to observe these kinds of things while building their case. Firearms possession illegal? Teaching explosives making illegal? When did homemade bombs all of a sudden become WMDs?

I don't know what the testimony was before the grand jury, but upon perusal of this indictment I get the impression that these charges seems pretty thin, and I intuit that thinness is due to a certain haste in bringing them. I have more than a nagging suspicion that haste is due to an administration more intent on the timing of creating political narratives and Machiavellian obfuscations, then seeing these seemingly dangerous religious nutbags ever convicted. If the Nutaree go free because of a hastily brought prosecution we'll know where the true national threat lies....

...as if we already don't.

A Disconcerting Confluence of Events

2010-03-28T20:32:00.012-10:00

It's been a week since the jackboot of Demokrat totalitarianism finally forced itself completely through the front door of our erstwhile Constitutional abode, and while we wrestle for the latch chain Obama's dementors seek to fog our minds with lurid tales of racist Tea Partier malevolence.

A Troubling Inconsistency

Never mind the fact that whether it's Black Panthers seeking to intimidate white voters, or Harry Reid's brownshirts acting up in Searchlight just this last weekend, decades of documentation show violence and thuggery to be almost exclusively attributes of the left, and while leftist duplicity is no surprise to most right thinking individuals, what's really worrying to me is today's news that there have been several raids of Christian militia groups across the mid-west this weekend by FBI, ATF, The Department of Homeland Security and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Coincidence? Maybe so, but why is Homeland security and the Joint Terrorism Task Force involved when there are some 35 Islamist training camps operating with impunity inside our borders, and have been for years? Security researcher Ryan Mauro was asked in a Front Page Magazine interview last year

"FP: Why doesn’t the government shut down these compounds?
Mauro: There are a few reasons. The first is that Jamaat ul-Fuqra is not designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department, and the second is that the law enforcement authorities do not have the tools they need to search these compounds yet. Right now, members involved in terrorist and criminal activity are being treated as if they are isolated incidents; rogue followers of an otherwise innocent cult."

Jamaat ul-Fuqra is not designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, but Hutaree is? Moreover, the tools to search such compounds seemed to be abundantly in evidence this weekend.

Here's more on those Islamist Camps.

Update 3/31/10: American Thinkers analysis of the Capitol steps race mummery

Gnarlyblog Birther Free Zone

2009-08-16T18:58:00.007-10:00

I don't know if Obama was born a US Citizen or not, and while it seems to me that Birthers are far more credible than the Truthers to which they are often compared, the mere fact that a comparison can be made should be enough to dissuade smart Obama critics from going there; that is a tar-baby the haters should have all to themselves.

Frankly if I were Obama I wouldn't release my (original) birth certificate either, just so I could keep in good supply a (seemingly) unhinged coterie of hyperventilating antagonists at which to aim my supplicant media.

Not that I think Obama's that smart, but just sayin'.

The irony is that this President brings with him a cornucopia of genuine Chicago machine baggage, unsavory perhaps criminal connections, a past steeped in leftist radicalism, and a naked predilection to act on that agenda, all of which needs to be attacked.

With that in mind a Birther hill is not the one I choose to die (or lose credibility) on, and thus I declare Gnarlyblog a Birther free zone.

Typical Just Typical

2009-08-15T21:36:00.005-10:00

Came across this video yesterday on Breitbart wherein a foam flecked Lawrence O'Donnell is hectoring Republican US Rep. John Culberson of Texas over his bonifides as a 'Jeffersonian'. Whatever context the discussion was in is not apparent as almost the entire video consists of O'Donnell badgering Culberson on whether or not he would have voted for Medicare or Social Security, and Culberson trying (and failing) to squirm out from under the question. Too bad.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Normally there is nothing to be learned from these showbiz style interviews, but I find myself in this instance being more alienated by the Republicans equivocation than by O'Donnell's antics, and therein lies the lesson. Most of us conservative folk are fed up, nay disgusted with Republicans laying claim to a mantle of conservatism (or 'Jeffersonianism') yet embrace all manner of socialized foolishness if they glean some sort of political advantage from it. If Republicans haven't yet learned principle from these last elections (as apparently they haven't) their party is toast.

The correct answer Mr. Culberson should have been an unequivocal no, you would not have voted for Social Security or Medicare or any manner of Federal overreach. You would have gotten more respect and backing from your constituency in Texas than the handful of self-interested old codgers you may have alienated.

Take that from someone who's on the brink of codgerdom himself.

Horse d'œuvre's In Miami?

2009-08-12T18:40:00.008-10:00

When I first heard this story of horses in Miami being slaughtered for their meat, I was a bit baffled. I'd heard reported that horse meat was going for north of $40 a pound. Why the sudden price jump for a commodity I'd always understood as being a cheap alternative to beef?

Having never sought out horse meat as a comestible I was in the dark regarding the legality of the consumption of horse flesh, but I had assumed it was entirely legal. That's why both Mrs. Gnarly and I simultaneously sat up in bed and proclaimed 'aha!' this morning when we heard it reported on Fox News that sales of horse meat had been illegal since '07. Everyone knows (or rather everyone should know) that once a desirable commodity is made illegal it instantly gains value and creates a criminal enterprise. Furthermore, if the commodity in question is already endangered or in short supply the skyrocketing price will exacerbate the problem inevitably leading towards exhaustion or extinction. John Stossel did a pretty good feature exploring the phenomenon a few months ago called 'How To Save Endangered Tigers: Kill Them?'

Upon doing a little net research of my own, it turns out that the Fox News report was wrong, and sale, trade, and consumption of horse meat is technically legal in Florida (laws differ state by state with horse meat indeed being illegal in many). I say technically legal because any horse flesh consumed by humans must be USDA inspected. The last three abattoirs in the country which slaughtered horses were closed in '07, ergo no USDA inspection, so it can be said that trade in horse meat for human consumption is de facto illegal in this country.

So why despite the unintended consequences of good intentions are we seeing this black market in horse meat only now? Apparently our national obsession with importing people with exotic tastes and bizarre cultural prerogatives who refuse to assimilate, reinforcing their predilections not to do so, and then concentrating them in glorious cultural salad bowls like Miami creates certain markets which would otherwise never have materialized in our erstwhile homogeneous culture.

There are in this case but two solutions to the plight of horse owners in South Florida and perhaps soon the nation. Either free up markets, or clamp down on our borders and insist the 'wretched refuse' assimilates. Preferably both.

The Mother Of All Bad Analogies

2009-08-11T12:11:00.002-10:00

Here's what happens when the chosen one strays from his teleprompter:

In the courts they would call this an admission against interest

Grandma, What Sharp Teeth You Have!

2009-08-10T20:08:00.001-10:00

Fools Rush In

2009-08-09T19:25:00.002-10:00

Last week When I first read of the bold folk who were turning themselves in as an act of defiance to the Obama regime's appeal for informants I was a little queasy.

Six months ago I would have discounted the solicitation as perhaps the bumbling of an overeager young staffer, or something like that.

Tonight on a whim I decided to check Whitehouse.govs website fully expecting amidst the storm of criticism (from the right) that the page would have been taken down in embarrassment.

Guess what:

It's still up!

Now I'm really queasy.

Yes Dan, The Worlds Best Healthcare.

2009-08-07T20:36:00.018-10:00

Just as Congressional lefties have failed to hastily ram socialized medicine down the throats of an unwilling majority, Dan Boylan has foisted upon us his latest Midweek failure:

"The Worlds Best Healthcare?"

Prof. Boylan begins his 'lecture' with this pedantic flourish:

"Now, class, move your desks forward and listen up while I offer a short lecture on what you get for your healthcare dollar in the United States of America."

Good thinking Dan, everyone loves to be condescended to.

"First, you get “the finest healthcare system in the world.” For weeks, months, years and decades, you’ve heard our congressional ladies and gentlemen call it that - “the finest healthcare system in the world.”

They are demonstrating their gratitude. In the 2008 congressional elections, they collectively received $167 million in campaign contributions from healthcare industries.

Our congressional ladies and gentlemen also are demonstrating that they’re fast learners. In 2008, they listened to $484 million worth of lobbying by America’s healthcare industry - lobbying that invariably included the assertion that ours is the finest health-care system in the world.

Well professor, I've heard lots of people describe our healthcare system as the finest in the world, not just Congress folk. Are they all in cahoots with the healthcare industry as well? Funny, all I've heard from a majority of this Congress is how bad our healthcare system sucks. I don't take that as ungratefulness on their part, but rather delusion on yours.

Second, you get a health-care system that costs an enormous amount of money, much of which is spent on administration. According to Physicians for a National Health Program, “administration consumes at least 31 percent of healthcare spending” in the United States. How enormous are those costs? Administration of the the nation’s government-run Medicare system for old folks like me stands at 3 percent.

Put another way (in a 2007 Commonwealth Fund report), “U.S. health insurance costs as a share of total health spending are 30-70 percent higher than countries with mixed private/public insurance systems, and three times higher than in countries with the lowest rates.”

So when you pay your monthly healthcare premium - or the co-payment - remember all those lovely people you are helping to support who are neither doctors nor nurses nor anyone else who can fashion a splint for your broken leg or diagnose your ills."

From Cato.org

Advocates of socialized medicine, such as Physicians for a National Health Program, love to argue that America’s health care sector is less efficient than socialized systems because private insurers appear to have higher administrative costs. In yesterday’s New York Times, Tyler Cowen reveals the flaw in that logic:

The monitoring, marketing and overhead costs of private insurance are what allow more expensive medical treatments through the door. It is precisely because competing insurance companies spend money evaluating the appropriateness of claims that they are willing to pay for so many heart bypasses, extra tests, private hospital rooms and CT scans.

If European health care systems appear to have lower administrative costs, it is because, rather than scrutinizing claims, they limit the overall amount they will spend on medical services. Of course, that just means they shift costs to patients who either must pay for medical services themselves, or deal with the costs of waiting.

If the U.S. Medicare program appears to have lower administrative costs, it is because, rather than scrutinizing claims, Medicare just shovels money out the door. That merely shifts those costs onto taxpayers by driving up Medicare spending and taxes.

In Medicare Meets Mephistopheles, Cato adjunct David Hyman delights in the irony that medicine-socializers praise one of Medicare’s greatest failings (inadequate oversight of claims payment) as if it were a virtue.

Damn straight.

"Third, you get a healthcare system that is, indeed, No.1 - numero uno, ichiban, no ka oi - in three important categories: total healthcare expenditures per capita, total health expenditures as a share of gross domestic product, and rate of growth in total healthcare expenditures as a share of GDP over the past quarter century.

Aren’t you proud? We’re No. 1. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom all trail us.

Let’s hear a loud, collegiate cheer: USA! USA! USA!

Half of the countries listed above spend less than half per capita on healthcare than the United States does. The rest spend about roughly 55 percent to 65 percent as much."

Not sure if comparative GDP expenditures elicits a fair comparison of who has the best healthcare system, (for instance, whoever spends the most money on a car usually has the best vehicle) but I find it fascinating that Mr. Boylan is obsessed almost exclusively on cost in this debate, as indeed most lefties are. I mean after all, don't lefties pride themselves on being the least materialist of the competing ideologies?
Be that as it may, there are many desirable factors to be considered which drive up US healthcare costs as compared to other countries, as per Wiki:

"revenues generated from these high healthcare costs have encouraged substantial investment: the United States is the leader in biotechnology, spending three times more per-capita in research and development than its nearest competitor, Europe.[7][8][9] In addition, the U.S. produces more new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and affiliated biotechnology than any other country, or the Western European nations combined.[7][8][9][10]"

Nationalize healthcare and most of that goes away, socialism smothers innovation. Face it, you get what you pay for, in common parlance the chumps on the left are being penny wise and pound foolish.

"But our healthcare system leads in other categories as well. For example, we lead in the number of people who do not have healthcare coverage: 46 million and growing. By the reckoning of the Commonwealth Fund, we should be using the number 75 million - which represents the uninsured and the underinsured. Either way, we lead.

Those other countries don’t even compete. They provide healthcare coverage, usually “single-payer” (also called by many of our congressional ladies and gentlemen “socialized medicine") to all of their citizens."

Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act everyone who is sick in America (whether they belong here or not) gets treated, not that I think they should be.

"And the list goes on. But I’ll mention just one more accomplishment we’ve achieved with our healthcare dollars. The United States can claim a higher infant mortality rate than all the countries I mentioned earlier: 6.26 deaths per 1,000 live births. Canada, with its system of socialized medicine, only has 5.04 per 1,000; France, yet another one of those countries that practices socialized medicine, just 3.33."

Wow, a double fallacy! A classic cum hoc ergo propter hoc and an appeal to emotion! Again, from Wiki:

While the United States reports every case of infant mortality, it has been suggested that some other developed countries do not. A 2006 article in U.S. News & World Report claims that "First, it's shaky ground to compare U.S. infant mortality with reports from other countries. The United States counts all births as live if they show any sign of life, regardless of prematurity or size. This includes what many other countries report as stillbirths. In Austria and Germany, fetal weight must be at least 500 grams (1 pound) to count as a live birth; in other parts of Europe, such as Switzerland, the fetus must be at least 30 centimeters (12 inches) long. In Belgium and France, births at less than 26 weeks of pregnancy are registered as lifeless.[5] And some countries don't reliably register babies who die within the first 24 hours of birth. Thus, the United States is sure to report higher infant mortality rates. For this very reason, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which collects the European numbers, warns of head-to-head comparisons by country."[6]

Professor Boylan concludes by asking:

"Aren’t you proud?"

Yes Dan, very!

"Class dismissed."

Now wait a minute professor! Amidst all your hand wringing about cost you never mentioned the uniquely American burden of litigiousness which also drives up healthcare, could that be because all your lefty pals are in the hind pocket of the ABA? Furthermore your suggestion that socialized healthcare will reduce administration is laughable. If anything it will bloat administration with an army of new bureaucrats, take Britain's NHS for example:

"The 1.4 million employees of the British National Health Service make the NHS the world's third-largest single employer, behind only the Chinese army and the Indian Railways. Yet the majority of those 1.4 million, Mr. Hannan said, are "managers," not medical personnel."

What about the Constitution? According to my understanding it was written to limit Federal power. Once you surrender your health care to the state you have given them carte blanche to dictate and delve into every aspect of your life (in the name of savings), and that after all is what this is all about, a cynical exercise in the aggregation of power and control by the left. If you truly think that healthcare should be a right, then do it the proper way and write a Constitutional Amendment, or if you want to do government-run health care that's perfectly Constitutional as it's written, do it at the state or local level; foolish but Constitutional. Multi-trillion dollar 'free' medicine simply cannot be a function of the Federal Govt. under our Constitution (as if anybody pays any attention to that dusty impedimenta anymore).

Oh yeah and one more thing, save the pedagoguery for the classroom Dan.

So Much For The Greatest Form of Patriotism

2009-08-07T15:13:00.010-10:00

For the last eight years (up to last October) the lefts favorite cliché was a quote (wrongly) attributed to Jefferson that 'dissent is the greatest form of patriotism'.

Turns out that glittering little gem of sophistry aint as popular as it once was amongst lefty crazies now that they are in charge. In fact, they have become very thin skinned when dissent is expressed at their potentates and cherished socialist prescriptions. Some Congressional Democrats have evoked Godwins Law likening the malcontents to Hitlers Brownshirts

Brownshirts? A bunch of pissed off blue hairs are now Brownshirts? How's this for Brownshirts:

What You're seeing is purveyor of Gadsden Flags Kenneth Gladney having the crap kicked out of him by SEIU thugs in the name of Obamacare; now there's your Brownshirts.

El Presidenté was so taken aback at the effrontery of the hoi polloi for taking exception to his edicts he has slipped into reactionary scolding:

Never mind the fact that the folks who created the mess were Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, his fellow travelers in the criminal conspiracy at Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac (wonder what's happened to that investigation hmmm?), Jimmy Carter for signing the Community Reinvestment Act into law, Bill Clinton for expanding it, and Obama himself:

Finally, on the matter of deregulation and the financial crisis, Sen. Obama should consider his own complicity in the failure of Congress to adopt legislation that might have prevented the subprime meltdown.

In the summer of 2005, a bill emerged from the Senate Banking Committee that considerably tightened regulations on Fannie and Freddie, including controls over their capital and their ability to hold portfolios of mortgages or mortgage-backed securities. All the Republicans voted for the bill in committee; all the Democrats voted against it. To get the bill to a vote in the Senate, a few Democratic votes were necessary to limit debate. This was a time for the leadership Sen. Obama says he can offer, but neither he nor any other Democrat stepped forward.

Instead, by his own account, Mr. Obama wrote a letter to the Treasury Secretary, allegedly putting himself on record that subprime loans were dangerous and had to be dealt with. This is revealing; if true, it indicates Sen. Obama knew there was a problem with subprime lending -- but was unwilling to confront his own party by pressing for legislation to control it. As a demonstration of character and leadership capacity, it bears a strong resemblance to something else in Sen. Obama's past: voting present.

But I digress; Obama has not been content to just bad mouth those bold enough to confront his commissars, he wants the skinny on anyone putting out the word he doesn't like via creation of a network of informants. After all, you can't choke off free speech and dissent unless you can get your hands around its neck.

2009-07-10T18:12:00.000-10:00

How Muttonheads Delude Themselves

2009-07-09T19:28:00.016-10:00

Dan Boylan has favored us with a glimpse inside the oh-so-marvelous Independence Day festivities as practiced by the left with this improbably titled piece from his Midweek column:

"How Liberals Celebrate 4th Of July"

First off, Professor Boylan is not a liberal, and I suspect that neither are his friends. Dan Boylan is a Leftist Progressive, same philosophy which has metastasized our federal government over the last century. There is another word for folks who have chosen to follow convention like Dan and his friends, people who favor the status quo, that word is conservative. To avoid confusion I just call them lefties.

I on the other hand am a Liberal, a true Liberal or a 'Classical Liberal' as we're called these days. To put it succinctly, we Liberals espouse the same revolutionary ideals as our founding fathers, while Prof. Boylan and his comrades clearly do not, hence if Mr. Boylan wants a credible accounting of how Liberals celebrate Independence day, he should be interviewing me instead of posing.

With that now sorted out Prof. Boylan writes...

"The Boylans spent the glorious Fourth of July on a Hoolauae Street lanai in Aiea, where we’ve spent if for three decades or so. The lanai belongs to Ned and Kamaile Shultz. The crowd includes various Wongs, Oyamas, Takesonos, Golds, Claffeys and assorted others."

Ah yes, Dan rejoices in the wonderful multi-cultured, multi-ethnic, multi-racial rainbow that can only be found in the gatherings of the politically enlightened.
Yes Dan message received, overbearing as it is.

"The menu consists of hot dogs, burgers, potato salad and watermelon; and the singing of patriotic songs and watching of fireworks displays from far away Ala Moana Park, Hickam Air Force Base and Pearl Harbor provide the entertainment.

The Hoolauae crowd leans decidedly to the left in its politics. Still, its Fourth of July celebrations reek of chauvinistic nationalism..."

I get it. On the 4th left-wingers like to wrap themselves in the trappings of patriotism, and perfume themselves with the "reek of chauvinistic nationalism"

Now some might think that a bunch of lefties reveling in concepts which judging by Boylan's own words are anathema to them is rank hypocrisy; I don't think so, I kind of do the same thing at Christmas, I'm not a Christian, in fact I embrace no religion at all, but I still join in on all the Christmas fun and tradition.
I suspect that lefties enjoy July 4th celebrations in the same way one might a costume party, or as I do Christmas.

"...So much so, that a few years ago a lonely conservative Republican in our midst - after hearing a second or third drunken rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic - said, “I didn’t know liberals were so patriotic.”

We came close to tossing the deluded muttonhead off the lanai."

Yup, nothing lends itself to left-wing patriotic fervor like alcohol, and the tossing of hapless dissidents from lofty places.

Boylan continues...

"No, we’ve sung through the gawdawful Reagan and Bush the elder years and through the gawdawfuller Bush the younger and dumber years. Our patriotism never faltered; the nation’s leadership in those years merely, to put it delicately, sucked.

But I must admit, we sang with more gusto this past Saturday night for a number of reasons. The first, of course, was that the nation’s leadership - for the moment at least - does not suck..."

I disagree. The Obama regime does suck, it sucks mightily, in fact its suction is without precedent, it sucks as no administration has ever sucked before, it sucks in great heaping gobs of freedom and expels regulation, control, and nascent tyranny. But more to the point, Boylan doesn't realize that his 'admission' belies any separation his kind places between governance and love of country. I don't do much singing on July 4th, but I can say unequivocally that no administration has ever affected my celebration of the holiday in any way.

"Barack Obama has brought erudition, enormous charisma and sweet reason to every issue he has confronted thus far in his administration."

Charisma doesn't count for much in my book, from what I understand Hitler had it in spades, and while a Harvard law degree and the ability to quote Saul Alinsky backwards may pass for erudition in Boylan's crowd, I don't think it counts much for the office of US President either, certainly not more than say... an MBA from Harvard.
One can only imagine what passes for 'sweet reason' amongst the tortured psyches and twisted rationales of the left. Oh wait a second, we already know; stuff like raising taxes during a recession, or nationalizing the greatest most innovative health care system on the planet.

"Have his stimulus package, his energy legislation, his healthcare reform proposals and his diplomatic initiatives cured all of our nation’s ills? Of course not. But there are intelligent, pragmatic people working on all those issues and many more left unattended for all these ideologically laden years. And President Obama demonstrates almost daily via speech, press conference or interview that he is the most intelligent and pragmatic of the lot."

Uh, make that "pumped" (Helen Thomas's words not mine) press conference's and interviews, not that I see in Obama any signs of exceptional intelligence or pragmatism, and certainly less if the lot is to include Reagan or Clinton. Good of Boylan to point out though that none of Obama's agenda has so far "cured all of our nation’s ills", but if he was truly honest he might point out that nothing Obama and the Democrat majority have done has cured anything. In fact clear-minded intelligent people think Obama and the lefts radical agenda most likely has done, or will do, irreparable harm to our country.

The rest of Prof. Boylan's piece was nothing more than a pitch for Abercrombie's Governor bid, you can read it for yourselve's if you've the stomach.

Obama Has Gotten One Thing Right; Sort Of, Maybe.

2009-07-07T18:28:00.010-10:00

I realize that the impression some might get from reading this blog is that I am an Obama hater. Frankly, what I hate is that the Federal Govt. has taken such a large role in our daily lives that I feel compelled to blog about it, and its malefactors.

I want the limited Federal Govt. our founders intended and our Constitution mandates, I don't hate Obama, I hate how he governs.

That isn't to say that he's always wrong. As you may recall our president stated on the campaign trail that he wants college football playoffs, so do I.
So also does Orrin Hatch who was the only Senator to sit through the entire Senate’s Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on college football’s Bowl Championship Series today.

Therein lies the problem. Once again a Republican Senator thinks it's the business of Federal Govt. to be involved in matters for which he (or she) has an overweening personal interest. I expect this kind of behavior from democrats, and I'll hazard a guess that Obama is probably out of pure instinct on the same page with Orrin.

That's why I say 'sort of, maybe.

Update:

Awreet! Something else Jug-ears and I can apparently agree on; stopping farm subsidies.

Still, I have a nagging suspicion it may be that farm folk just offend Obama's urban sensibilities.

Fish Dream

2009-07-07T18:18:00.002-10:00

I have had these recurring dreams for decades where fish (either my own, or wild) are swimming lazily through the air, sometimes in my house sometimes outside, but they are always reef fish.

Wonder what that means?

In my ripper days I'd dream about surfing... lots. I still dream about surfing, but not as much, now it's the damn fish dream.

Sarah Palin Resigns...

2009-07-03T09:52:00.007-10:00

...at the end of the month.

Is this the start of her Presidential bid? The punditry is skewing no, so I say it's a lock that it is.

One sure sign of her potency, she's knocking everything else from the news cycle, Michael Jackson included.

Update 11:45 am HST:

Oops, spoke to soon, MJ's on CNN right now.

Quote du jour

2009-07-02T18:51:00.017-10:00

"The only thing more obvious than the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the legacy media is its breathtaking arrogance."

That's from Roger Kimballs wonderful post-mortem (bad joke, I know) on the de-pantsing of the WaPo scheme to facilitate (I'll eschew the word pimp as Kimball has pointed out how threadbare it has become in reportage of this story) influence within the Whitehouse via a series of "salons". Tres chic no?
Quoth Mr. Kimball...

What can I say? That Katharine Weymouth, publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, was shocked, shocked to discover that her marketing department was selling places to a series of “intimate and exclusive” political salons at her house? Or, rather, was she shocked and dismayed to discover that her marketing department had been discovered selling the spots?

Personally, I have a grudging admiration for the brass of Charles Pelton, the Post executive who came up with the idea. “Bring your organization’s CEO or executive director literally to the table,” one of his fliers advised.

“Interact with key Obama Administration and Congressional leaders . . . Spirited? Yes. Confrontational? No. The relaxed setting in the home of Katharine Weymouth assures it.”

The cost? $25,000 to “sponsor” one event (Maximum of two sponsors per “intimate and exclusive” event). Or get a bulk deal on all eleven: only $250,000 for the lot. The Washington Post, incidentally, lost $19.5 million last quarter.

But besides the airing of all that turpitude, back to the quote du jour. I love Kimball's use of the term 'legacy media' for the jurassic press, it's much better than the 'elite' or 'major' media which used to be in my lexicon. Can't wait to use it.

Update:

From Iowahawk:

2009-07-01T22:51:00.002-10:00

Acoustic Ladyland: Thing

My Personal Enemy List

2009-07-01T19:11:00.024-10:00

Upon learning of Obama's enemy list I thought shoot, anyone can be a vindictive asshole, perhaps I should make my own list, so here (off the top of my head, and in no particular order) it is...

Jeffrey Immelt: GE CEO, Corporate leech, asshole, & big government bedfellow

Kim Jong-il: Evil tyrant asshole & heir of DPRK's criminal regime.

Hugo Chavez: Ambitious Venezuelan dictator asshole & Obama soul-mate.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei: Leader of Iran's death cult and head theocrat asshole.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Crazy-ass death cultist asshole & Iranian President.

Usama Bin Ladin: Murderous asshole

Barney Frank: Congressman & bumbling asshole

Charles (Chucky) Schumer: Senator & scheming asshole

Henry Waxman: Congressman & inquisitorial asshole

Maxine Waters: Congresswoman & clueless asshole

Nancy Pelosi: House Speaker & grasping asshole

Harry Reid: Senate Majority Leader & major asshole

Rahm Emanuel: Manipulative asshole

Olympia Snow: Senator & RINO doormat asshole

Susan Collins: Senator & RINO doormat asshole

John Murtha: Congressman & dishonorable asshole

Ted Kennedy: Senator & degenerate asshole

Harold Koh: State Dept. Legal Adviser & extraconstitutional internationalist asshole

Brian Schatz: Democrat nobody & sneering asshole

Eric Holder: US Attorney General & extraconstitutional racialist asshole

George Soros: Evil financier asshole

Carl Levin: Senator & dangerous asshole

John McCain: Senator & obtrusive asshole

Lindsay Graham: Senator & meddlesome asshole

Jimmy Carter: Ex POTUS & crazy old anti-semitic asshole

Arlen Specter: Senator & treacherous asshole

John Kerry: Senator & haughty shithead asshole

Al Gore: Ex VPOTUS, and opportunistic environmental snake oil selling asshole.

Barack Obama: POTUS, nebulous leftwing blowhard, aspiring dictator, & vindictive asshole

David Axelrod: Man behind the curtain asshole

Please note that unlike Obama's list mine contains no journalists, beauty queens or car-dealers. Unlike our President I do not seek to obliterate the lawful and Constitutional rights of fellow citizens, I just want to identify the assholes.

Update:

The only other president I'm aware of that had an enemy list was Nixon. Powerline offers this comparison. The only question left to ask is whither Obama's Watergate? I don't know, but 5 will get you 10 that if it happens, ACORN will be involved.

Coleman Gives Up the Ghost

2009-06-30T12:24:00.007-10:00

Funnyman Al Franken is soon to be sworn in as the Junior Senator of Minnesota; the final punchline to the 2008 joke elections.

Aside from being totally resigned to the fact that our country will see nothing like Constitutional government for at least the next four years, this confirms my suspicion that Scandinavians are the most gullible people on earth.

I only take comfort in Art Laffer's words; "It takes a Carter before we can have a Reagan"

That Old Black Magic

2009-06-30T10:24:00.008-10:00

Drudge is running as his top story that Obama possesses the 'Evil Eye'

BEWARE THE OBAMA 'EVIL EYE'
Tue Jun 30 2009 07:43:56 ET

As the summer begins, White House watchers have spotted a new look by President Obama: The Evil Eye!

Staffers have joked about the menacing glance, which comes when the president meets with world leaders who are not aligned with his progressive view.

White House photographers have captured the "evil eye" in recent weeks, during sessions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Colombia's Alvaro Uribev.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi got hit with the commander's malocchio last week in the Oval office.

And at least one White House reporter has been on the receiving end of the daggers during a press conference.

Developing...

C'mon Matt, "evil eye"? The ability to curse people with a stare as opposed to plain old stink eye? That's taking your anti-Obama bias a little far...

...don't you think?

Mui Ridiculoso, Mucho Sarcasmo, El Sentencio Grandé

2009-06-29T21:14:00.016-10:00

Who'd have guessed that El Presidenté Obama, Señor Si se pueda, the hombre that waited six days to request that Irans murdering mullahs play nice, and is loathe as a matter of principal to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states; would put on his El Jefe sombrero and (along with his amigos Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, and the Castro twins) unload on the Honduran Congress & Supreme Court for having the effrontery to not lie down and allow Manuel Zelaya to seize dictatorial power à la Chavez?

We can all now sleep better tonight knowing that Obama has given Chavez moral authority to invade Honduras, a nation where we have several hundred troops supporting the govt.

One more thing, this is being reported everywhere (even Foxnews) as a 'coup'.
As I recall a coup d'etat is where the military seizes power for itself, and of its own volition. In this case the military was under the orders of the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress, and the VP was sworn in as president till the next elections.

Doesn't sounds like a military takeover to me, shoot, might even be legal under the Honduran Constitution (if they have one). I can understand Obama's concern though, doesn't bode well for him if he's considering any further expansion of the Executive.

Dictators, (even aspiring ones) have got to stick together you know.

Update: 7/6/09:

Just as I suspected:

"Obama is quite wrong to claim that the removal of Zelaya was "illegal." The Honduran president forfeited his right to rule under Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution, which bans presidents from holding office if they even propose to alter the constitutional term limits for presidents. And the Honduran military, which acted on orders of the Honduran supreme court, expressly had the right to remove the president for seeking to alter the constitutional term limit, under Article 272 of the Honduran Constitution, as even left-leaning commentators have now admitted. The Honduran military's role in enforcing the court order does not make it a "coup" anymore than federal troops' role in enforcing the court-ordered integration of the Little Rock public schools in 1957 constituted a military occupation or takeover."

2009-06-28T20:00:00.000-10:00

The GOP Left Morality Nexus.

2009-06-28T12:25:00.015-10:00

The latest act of our national morality play turned kabuki theater has been opened with the Republican Governor of South Carolina slinking back into the country fresh from an Argentine tryst with what he described as a 'dear friend'.
While 'dear friend' may be an unusual description for one whom you are balling, the inclusion of the word Republican in association with a philandering politician is not. In fact, in media circles it is de rigueur. Why is this descriptor so rigorously applied to Republicans but not so evident in reporting on scandal riddled lefties?

Conventional wisdom, or at least the popular media argument is that Republicans set themselves up as paragons of morality, whereas the left eschews conventional morality judgments, and thus bear no criticism for hypocrisy. While the latter is certainly true, the former deserves some examination.

Personally (though it may have happened) I can never recall any Republican politico wearing his morality on his sleeve. While many Republicans may espouse or make policy judgments based on traditional western moral precepts, and Judeo-Christian values, (what I'd simply call right and wrong) most by virtue of their Christian faith will readily admit they are flawed humans or what they'd call sinners.
Whither lies the hypocrisy?

What is galling to the left, what offends their Nihilist sensibilities is the fact that most Republicans and conservatives have the audacity to make moral judgments at all.
What's truly pathetic about this is that since the left embraces few moral judgments the only charge they can level at cheating Republicans is hypocrisy, when the adulterers true shortcoming is character.
You see lack of character can never be a criticism if the concept eludes you, as it must those who embrace a non-judgmental outlook.

On a personal note, I consider hypocrisy a very small and universal failing.

That all said the lefts eagerness to use hypocrisy as a cudgel against their adversaries is understandable as they can never win an argument on policy. Their only recourse is to demonize their opponents and deflect their arguments. Obama guru and inventor of community organizing Saul Alinsky listed as #13 in his Rules for Radicals to "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Hardly a precept for reasoned discourse.

Though they may not know it from learning, it strikes me that from conversations I see on internet discussion boards lefties do this by instinct, because you will never or very rarely see a right-left discussion on policy. The discussion will always revolve around personalities because aside from their proclivity to change subjects (due perhaps to short attention spans), left-wing participants will refuse to discuss little if anything else. Even if you do manage to wrench a lefty away from his or her personality obsession, soon enough you, will become the personality under scrutiny. Try keeping a leftist on subject just once, I dare you.

Day 2 Michael Jackson Still Dead

2009-06-26T22:00:00.016-10:00

Never mind that the house has just voted to shower the perpetrators of the greatest hoax ever known, with the pitiful scraps of whatever wealth we have left.

Welcome the new era of the oligarchs, welcome Nancy Pelosi, Ed Markey, and God knows what other democrats who have lavished their green energy portfolios with vast infusions of our money. Welcome Al Gore who has been their Goebbels. Welcome them all ye suckers who fell for Obama's corny hope and change shtik. Welcome the insanity, Welcome to the Green Reich!

Wilkommen und heil!

PS

Here is a last ditch plea I made to my Representative today; have a good laugh at my groveling.

Dear Rep. Hirono:

Just wanted to implore you to vote down this terrible travesty of a climate change and energy bill. My family and I are living on the edge and I am afraid this additional burden will bury us and the economy.

Please Ms. Hirono, give us little guys a break.

(W Gnarly) and family, friends, & neighbors.

I'm not expecting a response but if I happen to get one, expect my answer here

Update:

Cogent commentary on Waxman-Markey from EU Referendum via National Reviews 'The Corner'

This passage of this bill does not signify any great "green revolution" or "growing" climate "awareness" on the part of Congress. Instead, the methods and manner that the Pelosi-led House achieved final passage, represents nothing more than unrestrained exercise of raw political power, arm-twisting, intimidation and special interest handouts.

The House of Representatives passed a bill it did not read, did not understand. A bill that is based on crumbling scientific claims and a bill that will have no detectable climate impact (assuming climate fear promoters are correct on the science and the bill is fully implemented – both implausible assumptions).

Proponents of the bill made spectacular claims in their efforts to impress the urgency of the bill on their colleagues. Democratic Congressman G.K. Butterfield reported claim that the bill "will literally save the planet" reveals just how out of touch scientifically, politically and economically many of the bill's supporters have become...

...insanity rules.

Update 8/3/09:

Rep. Hirono responded 7/15 as follows:

Thank you for contacting me to express your opposition to H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

There has been a lot of misleading information circulating about this bill-namely that its enactment will lead to a sharp increase in energy costs to the tune of several thousands of dollars per year for the average household.

H.R. 2454 establishes five programs to protect consumers from energy price increases, including assistance with utility bills for low- and moderate-income families in the form of energy rebates and tax credits. In addition, local electricity and natural gas distributors would be required to pass along savings from the allowances they receive to commercial and industrial customers in order to offset their increased costs.

This bill also (1) requires electric utilities to meet 20 percent of their electricity demand through renewable energy sources and energy efficiency by 2020; (2) reduces carbon emissions from major U.S. sources by 17 percent by 2020 and over 80 percent by 2050 compared with 2005 levels; (3) invests in new clean energy technologies, energy efficiency, and pollution-reducing transportation projects; and (4) prevents tropical deforestation and prepares for domestic and international adaptation. H.R. 2454 passed (219 yeas to 212 nays) on June 26, 2009.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just released analyses of the climate change bill. The CBO estimated the cost to the average household to be under fifty cents a day. This estimate does not take into consideration the potential benefits associated with the bill, such as the development of new technologies or energy savings from improved energy efficiency standards. In its own analysis of H.R. 2454, the EPA forecasted strong economic growth under the legislation.

As a member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, I shared my thoughts about the bill with my colleagues and members of the Obama administration. I also weighed considerations from constituents like you, who let me know how this bill would impact Hawaii.

I voted for the American Clean Energy and Security Act because it will provide an important signal to the marketplace to invest in clean energy technologies, which will create jobs, restore our competitiveness, free us from vulnerability to foreign oil suppliers, and finally begin to address climate change. It is no small feat that over a hundred organizations from a variety of sectors-including electric utilities, energy companies, consumer groups, businesses, labor unions, and environmental groups-have come together to support H.R. 2454.

I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Mazie K. Hirono
Member of Congress

Here's my reply as promised:

Bullshit!

Gnarlyblog Succumbs To Pop Media Pressure...

2009-06-25T13:51:00.025-10:00

...but only to bitch.

The economy's in a a death spiral, Iran is in foment, Obama and the democrats are shredding the Constitution, North Korea's threatening nuclear attack, (okay that's normal) but; all this major shit is going down right now and all we're gonna be seeing on cable news for the next two weeks is stuff about the death of...
this asshole. ☝

2009-06-22T19:04:00.001-10:00

What is a Moke?

2009-06-22T15:51:00.008-10:00

Mokes are young to sometimes middle-aged males of indeterminate race that inhabit the Hawaiian Archipelago. Mokes are characterized by belligerence, they are often seen glaring at others from the backs of height modified pickup trucks, and from the insides of small Japanese sedans, or clustered in shopping malls. At night they can be seen in the parking lots of movie theaters, Zippy's, or various beach parks. Mokes may also be found gathering in the car ports and streets outside their parents house's, or sometimes inside where major activities consist of cutting and dyeing each others hair, or otherwise indulging in video games and body piercings. Older mokes may sometimes be found in seedy night-clubs and drinking establishments, or overseeing the weight training of their progeny.

Mokes love to pose.

Mokes are not prone to intellectual pursuits, thus if they have a job it is usually menial in nature. Most social interactions are governed by self-interest and brutishness. Conversation consists mostly of bluster punctuated by lots of spitting. Since conversation is not the mokes strong point, it is always drowned out at social gatherings and car rides by recordings of shit-talking mainland blacks accompanied by music and rhythm loops, or horrible bastardized local versions of ska and reggae. These (for lack of a better word) musical forms are customarily amplified to ear-splitting level with the bass tracks taking precedence so that the shorter wavelengths are overwhelmed at even moderate listening distances thus the tunes become unrecognizable and can only be appreciated as a series of stomach churning thumps. The reason for this willful distortion is mystifying to normal folks, but what is even more puzzling is when the same techniques are applied to the unlikely acoustics of the inside of automobiles, wherein the long-wave bass at high volumes causes the cars glass, metal, and plastic parts to protest against each other in the form of rattles and various sympathetic vibrations distorting the 'music' even further. The answer for this mystery I believe lies in the fact that great expenditures of money are given over to the purchase of ridiculously powerful bass speakers, amps, etc. thus attributing stature to the owner, and inferior status to those who are not similarly equipped.

Other outward trappings of status are the display of gold chains etc. familiar to our mainland friends as bling, which leads us to moke fashion. Moke fashion is largely dependent on the whim and vagaries of dress among urban mainland blacks. For sure mokes may be found wearing 'slippahs' (flip flops) which no self-respecting fashion-forward gangsta would consider, and there may be some infiltration of surf fashions (mostly eyewear) peculiar to mokedom, but yeah, for the most part ghetto.

If by any chance you encounter a moke do not strike up a conversation. To do so is a waste of time, and may invite bloodshed.

Happy Fathers Day!

2009-06-21T18:37:00.002-10:00

Here's the card my youngest created for me this Fathers Day. It is an homage to my marine aquarium and its inhabitants which are as follows...

A Copperband Butterfly, Ornamental Wrasse, Common Cleaner Wrasse, Green Mandarin, Percula, Zebra Moray, Royal Gramma, Bullethead Uhu (parrotfish), and a Flame Angel.

See if you can guess which is which.

You Can't Stop the Signal...

2009-06-20T21:53:00.022-10:00

...as Iran's mullah's are finding out.

I was turned on to this fresh youtube video via a tweet. Events have driven me to twitter though I've yet to really figure it out.

That said the 800 pound gorilla in the news cycle is the Iranian general uprising, and after a craven six days of mollifying mullahs, and feverish internal polling Obama has finally grown a pair and gotten caught up in the revolutionary fervor (well, sort of). He did suggest that the bloodthirsty theocrats should stop 'unjust' actions'...

"We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people," Obama said in a written statement. "The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights."

Really? Perhaps the "United States" does, but do Obama and his minions? Judging by our presidents predilection to cozying up in a nonjudgmental way with every tin horn America hating despot on the planet those words ring pretty hollow. Furthermore, since Obama has worked so assiduously at segregating himself from the the taint of Americanism when addressing foreign audiences his lack of the nominative 'I' is notable

"Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away," the president said, recalling a theme from the speech he gave in Cairo, Egypt, this month.

Perhaps he should keep that in mind when the fairness doctrine in whatever form it takes shows up on his desk for signing.

"The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government," Obama said. "If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion."

Yes indeed, the Iranian people will judge, but by god Obama won't.

By virtue of his belated lip service and a complicit media Obama has placed himself in a position where he will claim credit if the uprising is a success, or assume a no harm no foul or even a victimhood (à la the Iranian people) posture if it fails.

Update:

Obama proclaims 'Hail to the Victors'! via Iowahawk

2009-06-19T23:54:00.000-10:00

Obama's Healthcare Volte-Face

2009-06-19T23:23:00.006-10:00

Throughout the elections and up to now Obama has promised stuff like this under his government health care scheme...

"No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people," Obama said Monday, addressing the American Medical Association. "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what."

He didn't let up.

"If you like what you're getting, keep it," Obama said. "Nobody is forcing you to shift."

...Yet today we hear...

"White House officials suggest the president's rhetoric shouldn't be taken literally: What Obama really means is that government isn't about to barge in and force people to change insurance."

Lying fucking asshole.

Murder Most Fowl

2009-06-19T19:52:00.004-10:00

The case of the Makaha Peacock Clubber has entered the courts.

To anyone not familiar with the Controversy, Mrs. Sandra Maloney a 68 year old resident of the Makaha Towers condominium was losing sleep for months due to the raucous love calls of feral peacocks which infest the area. In addition Mrs. Maloney was not enamored with the peafowls sanitary habits, in her words; "They crap all over our picnic area, there's feces running down the BBQ, and the food prep areas on the picnic tables and the benches".

Mrs. Maloney had sought relief from the Condo's board who are apparently idiots as she was reportedly told (and here I paraphrase) that the peacocks were here before she, so tough shit. For some reason that exchange reminds me of these lines from Monty Python's 'A COAL MINE IN LLANDDAROG CARMARTHEN'...

A management man arrives carried in sedan chair by two black flunkies. He wears a colonial governor's helmet and a large sign reading 'frightfully important'. All the miners prostrate themselves on the floor.

Foreman Oh, most magnificent and merciful majesty, master of the universe, protector of the meek, whose nose we are not worthy to pick and whose very feces are an untrammelled delight, and whose peacocks keep us awake all hours of the night with their noisy lovemaking, we beseech thee, tell thy humble servants the name of the section between the triglyphs in the frieze section of a classical Doric entablature.
Management Man No idea. Sorry.
Foreman Right. Everybody out.

They all walk off throwing down tools.

Anyway, apparently the feisty 68 year old not content with the outcome took matters into her own hands, and upon next being awakened by the caterwauling of the lovesick fowls proceeded downstairs from her retirement apartment armed with a baseball bat, and upon seizing one of the offenders by it's splendid plumage, and amidst the wailing and wringing of hands by her idiot neighbors, bashed the creatures head in with the aforementioned bat.

Mrs. Maloney freely and defiantly admits to the slaughter, and has pleaded not guilty to the animal cruelty charges bought by our idiot prosecutor.

Personally I can't think of a better argument for jury nullification

Primus; Ballad of Buckethead

2009-06-19T19:26:00.001-10:00

David Horowitz, Gnarly Hero

2009-06-15T23:40:00.006-10:00

Every now and then I'm going to salute some of my personal heroes, and David Horowitz is certainly among them. Tireless and unassuming toiler for Freedom, American's, and America, staunch anti-leftist campaigner, activist, intellectual, author, and editor of Front Page Magazine.

Bio.

New Gallup Poll Says Conservatives are Largest Ideological Group...

2009-06-15T19:10:00.005-10:00

...no shit.

Anyone who's been paying attention has known this for some time now. Rush Limbaugh first clued me to this fact last year by citing the Battleground Poll, the polls themselves used to be available on the web, but can be no longer found. The upshot though is available in an American Thinker article from last year called The Biggest Missing Story in Politics which Mr. Limbaugh also cited. Bruce Walker the author has updated the story with an even more remarkable and convincing data set from the most recent Battleground poll which has omitted question D3 which asks the respondents what they consider their ideology to be, in favor of more detailed questions.

"Two questions replace the old Question D3. Now Americans were asked on social issues if they were "very conservative," "somewhat conservative," "moderate," "somewhat liberal" or "very liberal" as well as on fiscal issues if they were "very conservative," "somewhat conservative," "moderate," "somewhat liberal," or "very liberal." The Tarrance Group also provided data on the answers to this question within political parties.

The responses illuminated some aspects of the prior polls, but the over all result was the same: Americans, overwhelmingly, are conservative. There were some differences between social conservatives and fiscal conservatives. Twenty-six percent of Americans call themselves "very conservative" on fiscal issues and forty-three percent consider themselves "somewhat conservative" on fiscal issues. One percent of America is moderate on fiscal issues -- that vital "center" of American politics! -- and three percent "don't know." Twenty-two percent of Americans are "somewhat liberal" on fiscal issues, and a piddling five percent of Americans are "very liberal" on fiscal issues. When the mushy "moderate" and "don't know" respondents are excluded, fiscal conservatives outnumber fiscal liberals by seventy-four percent to twenty-six percent.

Social conservatives are the clear majority of America too, although the numbers are not quite as overwhelming. Thirty-four percent of America, more than one person in three, is "very conservative" on social issues and nineteen percent are "somewhat conservative" on social issues. One percent is moderate on social issues - again, that vital "center" of American politics! - and seven percent "don't know." Twenty percent are "somewhat liberal" on social issues and nineteen percent are "very liberal" on social issues. When the mushy "don't know" and moderates are taken out, social conservatives outnumber social liberals fifty-nine percent to forty-one percent."

Needless to say how frustrating it is to see the unbelievably counter-intuitive election results we've just experienced, wherein Congress, and most notably the Presidency has been seized by dangerous leftist radicals who are dismantling our Constitution, and replacing it with a nascent fascism right before our eyes, with no ready explanations aside from the voter fraud anyone with a clue has come to expect.

The answer I think lies in the fact that conservatives vote conservatively. That is they are not prone to vote third parties but rather with their establishment roots, and that means the GOP which is ostensibly the conservative party. Problem is, the party for several reasons but mostly through the fault of its leadership refuses to field conservative candidates, thus the base says 'fuck it', I'm not voting for that asshole', while the mushy ruminants in the big tent saunter off and vote for Obama so that they may congratulate themselves on their open mindedness, and assuage their race guilt. Meanwhile conservative democrats (and there are some as the polling attests) in their turn say 'fuck it, why should I vote for a faux Democrat, when I can vote for the real thing?

The solution for the GOP? Try to field true conservatives for a change. The solution for conservatives? Vote, and vote for a true conservative regardless of party affiliation

I Agree Therefore I Blog

2009-06-12T11:49:00.004-10:00

A Couple of recent studies by Ohio State and Brigham Young Universities indicate that people choose the news that fits their views; no shit. Aside from the fact there was research money (probably our money) wasted on what most of us know intuitively, I find particularly gratifying what I also figured was true but never imagined I'd see in print...

"Some findings from both researchers suggest that individual confidence and certainty play a role in what people choose to read.

People with stronger party affiliation, conservative political views, and greater interest in politics proved more likely to click on articles with opposing views, according to the Ohio State study.

"It appears that people with these characteristics are more confident in their views and so they’re more inclined to at least take a quick look at the counterarguments," Knobloch-Westerwick noted.

However, Knobloch-Westerwick added that her latest study was not designed to assess reader motives, and that she hopes to more carefully study the issue in the future.

The Brigham Young University survey found that journalists also tended to read liberal blogs — perhaps a reflection of journalists' political beliefs...

Ya think?

...although even conservatives said liberal blogs were often better-written, Davis pointed out.

Among the political blog readers, a similar trend emerged in which "liberals read almost exclusively liberal blogs, but conservatives tend to read both," Davis said.

Davis offered another possible explanation for this trend among blog readers. Conservative views dominate talk radio, and so conservatives may feel more satisfied by that outlet and are willing to check out opposing views on blogs." (emphasis added)

Pardon my smugness.

Now That We're Caught Up, The Controversy Du Jour

2009-06-11T23:02:00.007-10:00

Seems like David Letterman has riled the Palin clan and the right-wing establishment in general by telling a couple of dumb jokes at Palin's expense...

Joke 1: "One awkward moment, though, during the game. Maybe you heard about it. Maybe you saw it on one of the highlight reels, one awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game. During the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

Joke 2: "Number two: Bought make-up at Bloomingdale's to update her (Palin's) slutty flight attendant look".

Ha, ha.

The outrage over joke one was ostensibly generated because the Palin daughter who attended the Yankee game was the 14 year old Willow Palin not the 18 year old Bristol whom everyone knows is an unwed mother, and thus I suppose the intended brunt of the (ahem)'joke'. I'm sure the Palin's must have grasped this as well, but nevertheless it was seized as an opportunity to put the screws to Letterman by accusing him of making a joke about the "(statutory) rape" of their pubescent daughter. Personally I'm revolted enough at Letterman's jape for the mere assumption that because the elder daughter gave birth out of wedlock she's a slut, and that assumption was given voice solely because she is the daughter of Sarah Palin. Joke two was simply mean spirited and thus to be expected.

Now I like Sarah Palin, I like her instincts, and I like the cut of her jib. I think she has the makings of another Maggie Thatcher, and thus after all the shit Letterman has given her lo these many months, I can't help but be pleased at her making Dave squirm a bit. Ooooo Sarah, I want to taste your crocodile tears!

Update: Cogent thoughts at Protein Wisdom

The Blog That Puts The 'O' In Occaisional

2009-06-11T19:10:00.006-10:00

Let's see, when we last talked Bush was president, US real GDP was growing at 3.8%, the unemployment rate was 4.7%, the budget deficit as a percentage of GDP was falling, the Pentagon was speeding up missile defense, the free-market was still more or less intact, and the media was bitching about how awful the Bush economy was. Now Obama is president, GDP is contracting at 6.3%, the unemployment rate is 9.4%, the budget deficit is at record highs, missile defense is being slashed (as indeed is all defense despite Iran and DPRK's nuclear saber rattling and the Afghan escalation), large swaths of the finance and auto industries have been nationalized, and the media is grasping at any hesitation in our economic death spiral as sure signs that Obama's remarkable reforms are working. I'm sure Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven would agree.

What a difference eighteen months and an election makes yeah?

Ransom or the Jizya? You Decide

2007-11-01T20:55:00.000-10:00

Either way, enlightened secularist Old Blighty seems to have none of the hang-ups about state funding of religion that afflicts us neo-theocratic boobs in the US...

Muslim groups will receive £70 million in Government funds to help tackle extremism in "ungoverned spaces" such as internet chat rooms and snooker halls.

Hazel Blears, Communities Secretary, said that the money will be targeted at Muslim communities and rejected suggestions that the funding discriminated against other faith groups.

...Unless of course you are anything but Muslim

Way To Go Condi!

2007-11-01T19:36:00.000-10:00

Secretary of State Rice has come up with a novel way of thinning out the vipers nest of *FL's at Foggy Bottom.

Perhaps the same method is applicable to CIA? One can only hope.

Durka Durka, Mohammad Jihad

2007-09-16T19:42:00.000-10:00

A video is worth a thousand gibberi

Dan Boylan Insults Our Intelligence

2007-09-02T22:06:00.000-10:00

Normally I don't pay any attention to lefty dilettante Dan Boylan other than when he crawls out from under his rock every two years to opine on the elections. What makes this occasion different, is that Midweek was the only reading material I had within arm reach whilst taking a crap this pm. While leafing through its smudgy pages I stumbled across Boylan's latest column cannily titled "GOP Insults Hawaii’s Host Culture".

Paying no heed to judgment I read on curious to see exactly what sort of insults Mr. Boylan perceived the GOP to be hurling at our 'host culture'. Turns out Mr. Boylan isn't talking about our host culture at all, but rather a sociopolitical construct called the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), and a terrible piece of looming legislation called the Akaka Bill.

Mr Boylan says:

Lingle seemed to express genuine concern for the plight of Hawaii’s first people: their alienation from the aina that had once been theirs alone, the disproportionate number of homeless and incarcerated among them, and their continued position at the bottom of Hawaii’s economy.

Lingle’s promise of a fairer deal for the Islands’host people - and the presence of the part-Hawaiian Aiona at her side - certainly contributed to her victory in 2000.

Perhaps it did, but when Boylan bemoans the plight of Hawaii's first people, he alludes that it somehow stems from what he artfully describes as 'alienation from the aina', which is of course, ludicrous.

First off, the only relationship the vast majority of Hawaiian's had with the land were as workers of it, they didn't own it, they had no say in how it was to be used, that rested with a small warrior elite to whom they were virtual slaves, thus in true fashion most Hawaiians were in fact never alienated from the 'aina', in that they've never been disallowed from working it. The few petty tyrants who did own land were never forcibly dispossessed of it except by their own kind. None of this matters in the first place as this trauma, this supposed alienation occurred to people who are no longer with us, and Hawaiians have been free to accrue property via their own means ever since, an opportunity their ancestors never had. The romantic and ultimately racist notion harbored by soft-headed haole liberals that the debasement of some few descendants of Hawaii's aboriginal people is somehow rooted in their pining for the 'aina' the land, land they themselves never owned, is nonsensical regardless if their claim to that land is pono, or not. Mr. Boylans politics of victimization is belied by the fact that Native Hawaiians (and other Pacific islanders) are creating new businesses at triple the rate of other ethnic groups

One other small detail, Boylan also refers to the "Islands host people". Right thinking people would take that to mean citizens of this island state, but knowing Mr. Boylan I can presume him to mean ethnic Hawaiians, or Kanaka Maoli as some like to call themselves; descendants of the aboriginal peoples who dwelt here. You can take from that what you will, but that tells me that on some level, and possibly even unconsciously Mr. Boylan assigns separate, and perhaps hierarchical status between aboriginal Hawaiians, and everyone else. Not an unusual frame of mind for a liberal.

Boylan goes onto say:

On several fronts, Lingle’s administration has done well by Hawaiians. Micah Kane at the Hawaiian Homes Commission has worked well with all parties concerned to put more Hawaiians back on the land. He’s demonstrated a willingness to forgo partisanship and work with anyone, of any political denomination to improve the lot of Hawaiians - his people.

Boylans starry-eyed superficiality is amazing, as if employing someone with a Hawaiian surname, is 'doing right by Hawaiians'. The notion that people can best be served by eschewing the widest possible pool of talent in favor of a person of their own race is dumb. Beyond the fact that putting people of any kind on the land should not be a function of government, putting a specific race or ethnicity of persons on the land to the exclusion of all others, and on top of that forcing those others to pay for that connivance is beyond immoral. I wonder if Dan Boylan considers Irish caucasians as 'his people', and if so he sees special virtue in having their needs attended specifically by him or some other O'tool.

Danny boy then says:

Early on in her administration, Lingle threw her support behind the Akaka Bill - the long-stalled federal legislation designed to grant Hawaiians the recognition enjoyed by every other indigenous people in the United States.

Whether or not that is what the Akaka Bill was designed for is debatable, but the recognition enjoyed by every other indigenous people in the United States, is the result of treaties negotiated directly with the aggrieved parties. The Hawaiians who may indeed have a legitimate claim to sovereignty, joined their ancestors long ago.

Mr Boylan says:

Republican idealogues on the National Civil Rights Commission recently appointed Hawaii residents H. William Burgess, Paul Sullivan, James Kuroiwa, Reubellite Johnson and Tom McDonald to the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission. All have either been party to suits against Hawaiian agencies, gone on record in opposition to the Akaka Bill, or both.

And what makes these unnamed Republican National Civil Rights Commissioners "idealogues" (sic)? I'd say because Dan Boylans ideological perspective, does not comport with theirs. Mr. Boylan thinks opposition to legislation he supports, or filing lawsuits against certain sacrosanct agencies is somehow an automatic disqualifier. Sorry to tell you sir but not only is that not so, I'd consider it a possible resume enhancer.

Boylan then writes:

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs sent a list of nine candidates for local commission. None received an appointment.

In other words, the National Civil Rights Commission stacked the deck - well-stacked the deck - against the Akaka Bill.

Nope, no ideologues in OHA, nosiree. Considering the source, could it be possible that not one of the OHA hopefuls were qualified, or desireable?

Boylan then works himself into a fine lather, a crescendo of lefty cliches, and demagogic vituperative inanity:

Oh, the Republican Party of George W. Bush and the dearly departed Karl Rove - old white guys, still trying to fashion national political realignment on the debris of Iraq and battered American minorities, from blacks to gays to Native Americans to Hawaiians.

Ain’t they grand? In their final days they’ll stack courts and commissions with those who’ll fight a rear guard action against the demographically inevitable American future: one in which the United States will be a nation of minorities, including those indigenous peoples - Native American and Hawaiian - who’ve been victims of western germs and land thievery.

Clearly Mr. Boylan who professes to be a historian, is unaware of the origin of syphilis, or the perpetual warfare in which the stone-age tribes of America and Hawaii murdered their neighbors over land and property.

I once via a radio call-in show queried Hayden Burgess, a local activist type (probably one of those OHA recommended HCRC hopefuls) who goes by the assumed name of Poka Laenui as to why it was moral and indeed celebrated for Kamehameha the Great to force a retreating Oahu army in defense of their homeland, over the Pali Cliffs, yet it was immoral for white folks to seize power without killing anyone. The answer of course is that neither was moral, yet Mr. Laenui rationalized the dichotomy with a lame (and forgettable) moral relativist argument. Ever since then I've known these people are totally full of shit.

Anyway, to get back to Dan Boylan, it is the duty of elected executives, Presidents and otherwise to stack courts and commissions with like-minded individuals. Despite the fact Mr. Boylan wants to stack the Hawaii Civil Rights Commissions deck with OHA puppets, he seems to find deck-stacking abhorent when practiced by his bette noires (President Bush and K Rove), whom by virtue of their very whiteness and party affiliation seek to deny anyone other than WASP heterosexuals a piece of the pie: uh huh. I still don't get the part about fashioning national political realignment on the debris of Iraq and battered American minorities, but I intuit that there are some emotive parts of the tortured liberal psyche which we are better off not understanding.

Mr. Boylans schizophrenic vision of a Balkanized America as a way to fight injustice where there is none and achieve unity through disunity, while not being very coherent, is bound to provide lots of victims for his side to exploi... er champion well into the future.

“You grew up with freedom, so you can spit on freedom.”

2007-08-07T19:39:00.000-10:00

How to explain the contempt our domestic left exudes for all things American, and why is it that foreigners, especially those raised under totalitarian regimes appreciate our society so much more than so many of us seem to? The obvious answer for the latter is that they understand our freedom in a way that only those who have lived under tyranny, abuse, and deprivation can. That is why the former which is not so readily understood to those of us born to opportunity, can often be more easily and eloquently explained by those who have not shared in our indulgence.

Outside and beyond the lefts reflexive anti-nationalism, the oft-repeated epigram 'familiarity breeds contempt' might explain their virulent anti-Americanism, but upon reflection, I'm not sure lefties are as familiar with what makes American society great, as they are with seditious pop cultural icons, fashionistas, navel-gazing educators, and idiot television news-readers, from whom they take their ideological cues. Thus it really isn't 'familiarity' which breeds contempt, but rather the ignorance, and the fecklessness which results from pampering. It is that sort of reliance on easy answers, or instant gratification which makes the demagogs of the left so attractive and popular, and thus makes our leadership, rather than our ideas the focus of their attacks.

Where is the font from which all this leftist resentment springs? Again, and not coincidentally, it takes a naturalized citizen, in this case former Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, "the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the Soviet bloc", to explain it to us, as he does in the most recent WSJ Opinion Journal.

The history and mechanics of the communist attack on our presidency is fascinating, but when Mr. Pacepa wrote;

Now we are again at war. It is not the president's war. It is America's war, authorized by 296 House members and 76 senators. I do not intend to join the armchair experts on the Iraq war. I do not know how we should handle this war, and they don't know either. But I do know that if America's political leaders, Democrat and Republican, join together as they did during World War II, America will win. Otherwise, terrorism will win. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi predicted just before being killed: "We fight today in Iraq, tomorrow in the land of the Holy Places, and after there in the West."

On July 28, I celebrated 29 years since President Carter signed off on my request for political asylum, and I am still tremendously proud that the leader of the Free World granted me my freedom. During these years I have lived here under five presidents--some better than others--but I have always felt that I was living in paradise. My American citizenship has given me a feeling of pride, hope and security that is surpassed only by the joy of simply being alive. There are millions of other immigrants who are equally proud that they restarted their lives from scratch in order to be in this magnanimous country. I appeal to them to help keep our beloved America united and honorable. We may not be able to change the habits of our current political representatives, but we may be able to introduce healthy new blood into the U.S. Congress.

For once, the communists got it right. It is America's leader that counts. Let's return to the traditions of presidents who accepted nothing short of unconditional surrender from our deadly enemies. Let's vote next year for people who believe in America's future, not for the ones who live in the Cold War past.

it reminded me of this interview of Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Canadian television by a leftist nitwit named Avi Lewis, wherein Ms. Ali matter-of-factly chided the socialist retard that “(Lewis) grew up with freedom, so (he) can spit on freedom.”

Slacker In Chief

2007-06-12T19:01:00.000-10:00

I've been putting off writing this entry. Partly because I don't want to badmouth our president in a time of war, and especially because the war effort is a righteous endeavor. I wanted to say Pres. Bush has been resolute in his prosecution of the Long War, but resoluteness at least implies a certain proactivity or initiative in regards to the roll a person plays in achieving a goal. To be certain our president has been proactive in issuing the orders necessary to take the fight to our enemy but, issuing orders isn't the only Presidential duty. A POTUS is also supposed to be an advocate for the Country, his Party, and his agenda. In his roll as advocate he has a powerful weapon in the Bully Pulpit. Some are more adept at wielding that weapon than others, but a President whether silver-tongued or awkward and plain-spoken, has a duty to exploit it relentlessly, for maximum effect.

Unfortunately for our war effort, and the smattering of conservative goals the President lays claim to, his use of the Bully Pulpit has been somewhat less than relentless, I'd say sporadic at best. He will latch on to the cause du-jour, do a publicity sweep for a week (invariably in front of receptive audiences), and then apparently somnambulate for the intervening weeks until external (and for all I know internal) pressures dictate that he must once again sally forth on another monopronged speaking tour.

But thankfully this sword cuts two ways.

This ostensibly conservative president is usually not much more enthusiastic about touting his agenda items which run contrary to conservative principals. The only time he ever does seem to exude some degree of passion, is when he gets the chance to attack his own base. Perhaps for that reason, and that reason alone we may see two weeks of impassioned pleading by the President on behalf of the incredible lunacy called comprehensive immigration reform; once he's recovered from his post G8 jet lag.

The (Not So) Subtle Crassness Of The Anti-War Crowd On Memorial Day

2007-05-27T22:52:00.001-10:00

On this Memorial Day, the crocodile tears shed by the left for the heroes who sacrificed all for our freedom, does not go unnoticed in this blog.

Regardless of the occasion, I expect dissemblance, and venom from the usual suspects, but it cuts me to the quick to see apple-pie venues like the Sunday comics, especially sweet-natured ones like Opus misused to politicize our war dead.

But perhaps the most subversive, saddening, and disrespectful Memorial Day spectacles is one that is fast becoming a tradition here in Hawaii. I'm talking about the annual 'Lantern Floating Ceremony' which is billed by its promoters as follows...

"On this upcoming Memorial Day, May 28th, the 9th Annual Lantern Floating Ceremony will be held along the shores of Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park on the island of Oahu. We invite the general public, as well as non-profit organizations, cultural groups, high schools and colleges to participate in this solemn and enriching event. The public may also make consolatory prayer requests from 1:00 - 6:00 p.m. at Magic Island on the same day.

The Lantern floating is a time-honored Buddhist rite originating in Japan and conducted in order to pay respects to our ancestors and comfort the spirits of the deceased. During this Toro-Nagashi, or "lantern offerings on the water," candle-lit lanterns are individually set afloat on the ocean and are said to ferry spirits "from the shore of delusion to the shore of salvation."

These lanterns carry our heartfelt prayers for victims of wars, water-related accidents, natural disasters, famine and disease, as well as for our loved ones and ancestors. It is through this that the sincere prayers of everyone are united… prayers for a future in which harmony exists among all people regardless of differences between race, religion and culture". (emphasis added)

"Time honored" the Toro-Nagashi may be, but the rite is not normally honored at this time. The Toro-Nagashi is traditionally performed at the end of Obon season which falls in July and August depending on what calendar you keep.

We in Hawaii observe Obon more or less on the traditional dates. I say more or less because Bon Dances are performed on successive weekends at various temples due to a shortage of traditionally skilled musicians.

Why is the Toro-Nagishi, a rite to "pay respects" to victims of wars, water-related accidents, natural disasters, famine and disease (in other words plain old dead people), not being held when its supposed to be, instead of on a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service?

I urge anyone who might read this with the same question, to ask it here.

A True Tale Of Socialized Education.

2007-05-25T21:28:00.000-10:00

Why It Doesn't Work, And How To Fix It:

I pulled my eldest son out of Public School at age seven, two months into second grade. He was a late talker, a trifle lazy, but intelligent none the less.

He had been read to by us since infancy. He is the product of a warm, caring, loving, tranquil intact environment.

When we enrolled him in Kindergarten two years earlier we immediately sought to become active in his school. My wife and I were one of the few parents who attended PTSA meetings, and for that we were treated as interlopers by the 'T' faction which ran the show. My wife took the additional step of becoming a member of SCBM (School Community Based Mgt.) where her good deeds were greeted similarly by humoring neglect. Still, via her position my wife was regaled by tales of student, parent, and educator misconduct, malfeasance, and even criminal acts that would curl the hair of anyone, save the professionals who had become hardened to the institution. But I digress.

In the two years and two months that had elapsed since we had enrolled our son in his Elementary School, he had learned virtually nothing, at least not at school. He could read, cause my wife had taught him. He was bringing home books from school that were preschool level, well below his abilities. When his teacher was queried why he wasn't bringing home more challenging assignments, we were more or less greeted by shrugs. The last straw came when I asked my boy if he could name any of our Presidents, he couldn't, but he did know that Martin Luther King had been killed by a 'white guy'. He did not return to school the next day, but instead we all learned the joy and success of homeschooling, as are his two younger siblings.

Now I have heard it said that much of the reason for failed schooling, lies with parents and the communities in which failed schools are situated. I'm sure there is some truth to that, it is certainly the case that my kids school is in a marginal neighborhood, where large portions of the households are dysfunctional, and large percentages of the parentage do not appreciate or are disinterested in the benefits of education for their children. That however, was not the case for my kid, and lots of other children whom I believe futures were sacrificed upon the altar of institutional apathy. I believe there was nothing standing in the way of their education but a bloated Govt. bureaucracy which was more interested in meeting its own needs, than the needs of its charges. Those kids were there and they were able and willing to learn, the least the system could have done is teach them something in the interval... apart from sociological and cultural PC bullshit they always did manage to squeeze in.

Now let me tell you why I think Hawaiian and public schools in general are so bad. Public education is socialized education, and nowhere is that more true than in Hawaii. Socialized systems are typified by centralization which means huge unwieldy bureaucracies. Hawaii's school system is I believe unique in the country in that our schools are run centrally by the state, when you are running for school board you are in fact running for state office. It is a highly sought after position for the huge budget it commands. Large bureaucracies take on a self-sustaining life of their own, with an instinct towards growth and self preservation which eclipses the needs of the service they are supposed to provide so that they become a secondary, or perhaps an even lower priority. Ever larger calls for funding that is supposed to go to classrooms, instead go into the maw of the ravening beast, to grow it more. One thing the beast does guarantee is uniformity, and Hawaii's schools are uniformly terrible.

Add to the host organism Teachers Unions which give lip service to quality teaching, but whose very function again outside of promoting its own organic and political interests, is to stifle the kind of incentive which allows teachers to excel in favor of a system which encourages mediocrity and rewards only longevity. A system whereby even the worst most apathetic of teachers are guaranteed reward.

Add to that a growing Federal Bureaucracy in the DOE upon whose largesse our schools have become dependent, and which requires an even larger bureaucracy with which to digest those funds. You can see where this is going.

The Elementary I attended when I was a kid, was roughly the same size as my sons. The office staff consisted of two ladies, whom I presume were secretaries, and a principal. Everything seemed to function pretty well. The office staff at my sons school consisted of about six to eight office workers, two counselors, a vice-principal, and a principal. I thought that a typical Hawaiian aberration, until I checked out my old schools web page, and found their office staff had grown to similar proportions. Apparently the beast needs feeding all over.

The last I checked Hawaii was spending about $8,600 dollars a year per student. Thats about a quarter of a million per year per classroom. Tell me you can't rent a classroom, and get a first-rate teacher for that kind of scratch.

To me the obvious solution, is to divest the public school system, turn that cash over to parents in the form of vouchers, and let them find a good private school. I'm sure there are some qualified enterprising teachers willing to start their own schools for that sort of guaranteed income. The fact is, there is nothing socialized systems can do, that capitalism can't cure or do better.

Oh yeah, my eldest just finished his freshman year in college, and he's carrying a 3.6 GPA.

McCain's Obama Ju-Jitsu

2007-05-25T15:44:00.000-10:00

Streiff over at RedState chronicles this little lesson on how an attackers weight (or lack of it) may be used against them.

Read on.

“This vote may win favor with MoveOn and liberal primary voters, but it’s the equivalent of waving a white flag to al Qaeda,” McCain said, regarding the vote of his Democratic opponents.

Unfortunately, Obama should have heeded Jacques Chirac's advice, he missed a great opportunity to shut up.

“And if there ever was a reflection of that it's the fact that Senator McCain required a flack jacket, 10 armored Humvees, two Apache attack helicopters, and 100 soldiers with rifles by his side to stroll through a market in Baghdad just a few weeks ago,” Obama said in a statement.

Setting up a classic reverse Chickenhawk:

“While Senator Obama’s two years in the U.S. Senate certainly entitle him to vote against funding our troops, my service and experience combined with conversations with military leaders on the ground in Iraq lead me to believe that we must give this new strategy a chance to succeed because the consequences of failure would be catastrophic to our nation's security,” McCain said.

Followed up by a swift kick to the fourth point of contact.

“By the way, Senator Obama, it’s a ‘flak’ jacket, not a ‘flack’ jacket,” McCain said.

The irony of Obamas experience with 'flacks' over "flak' is not unappreciated. Coincidentally, Streiff by way of his posting, also reconciles his opinion of Obama, with mine which is (appreciated).

Now Wait A Minute

2007-05-25T13:59:00.001-10:00

While as this UPI story says, the military is certainly "apolitical" (as the founding fathers intended), as a former member of the Armed Forces I can certainly attest that SSAMs (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Marines) like most people hold views falling somewhere along the political spectrum. The fact that relatively few of them choose to petition Congress, doesn't reflect an apolitical bent, but rather an instinctual unwillingness to buck a system where the chain of command is ingrained in their synapses, and where youthful apathy is encoded in their DNA.

SSAMs are far more inclined to grouse and argue among themselves, than to do so in any sort of public way. What is notable, is that those SSAMs who are so inclined, back our war effort by more than a two and a half to one margin, over those who don't. A fact that can be deduced from the numbers cited in the UPI piece, but which somehow escaped mention.

One can only wonder what the Headline might read had the figures been reversed. I'd say it would probably read something like...

'Military Petitioners To Congress Say 'Lets Go Home', rather than...

"Small Number Of Troops Sign Iraq Petition".

Rosie As Object Lesson...

2007-05-25T13:34:00.000-10:00

...on how bullies react when confronted

The only thing Rosie O'Donell has ever done worthy of commentary.

The More Dogmatic The Ideologue, The More Boring The Asshole

2007-05-24T20:45:00.002-10:00

Or so it seems to me at least. Extremists of the Right, Left, and Christian varieties get most of the press, invariably from the opposing camp. Uber-Christians and Right-Wingers catching most of the heat as the press is the opposing camp.

Thats not to say the press is run by left-wing fanatics, by in large they are just left-wing. That being said they are all dicks.

Less discussed but equally and perhaps more worthy of derision are your Muslim, Libertarian, and Atheist fanatics. I'm not going to say much about Muslims out of fear for my life, which I'm afraid is also a key factor in the remarkable lack of criticism (that and PC considerations) those fuckheads receive. Lets face it, Islamists are over the top, off the charts, sawing-off-your-head scary. Maybe thats one reason most of your Atheists choose to pick on Christians and Jews instead; pussies.

Now I hate to say it, but Libertarians and Atheists most closely parallel my own philosophy. I part from the Libertarians in that I recognize todays world poses some challenges the founders did not envisage. Especially in regards to international relations, and the need for a coherent defense. I part from Atheists in that I cannot subscribe to the conceit that I know with certainty that which is impossible to know for certain (kind of the same bitch I have with organized religion).

The reason I hate to say it is because in my experience (and let me say right up front I have no data to prove it) I find Libertarians and Atheists to be far more intolerant, dogmatic, and outspoken, percentage wise then their peers in extremist kookdom. All of those aforementioned ideologies smell, but they each have their own particular odor.

Libertarian fanatics exude the combined funk of the left and right making them unbearably odiferous. Atheist fanatics chiefly exude the distilled funk of the left, but peculiarly and counter-intuitively it is infused with the pungency of fanatic intolerance that so often characterizes religious fundamentalism.

I have no way of knowing if their is a supernatural force or not. I don't think anyone else does either. Faced with that reality, I find myself supremely disinterested in religion, as I figure that is a mystery that will eventually reveal itself regardless of what I do. Though I find the costumes, the mythology, and the hocus-pocus all kind of silly, I do recognize that people find comfort in the practice, and I don't begrudge them that. I also don't care if they want to erect their symbols across the landscape, and in the public squares. I recognize also that I am a minority in this largely Christian nation, and I figure if they are willing to tolerate me I should be willing to tolerate them. Furthermore I am supremely grateful for one great gift they have given me, the Judeo-Christian Ethic.

It is for all those reasons I find the petty lawsuits, the vitriol and the supreme arrogance of the bigoted Atheists perhaps the worst-smelling of all... and the most boring.

Gnarlyblog Has A Readership!

2007-05-24T09:37:00.002-10:00

Just installed a Statcounter on the blog last night. To my amazement I found this blog has an (albeit small) readership, return visits and everything!

I feel invigorated.

With a readership comes responsibilities so henceforth I shall truly endeavor to make regular entries, starting tonight.

Happy Mothers Day, Whats Left Of Them

2007-05-12T21:58:00.000-10:00

Anna Jarvis, the woman who invented Mothers Day, went to her grave regretting she ever thought it up. That tempts me to cast a jaundiced eye at the tradition. The institution of motherhood however is none the less alive and well in the Gnarly household, as Mrs. Gnarly has borne me three strapping sons. For that fact alone Mrs. Gnarly will be showered tomorrow with gifts, and the loving admiration of her four biggest fans.

It's a tragedy that the same won't be happening in too much of the developed world.

Its a strange dichotomy that wherever you go on the planet, or even the slums, public housing tracts, and squatter camps in our own cities, and beach parks. The people having all the children, are the least equipped to do so, and vice versa.

Obama Out Of Gas?

2007-05-11T08:49:00.000-10:00

My first impression of Obama as an empty suit is bearing out.

Powerline has posted some recent observations that he may not have the stamina to take on Hillarys machine.

Personally, I just don't think he has the intellectual heft.

As his speechifying in Detroit reveals, Barry thinks fuel-efficiency is some kind of panacea, but there is only so much mileage you can get with just highfalutin rhetoric.

More on Obama and leftist hypocrisy courtesy of Flopping Aces.

Overheard Conversation At Tamuras

2007-05-10T21:46:00.000-10:00

Between a female cashier and an underage bag-girl:

C. Oh yeah... I like the Jose Cuervo.

B.G. Jose Cuervo?

C. Tequilla. I make 'em wit da watamellon, an da li-hing powdah an da gummy-bears.

While I'm on the subject of Tamuras, what exactly is a 'superette'?

I know it must mean a grocery store of some type as Tamuras calls itself 'Tamuras Superette', but 'super', implys more of, whereas 'ette' connotes little, so I'm a little confused.

You might say confusedette.

I Know Its Illegal To Profile, But...

2007-05-10T13:10:00.000-10:00

It has been recently learned that one of the Fort Dix Six apparently had nineteen traffic citations which registered no concern with local police, or our national security apparatus.

Perhaps it should.

As I recall some of the 9/11 hijackers accrued large backlogs of unpaid tickets. Apart from the obvious illegality of wanting to kill us all, these Jihadi's appear to be horrible scofflaws.

Perhaps this knowledge can be used to distinguish those Arabic-speakers who might stab, shoot, poison, or blow us up; from those touchy, dour, misogynistic, adherents of the Religion of Peace™ and Tolerance®, that make such marvelous citizens.

The Clash...

2007-05-10T01:51:00.000-10:00

... is the greatest Rock and Roll band ever.

*Kalding Fling

2007-05-09T21:53:00.001-10:00

Entry Two, of the Only In Hawaii Files:

The facility exists in the shadow of a rugged cave pocked promontory, upon which graze herds of feral goats. One flank of the outcropping is being carved and reshaped to accommodate part of a new housing development. Think of it, a housing development situated almost directly behind a sewage treatment plant, I can hear the ring of nascent odor complaints being phoned in already.

But I digress.

While engaged in my daily pursuits a flash of color and movement on the slope of the aforementioned escarpment caught my eye.

Now, there are two footpaths which run parallel to each other notched into the side of this slope, and separated by about fifteen yards of a roughly forty-five degree gradient; fairly steep. On the upper of these two paths I see what appears to be one of the construction crew dashing madly back and forth along the upper trail, his gaze transfixed downslope, pausing intermittently to pick up loose rocks then flinging them downhill. I shifted my glance below him to see what the target of the rock-flinger might be. It was smallish kid (as in goat). It was fleeing cross slope midway between the two trails, and directly beneath the rock-chucker who managed a remarkable job of keeping pace above the panicked ruminant. Something was keeping the animal from fleeing downslope, which I guessed to be someone unseen on the lower trail as my view of it was obstructed from being at ground level.

By clambering up several flights of steps on a nearby building, I was able to view the lower trail and sure enough, the pitcher had an accomplice on it mirroring his moves. They had the kid trapped in sort of a sideways baseball pickle, where the baseline runs up and downhill, and is about a hundred yards wide, and where the object is to bean the base-runner with rocks.

Though I felt kind of sorry for the goat, I had no real concern as I figured all those two dumb-asses were gonna get was a trip to the emergency room. I anticipated at least one of them might trip and fall, or maybe their boss would catch them abandoning their jobs in favor of chasing goats about hillsides. Hopefully I'd get a funny story to tell.

I shouted down to my friend C. who was passing below my vantage to 'get (his) ass up here' and check-out the action.

Both guys were starting to get winded, yet still the hapless kid could not turn the corner and end-run its tormentors, every time it was close it would stop and reverse. By now the top guy was starting to stagger and had become aware of my scrutiny, in a last-ditch effort he grabbed a small boulder of perhaps fifty pounds, raised it overhead, and in a display reminiscent of primordial hunters sent it crashing down squarely atop the unfortunate animal sending it and boulder tumbling downhill narrowly missing his accomplice who unfazed, immediately set upon it as hounds would a rabbit.

Simultaneously amazed and deflated at the sad and unlikely outcome, I turned to the sound of C's footfalls coming up the concrete steps. 'C' I said, 'you should have seen it'...

*For those not savvy to local culture, 'kalding' is Illocano for goat, a favorite dish in the Fillipino community.

Immigracion Si Indocumentado No

2007-05-08T21:27:00.000-10:00

In a perfect world I'm all for open borders. If we were to shred the welfare state, I'd tell everyone without a criminal record especially those who are from our closest neighbors to come on in and welcome. We need new blood to expand our markets and workforce, especially since Americans have given up having babies.

But unfortunately this is not a perfect world, the welfare state is bigger and more burdensome than ever, and we are at war. This makes our de-facto immigration policy untenable.

Unfunded mandates on our emergency rooms, and social welfare programs which sap the vital juices of American society under normal conditions, become unbearably burdensome when deformed to accommodate hordes of those for which they were not designed or intended.

To guard us from foreign threats which can take many forms, one of the chief duties of Government is to maintain the integrity of our borders, especially during time of war. Threats from foreigners can be intended and unintended. They can take the forms of diseases such as TB. They can be conventional criminals, and they can be terrorists or foreign fighters seeking to infiltrate. The danger of a fifth column exists, therefore we must be discriminating in our judgment as to whom we allow to enter into the country. We can prevent none of that, nor can we certify desirable immigrants without effective border control. Part of that means manpower and technology, and part of that means fences, even minefields, the danger is that great.

Furthermore, anyone who harbors or employs illegals must be prosecuted as felons, police given powers to detain illegals, and a zero-tolerance policy be enforced

All that is to prevent future threats.

For those illegals who are already here, I say this:

Live and let live.

That doesn't means I approve of forgiveness of the illegal status they willfully bought upon themselves, but it does mean we should not actively seek deportation for those who are otherwise living lawfully within our borders. If one of these individuals runs afoul of our legal system they should instantly be deported after having made amends for their crime. My rationale in not allowing a means to legal residency for those individuals (for whom by the way I am highly sympathetic) is simply this, I do not wish to raise the hopes of persons contemplating entering illegally and thus exacerbate the problem.

What I hope will happen is this, I advocate that once secure borders are in place, immigration standards be loosened and streamlined to allow swift legal entry for able-bodied non-criminal individuals, with the proviso that they not be allowed access to our safety net, but rather their needs be met by employers for a certain number of years, after which they can seek normal citizenship. I am hopeful that once that path is open, resident illegals will recognize it as the only option they have for access to the mainstream, return home, and re-enter legally.

Update 5/10/07, relevant commentary:
Fort Dix Six? Look At Illegal Immigration

Maybe Europe Is Finally Growing Up

2007-05-06T21:41:00.000-10:00

BBC NEWS | Europe | Jubilant Sarkozy supporters celebrate

First Germany, and now France have elected leaders who promise recovery from their moribund tradition of nanny-statism and America envy. While Sarkozy is by no means conservative by American standards, the contrast with conventional European mandarins is none the less startling.

As recently as a few weeks ago I would have said that because of the corrosive effects of socialism and deluded immigration policies, Europe was on course for a bloody swing towards Fascism and genocide, as is their historical predilection. With this moderating turn of events, and a more mature attitude towards governance, maybe that can finally be avoided.

That, may I add is a very large maybe.

Ohhh... He Was Just Being Sarcastic!

2007-05-05T21:45:00.000-10:00

I wondered why Al Zawahiri did a rhetorical 180 on Harry Reed and his democrat chums.

The Earth is back in its orbit.

Fred Thompson in '08

2007-05-04T22:17:00.000-10:00

This blog predicts that Fred Thompson will win the 2008 Presidential elections, and enthusiastically endorses his candidacy.

The Bicycle Guys

2007-05-04T18:13:00.000-10:00

Only In Hawaii Files:

Don't know if the mainland has a parallel for them (least there wasn't when I grew up) but in Hawaii there exists what I term as 'BGs' (Bicycle Guys) when in polite company, or 'Mokes On Spokes', MOS (pronounced moes) for short, when not.

BGs are able-bodied, working age males, who spend the bulk of their lives (or the most visible and active part at least) astride bicycles, in apparently aimless meanderings along our surface roads. I say apparently because at a glance they seem to be doing just that, but the unremarkability (a word I just made up) of their presence masks the deliberateness of their actions. This cloak of unremarkability is so effective it seems to render them invisible to even the police, as I have yet to see a BG given even a cursory glance by a cop. It is this super unobtrusiveness on which they depend for their very existence, as the BG gains sustenance via the extralegal. The key to the invisibility of the BG lies in his ubiquity, indeed BGs are so numerous in certain spots like the Waianae coast, that one cannot veer off the road without striking a BG, which aside from ODs, appears to be the chief natural control of their numbers.

Though often spotted riding ten-speeds or other types of bikes, the BGs favorite mount is the so-called beach cruiser; old 50s and 60s style large, heavily framed bikes with fat tires and coaster brakes, well suited for the varied surfaces, and slow meanderings which typify the BG. They can be differentiated from the respectable cycling public by their style of riding which aside from being leisurely, is also distinguishable by other quirks. The BG can plunge or weave heedlessly into traffic as often his attention is elsewhere, they can be seen circumscribing the pavement in one spot for extended periods of time, they ride swiveling their heads repeatedly so that no aspect of their surroundings escapes their scrutiny. This is most usually the case when riding in the neighborhoods, or parking lots where the contents of unoccupied vehicles receive their closest scrutiny. Often they are not moving at all, but rather leaning against a signpost, wall, or vehicle, usually straining to observe an object not apparent to others, or sometimes yelling or gesticulating at said object. The BGs appearance can most kindly be described as unkempt. Ballcaps are de rigueur for the true BG, and backpacks a popular accessory.

BGs are chiefly nocturnal, but can be observed at all hours of the day. Never approach a BG as though shy, they can be unpredictable, and never park where they congregate.

BGs can often be found nesting among squatters at the beach parks, and though they are separate species, they are closely related exhibiting similar characteristics, and occupy the same socio-ecological niche.

It appears that a plentiful supply of victims, and government largesse can sustain large numbers of BGs from now to the foreseeable future.

Leftists Love Democracy...

2007-05-04T17:02:00.000-10:00

...only if they have enough idiots to elect them, if not, that's when the threats come.

I will not succumb to making a bad pun...

2007-05-03T19:51:00.000-10:00

... About some very bad legislation, even if it is called 'ENDA'.

The Democrat tradition of Constitutional disregard continues apace, but Clegg does a superb job in dissecting this abomination.

Kicking Oil

2007-05-03T19:16:00.000-10:00

As a matter of national security the Congress and President should mandate weaning energy consumption from petroleum, restricting its use to that of the military, plastics & chemical manufacture, and perhaps aerospace.

Part of the reason nobody thinks we are at war, is because the governnment doesn't act like it. Severe measures and hardships which are emblematic of nations on an emergency, or war footing have not materialized. If they did I'm sure the public would finally comprehend the gravity of our present situation.

I advocate that by federal mandate all new electrical generation plant construction be either nuclear, coal-fired, or whatever fuels which can be made readily available domestically in the short term, with the eventual goal in mind that all domestic electrical production be either nuclear, hydrodynamic, or otherwise depend on the dynamism of our environment. To that end emergency legislation should be enacted that overrides previous laws which hamstring such development, and loans made available for crash-production of those facilities and replacement of oil-fired facilities within a maximum of 10 years.

Improved electrical generation capacity should be used to crack hydrogen and oxygen from our waters as a means of powering over the road transportation. Conventional internal combustion engines can easily be converted to use hydrogen by means of retrofits, while all new manufacture would take advantage of hydrogen power in its various forms. This all has the added advantage of being very green.

Catching Up

2007-05-01T21:15:00.000-10:00

Well here it is, the international workers holiday and who's celebrating? Not Castro, but Hugo Chavez took up the slack in traditional commie fashion by long-winded, chest-thumping, anti-US, speechifying, vulgar parading of military hardware, and seizing privately owned oilfields. Not to be outdone our own domestic Bolsheviks whooped it up via the normal grab-bag of lefty shenanigans thinly veiled as the 'National Day of Mobilization for (Illegal)* Immigrant Workers'.

As one recently departed but none-the-less sorely-missed lefty would say: "And so it goes"

*Parenthetical 'illegal' added for accuracies sake.

Imus

2007-04-09T19:06:00.000-10:00

It amazes me that in this age of pusillanimous boardrooms, democrats, media whores, demagogues, poverty pimps, and lawyers, a high-profile white male has the sauce to mention anyone in the hyphenated community in terms less than reverent.

But thats what Imus did a couple days ago, and after a good ferment we have a full-baked media frenzy with Katie Couric dishing the story at the top of her broadcast. This little drama replays itself regularly yet such is the hubris of so many media personalities, that they fancy themselves as immune to their own sting as does the scorpion.

Forgive me a little schadenfreude at the expense of Imus, as I have a larger point to make. I'm perfectly certain DI believes himself to be an enlightened, unprejudiced, totally hip dude. It is that conceit which gives him license to speak of his brothers and sisters with a familiarity that lesser white-folk cannot. In his chain of consciousness musings the phrase 'tattooed nappy headed 'hos' no doubt struck him as humorous, and naturally his discerning audience should benefit thus.

In the split second those cogitations took place poor old Don Imus had swapped a microphone for his foot, and the drama begins anew.

Enter the cameras with 'ol Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, in hot pursuit to torment our hapless DJ with liberal doses of hypocritical invective, whilst the I-man performs the requisite mea-culpas and grovelings. Then corporate enters stage right to administer justice; two weeks, no face time. Howls of indignation, wringing of hands, gnashing of teeth... its all in the script. My wife said the only thing missing was Imus entering rehab. Don't speak too soon Mrs. Gnarly.

My opinion is, that society has progressed far enough on the racial front, that these little real-life melodramas are fast becoming anachronistic, they only resonate now because the left has a vested interest in keeping racial wounds open as a means of preserving power, and it is the left which still controls what by-in-large is being said in the media.

People should be free to think and say what they want in this country no matter how stupid, insensitive, or controversial, without cultural inquisitors and the mind police descending on them en masse facilitated by media nabobs. It is for the audience to decide who or what they will listen to. Thats not to say that employers don't have a right to control their content, or discipline staff for policy infractions, but the self-regulating marvel of capitalism, means good businessmen are mindful of their customers first.

Hissy Fit

2007-04-08T21:09:00.000-10:00

On the wrap-up for todays Meet The Pests Russert decided it was instructive for us all to do a review of the Alger Hiss treasons er imbroglio, so that we may marvel at the glorious and consequential history of his show, and to serve as entre' into a story that a nephew (or some of relation) of Hiss' who lived in his household from age two to fourteen, has at long last broken his silence and revealed that he didn't see any spying going on.

Thats it! Proof-positive the vicious right has blackened poor Algers name for low these many years, yet he was innocent all along!

I might add that not once during this usually long piece, was mention of the Venona Intercepts made.

I Can See By What You Carry That You Come From Barrytown (With apologies to Steely Dan)

2007-04-08T18:27:00.000-10:00

Held off posting this little inanity from the Honolulu Advertiser, but it chafed me in such a fashion, that it makes it unbearable not to.

I'll be the first to admit that I view Obama as an empty suit, a remarkably left-wing empty suit, and I will harsh the man at the drop of a hat. Having said that, this frothy little paean to the senator is no fault of his own, and incites me more than anything he could say.

It has long been a pet-peeve of mine that we in Hawaii glom on to any wee bit of fame that anyone remotely connected to these islands may experience, then take pride in it as if it were our own. This inevitably results in effusive hubub and fawning which we (as is local habit in most all things) take to indecorous extremes.

Some may find that charming, but I find it embarrassing, irritating, and provincial. Perhaps the Advertiser knows its audience, and thats why they chose to run this story, but this piece ran nationally.

What editors in their right mind runs such fawning maudlin inconsequential rubbish?

Fawning maudlin liberal editors who think running Barry Obama a free add cloaked in the guise of a humorous quirky personal interest story can be consequential in getting their man elected.

Stand by for lots more.

Women On The Affront Lines

2007-04-05T18:10:00.000-10:00

The sight of a dumpy er matronly British sailoress swathed in a hajib, muttering words of disrepute, and glorifying her troglodyte captors, inspires many thoughts, chiefly amongst those for me is; 'no wonder our enemies think we are marshmallows'.

Not for her maleability at the hands of the Persians, for to be fair, her shipmates were equally ignoble, it is the image, and ultimately an adelpated doctrine of political correctness that promulgates all gender-specific roles as unfair or bigoted, which leads to that impression. I'm no misogynist, I think there are valid roles for women in our military and para-military. I think women can and do make excellent pilots, or police detectives, anything that doesn't call for upper body strength, or an intimidating presence, so if the aforementioned images strike me as particularly supine, imagine how it is viewed by an entire culture that conceives women as chattel. Not only does that image convey incredible weakness, it is in fact a shock and affront to their sensibilities, they see it as evil.

Personally, I could care less about inciting our enemies any further, as they are out to genocide us already, but what purpose does it serve to insult any moderates or potential allies in the region? Why is it that the left, which frets about the smallest perceived slight to any culture other than ours, is so tone deaf when the precepts of that culture runs up against one of the tenets, nay sacraments of theirs?

Why I Hate (and love) Political Discussion Boards

2007-04-03T20:30:00.000-10:00

With few exceptions those interactions leave me feeling tainted.

Not because of the insults and childish taunts which come all too often, nor dealing with their insufferable smug disdain, or the posturing, or the foolishness, or the toxic personalities, or the loonies, or the endless Red Herrings. Its not the vapidity or stupidity of their positions.

I think its me.

Unless there is some disagreement, discussions with civil, like-minded individuals quickly bore me. Soon I am drawn to whatever leftist miscreant is stinking up the place, as flies are to shit.

I tell myself I like a challenge though they rarely present one. What I really like is reducing their arguments, and egos to rubble. In private I assume the mantle of smug superiority they affect in public. Am I a hypocrite? Am I a bully? Perhaps something even worse... A troll?

Upon deep reflection I don't think so. I enjoy making lefties squirm because in general I don't like them, call it a vice.

How To Do Rail On Oahu

2007-03-06T21:45:00.000-10:00

A single light rail line circling Oahu, with perhaps a second line bisecting the island between Haleiwa and Waipahu can mitigate the heavy coastal flow of traffic by replacing huge lumbering city busses with swift, efficient, eco-friendly, electric trains or streetcars that parallel the routes along which traffic now flows. Small busses and perhaps jitneys operated by independent drivers could transit up and down the valleys to and from the various train stations enhancing convenience.

It makes even more sense to allow private entities to build and operate the rail lines at no cost to taxpayers as they have offered to do in the past.

Charming retro-looking rail cars could easily become popular tourist attractions, but nooooooooo, we gotta have the sexiest, costliest, most up in the airiest, buttfuglist, most futuristic, impractical, broke down, unproven technological, abominations money can buy. Why? Because we're chumps.

How To Solve The Problem Of Squatters On Our Beaches

2007-03-06T21:29:00.000-10:00

The reason we have squatters on our leeward beaches, is because they are allowed.

In order for productive members of society and law abiding citizens to reclaim the right to enjoy our beach parks, and for the protection of helpless victims of the indigent lifestyle, the following should be enacted by state and county authorities:

1) The fields adjoining the abandoned military housing at Kalaeloa be set aside for indigent campers, where the state would provide water taps, chemical toilets, and police patrols, and where indigent campers can camp legally without restriction. The campground is to remain unfenced.

Also areas would be set aside for use by charitable and state social service entities, for attending to the needs of the campers, and which may be fenced.

2) The state provide a tented detention facility on a model similar to that used by the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office in the State of Arizona for indigent campers who refuse to avail themselves of the Kalaeloa Campground.

3) Illegal Campers after a third violation would be remanded to #2 until and after legal action.

4) Illegal Campers without ID would always be immediately taken into custody for identification purposes.

5) Camping permits should only be issued to persons with ID and a permanent address, and then only for one week per month. The Kalaeloa Camp may be considered a permanent address, with proper documentation.

6) Camping permits must always be displayed on site on a permanent fixture at each campsite installed by the state or city for such use.

7) Children under 18 and pets of illegal and indigent campers are to be remanded to state custody and animal shelters for their protection.

I believe these measures are sufficiently officious and prudent to suit anyone who really cares, and to help anyone who needs it.

The Honolulu Advertiser Considers This Front Page News

2007-02-25T15:22:00.000-10:00

I have become inured to the fact of global warming, though I remain sceptical regarding mans impact on the process.

To extrapolate long term or future acidification of the oceans from a mere 20 years of local observations is ludicrous to say the least. Furthermore the trend shown by the red line indicating a rise in sea level over the same period (in the chart published as part of the article) is belied by the minor trends in the same chart which clearly show a falling off of the trend since 2000, a full quarter of that period.

As usual the Advertiser is blinded by its own bias and the allure of alarmist headlines.

I Won't Be Watching

2007-02-24T22:13:00.000-10:00

The Academy Awards tomorrow, they suck. In fact all awards shows suck but the AAs in particular suck mightily for all their pretension and general Hollywood dippiness.

Instead I'll be watching episode #48 of Komyo ga Tsuji, entertainment truly worthy of an award.