Let me keep my cash - Redux

In yesterday's post about class warfare, I expressed my rage at the ploy politicians use to pit one part of the American polulation against another part of the population. Today, Neal Boortz explains the political origins of this idea. Here are a couple snapshots from his post.

"...you have to adopt the belief that all wealth is owned by and controlled by the government which can distribute that wealth..."

"It is the government's job, not the job of the free market, to decide who gets what. Hard work is an individual pursuit and, as such, should not be rewarded."

I look forward to his Town Hall column on Thursday where he hashes out the rest of these ideas.

Let me keep my cash

The title of this story (which I did not read) is Clinton: Bush is robbing from poor to give to rich.

I just despise class warfare. This whole idea of taking money from one American for the benefit of another just makes me so angry. Yes, it is wrong for the government to take money away from poor people and give it the wealthy (which happens all the time with subsidies). But it is also wrong for the government to take money away from the rich and give it to the poor (which happens all the time with welfare). Guess what people? It is always wrong to steal...no matter what the economic condition of the person from whom the money is being stolen.

If we got rid of the morally pungent income tax, then we wouldn't have this discussion at all. There would be no government sanctioning of the "us vs. them", "rich vs. poor", "haves vs. have-nots" attitudes. There would be no politician who could promise to take money away from group of "not-liked/unworthy" people to give to a group of "liked/worthy" people.

I don't need or want anyone else's money...just let me keep me what I earn and I'll be happy.

Congress to Generals: Don't use bullets from Israel

Once again I am befuddled by the irrationality of Congress. In this report by WorldNetDaily, the military is told not to use bullets manufactured by an Israeli firm when fighting Muslims. I'm not sure what the thought is here. According to the story, Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania tries to justify the statement by claiming "propaganda pitfalls" and "sensitivity" needs. Never mind that we are shooting to kill...just make sure they aren't killed with Jewish bullets.

Oh well, once again, I must not be "nuanced" enough to understand how dying from an American made bullet makes you any less dead than an Israeli made bullet.

Valedictorian denied diploma

The valedictorian of Brooklyn's High School for Legal Studies was denied her diploma because she criticized the school in her graduation speech. Tiffany Schley, who's heading to Smith on a full scholarship, refuses to apologize, reports the New York Daily News.

Among her gripes: The school has had four principals in four years, overcrowded classes, a shortage of textbooks and other basic materials, unqualified teachers, unstable staffing and uncaring administrators who refused to meet with students to discuss the school's problems.

"They always want to keep the problems hush-hush, but what goes on in this school is real," said Tiffany, who was also the editor of the school newspaper, yearbook chairwoman and a member of the student council.

One teacher who attended the graduation said the audience was shocked by the speech.

"The administration was very nervous, but the students were definitely in support of her," the teacher said.

When Schley came to school yesterday to pick up her diploma with the rest of her classmates, she and her mother were told they had been disrespectful and were escorted out of the building.

It appears counter-intuitive to me that a school specializing in Legal Studies would use their power to coerce a citizen in recanting her expression. The whole point of the First Amendment was a guarantee that citizens (no matter what age) the right to critize (and even be disrespectful of) government (no matter what benefit they gained from that government). This young lady was well with-in her rights to use her time in whatever way she wished. I applaud her for using her time to stir the pot in hopes of helping underclassmen have a better experience. She could have had the attitude that says "Hey, I'm outta here and don't have to be bothered by these problems anymore." and walked away. Instead, she courageously confronted an issue that did not affect her and is getting hit with a high personal cost because of it.

The school's reaction to this young lady makes her case appear to be valid and propelled her ideas to a national level. Honestly, this makes the school look even worse. Had they just given her the diploma and ignored her comments, they would be out of the spotlight. Instead, they will now have to publicly change and some administrators will more than likely be encouraged to pursue other opportunities.

Greetings to the New Government of Iraq

America is the greatest nation that has ever exisited on this planet. Its promotion of the equality of all human life and liberty for all continues to be the leading force in shaping our planets geo-political landscape. The power for America to do good can not be more evident in the fact that this morning, Iraq has a new government.

In just under 18 months, the United States has invaded Iraq, liberated the people, captured Saddam Hussein, killed his murderous sons, restored essential services, and implemented a new government based upons the ideas of equality and freedom. Wow!! And it only cost America less than 1,000 brave servicemen.

Now, sure, there are still some problems in Iraq. Insurgents and radicals who are loosing power are seeking to maintain thier autocratic governmental style. This is the same kind of behaviour America was exposed to in 1945 during the rebuiliding of Germany after WW II. Once these terrorist come to realize thier new reality, they will settle down and join the new society (just as the few remaining SS did).

Mihaela Doctor Visit Update

Mihaela went to the doctor for her 4 month check up. She is 25 inches long, 16 lbs 11 oz, and had a head circumference of 41.5 cm. This is supposedly a very healthy size for a 4 month old baby. She received her second round of immunization. The doctor also said she was developing on schedule and that she was very alert and observant for a baby her age.

We were instructed to increase the amount of rice cereal we are feeding her and to start her on oatmeal. I think this will be good because she loves to eat. We began feeding her rice cereal about two weeks ago and she took to it very quickly. We are also to start adding vegetables and fruits to her diet. I guess this means I have to really start working on handling dirty diapers because we are about to take them to a whole new level!!!

Mihaela Pictures Uploaded

It has been about a month since I last posted pics of the baby. Well...there are new pictures available. If you need access or the link, please send me an email and I will give it to you if I know you...

New Blog Features

Well, I got everything up and working the way I like. Adding the ability to comment was a bit more difficult than I would have liked because I could not preview my template when I made changes to the content that only appears on the Item Page. I had to republish the blog, go look at the item page, and then go back to the template and make any changes I wanted.

Otherwise, it works great and rocks. Feel free to leave me comments.

New Blogging Features

Since Blogger released its new version, I haven't had a chance to investigate and use the new features. I am attempting to use the new permalink functionality, the new title functionality and give people the ability to comment on posts. Let's see how this works.

My Tribute to Reagan

I've been working on a fitting tribute for the greatest President of the 20th century. Ronald Reagan was an extraordinary person. Even Reagan's political enemies salute his optimistic spirit and his undaunted faith in the American people. It was this connection with the people that allowed Reagan to remold much of American politics.

Reagan never saw himself as a professional politician. "One thing our Founding Fathers could not foresee," Reagan once told students, "was a nation governed by professional politicians who had a vested interest in getting reelected. They probably envisioned a fellow serving a couple of hitches and then . . . getting back to the farm."

Unlike career politicians, Reagan had convictions . . . and the courage of those convictions. Jack Kemp put it this way: "Most politicians talk about policies and the changing issues of the day. Ronald Reagan talked about principles - deeply held beliefs. Policies shift with the breeze of public opinion, but principles are anchors, even in a storm."

President Reagan also had enormous confidence in the average American. "My optimism comes not just from my strong faith in God," the Gipper offered, "but from my strong and enduring faith in man." Another time, he remarked, "We don't have to turn to our history books for heroes. They're all around us."

And in his farewell address, Reagan modestly stated, "I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didn't spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation."

Perhaps the most appropriate way to honor the memory of Ronald Reagan is to share his abundant faith that, even now, America's best days are ahead.

JFK: Then and Now

My, my...how times have changed:

"Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country."--John F. Kennedy, 1961 (Inaugural Address)

"In a Kerry Administration, if you believe in yourself enough to work hard and do what's right, your country will invest in you."--John F. Kerry, 2004 (Kerry Campaign Website)

Blame America

With the recent, awful news of the beheading of Paul Johnson, many of the "anit-war" crowd are renewing, with fervor, their "It's all America's fault" pitch. They yell and holler that if American's hadn't humiliated prisoners at Abu Ghraib, then these beheadings wouldn't happen. If you remember, it didn't take long after Sept. 11 for various left-wing intellectuals to start positing that America had brought the attacks on itself.

This "blame America" mentality seems unpatriotic to me. Sure, America has made mistakes. There are foreign policy decisions with which I disagree. However, to say that the killing 3,000 civilians is justified because of those decisions is a bit tough for me to noodle out. To think that an appropriate retaliation for forcing a man to wear underwear on his head is to saw the head of someone else seems a bit, shall we say, "over the top." I was bullied in Jr. High and I am sure that killing the people who bullied me would have been frowned upon. No one really blames the jocks who bullied Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold for the killing of the 12 students at Columbine...they blame the shooters.

However, when one questions the "blame America" crowd about their patriotism, they become defensive and wonder how a person could think such a thing. Maybe I'm just not nuanced enough to understand the difference between their relentless complaining about America from out-and-out anti-Americanism. Their defense is that "true" patriotism consists in acknowledging your own country's faults and exhorting it to improve.

Well, maybe. Certainly there's nothing unpatriotic about criticizing your government or its policies. And since love of country is a matter of the heart, it's presumptuous to question anyone's patriotism. But imagine a man who treats his wife the way the these people treat America: constantly belittling her, pointing out her faults and never showing her any kindness. He may love her, but most people would agree he has a twisted way of expressing it.

Iran to go Nuclear, World doesn't seem to really care

Indifference is the trademark of Generation X. The idea that, "as long as there is no immediate damage to me, you can do what you want" is propagating itself into international politics. This can be clearly seen with how the world is treating the information that the team from the International Atomic Energy Agency inspecting Iran's nuclear program describes a pattern of lies and non-cooperation that provides much innuendo for a bomb program. However, the international community is treating this with complete indifference. This shouldn't surprise anyone...however, the Bush Administration also appears to have acquiesced to the idea that we will just have to accept a nuclear Iran.

This is frightening to me because Iran is a country of Islamic radicals. It is ruled by mullahs who only see the lives of Muslims as being valuable. This is the country whose former president has publicly stated that "the world of Islam" should develop nuclear technology so as to threaten the existence of Israel (i.e., kill all Jews) while removing Western ideas (i.e., Christian values) peddled to the Middle East by American "colonialism." I don't think it is too far out there to predict that Iran with nuclear weapons means terrorists with nuclear weapons.

The biggest problem with terrorist with nuclear weapons is that they kill at random. Unlike the nuclear threats of WW III (i.e., the Cold War), there is no doomsday deterrent. Many of these terrorists do not care if they die. Actually, just the opposite...they seek glory in death. They have been taught to believe that there is honor is dying for their demon-god if they take out Jews and Christian with them.

Remember that Iran is a petroleum-rich country that doesn't need nuclear power. The only reason for them to pursue nuclear power is to use it as a weapon. Who do they think their greatest enemy is? Who will they strike first once they have a weapon?

President Bush included Iran in the Axis of Evil with Iraq and North Korea. Just as we removed the imminent danger of an attack with chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons supplied by Iraq by removing Saddam from power, we need to remove the danger from Iran. Instead we yawn and dismiss the danger, assured by our infantile belief that bad things only happen to other people and I am immune from harm.

I hate to say this, but it looks like it will take another 9/11 for many of us to understand that we are now in the most dangerous age in America's history. Hitler and Tojo did not have nuclear weapons. Iran will and the goals of Iran are the same as those of the terrorists. Do the math.

Not supposed to be here

Well, the two oldest nieces (Jayde and Aubree) are visiting this week. We had planned on taking them to Six Flags today. I requested time off of work, got money from the bank, and dropped Mihaela and Juliet off at the in-law's place last night for them to take care of. I woke up this morning at 5:00 AM and got a shower so we could make our 6 AM departure time. At 5:30 AM Erin woke up and got the two kids up as well and they started showering. I made coffee. I was standing by the coffee pot hopefully awaiting my first cup of my drug of choice when, at about 5:45 AM Erin comes into the kitchen and opens the door...to the sounds of pouring rain and the booms of thunder...

We turned on the Weather Channel and happened to catch a live shot of Atlanta and saw people running through the rain. The weather man predicted showers throughout the whole south-east for the entire day. So, we cancelled our trip.

So, instead of enjoying the thrill of a rollercoaster, I am twirling around in my swivel chair. Instead of feasting on turkey legs and funnel cake, I am surviving on a stale honeybun from the vending machine. Instead of playing, I am working.

I'm just not supposed to be here today. *sigh*

I'm her father...not her babysitter

We were keeping Morgan and Adam, Erin's sister's youngest two children last week. Yesterday, about 11 AM, Erin and Hope drove the two little ones up to Chattanooga to give them back to Brooke and to pick-up the oldest two children (Jayde and Aubree) on Sunday. So, I took care of Mihaela by myself this weekend.

I took her to church today by myself this morning. Of course, people asked where her mother was and it suprised me how many said something to the effect of, "Oh, so your babysitting this weekend..." after hearing that Erin was out-of-town. Why is it that in our society that fathers are relegated to the role of babysitter when the, so called, "primary care-giver" is out-of-town.

No disrespect to my mother(who has made her living as a day-care provider), but I am not a "hired hand." I am her father. I was parenting her alone this weekend, not babysitting. There is a difference. Some people would say that I am just being to sensitive. However, langauage is important. How I see myself determines how I act. If I see myself as merely a babysitter, I will not act as a father.

Anyway...don't mind me...I'm just ranting....

How sad...

How sad it must be to have no personal connections in this world. We were created for relationships. Most importantly, we were created to have a relationship with God. Then, when God saw that it was not good for to man be alone, he created a companion. There is nothing sadder to me than a lonely person, because they are not living out the purpose for which they were created. How lonely it must be to for this man who died and laid decomposing in his apartment for 20 years with no one bothering to even attempt to find out about him.

Thank you, Lord, for my family and friends.

I'm Back

Ok...I've been quiet. I've actually been busy...bit I just returned from my summer conference, so my life slows down again. I will have some new thoughts for you tomorrow.