Democrats to America- "Not even at $10.00 per gallon"

The media's Messiah returns to Jerusalem

Drudge reports a 12 minute Obamessiah visit to the Western or Wailing Wall,
certainly only the photos he posed for will make the campaign commercials .
Not the shouting and ensuing chaos.

“SHOUTING MAN: ‘JERUSALEM IS NOT FOR SALE, OBAMA’… MOB SCENE… CHAOS… BOWING HIS
HEAD IN PRAYER… PLACES NOTE IN WALL… POSES FOR PHOTOS… LOTS OF SHOUTING…
LEAVES
5:20 AM… DEVELOPING…

What did the note say?

Perhaps-

- “Uuuummmmm, uuuhhhh.”
- “These pants inspected by number 19″
- “I’m Ba-a-ack !!”

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/07/23/obamas-latest-campaign-prop-jerusalems-western-wall/#comment-384650

A few things that I never thought 30 years ago

Our 30 year reunion is this week.
Amazing how the years fly past.

My High School is one of only two in America
(probably anywhere else as well)
to have "Bunnies" as the mascot-
hence the eponymous 'Grey Hares' greeting.

A pre-reunion profile @ classmates.com.
Subject- "I never thought 30 years ago that..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello, Grey Hares! Hope you are well.

"Me? I've been a few places,Mostly here and there once or twice.Still sortin'
out life, but I'm doing alright."-Rascal Flatts :"These Days"

-A few things that I never thought 30 years ago-

I never thought I'd be a country music fan,but I am one.

Some other things I've done or been that I wouldn't have imagined in 1978 are: Salesman, Telemarketer, Soldier, Council Bluffs resident, Surgical Technologist, War Veteran, Mailman, Blogger.What a ride!

I married my Bride, Mary in April of 1989.She is from Henderson, NE.
We have a son , Steve who is 16, Daughters Rachel -13, and Libby, 11.
The kids are doing well in school, and are pretty good athletes, too.
Steve is a pitcher and first baseman,
(H.S baseball is a Summer sport in Iowa, so they are just gearing up for the season as I write this in May, 2008),
the girls are playing club soccer, both are brave,
tenacious goalies.
Most of our spare time is spent on the sidelines of one sport or another.

Looking forward to the reunion in July, hope you are , too.

There are lots of things about life that I never would have imagined thirty years ago.
I never would have imagined that I would find faith in God to be central to life. I thought faith was a crutch for the weak-minded, fact is, it's more of a stretcher than a crutch. Good thing, we all need to be carried, we can't 'clean up our act' enough to enter Heaven through our own striving, but through faith.

Blogging occasionally at w w w /TheLazyHalfSRanch/dot/ blogspot/ dot/ com

Saddle up at the computer, pour a cup of coffee, and drop by there anytime.

Regards, Terry

Atlas is getting ready to shrug.

" Get Our Petroleum ."
About time, Mr. President.

This is an issue voters can grasp, and polls show that they are,
as 81% support using more American oil and coal,
and "69% of Americans support lowering energy prices by using
domestic energy sources, even if it means drilling off our coasts
and in Alaska, rather than suing OPEC."
I got a haircut today. The customers at the barber shop
strongly advocate drilling American oil, for American cars, factories and jobs.
They know that corn ethanol is not the answer,
increasing domestic oil, coal , natural gas and
nuclear energy production is.
They are angry. Look out, Senator Harkin.

Is America 'addicted to oil' ?
Are you 'addicted' to oxygen? food? water?
The greatest gains in prosperity , productivity, comfort,
and liberty in America and the world have come in the age of petroleum.
Someday, perhaps, we will have some kind of generators and autos
that run on rainbows and exhaust butterflies and lollipops but it isn't so today,
and Congress can neither legislate or litigate them into existence.

Do you think CO2 is a pollutant?
Plants, green plants , thrive on it.
Do you think CO2 is a pollutant?
Don't exhale.
Do you think CO2 is a man made pollutant?
Volcanoes belch out more CO2
than man's entire history of energy production.


In an IBD editorial cartoon , Michael Ramerez compares the
proposed ANWR drilling site in Alaska to a flea on a caribou.

I prefer to use this illustration.
If Speaker Nancy Pelosi was tattooed with
a map of the state of Alaska over her body,
the ANWR oil drilling area would be smaller
than her botox injection sites,
well,
as far as I can see.

Wham-O

My brother, Chris, and I had blue Wham-o superballs , they were amazing.

Heavy and brick hard,

they are responsible for the familiar sentence,

"Don't play ball in the house!".

The ads said something about "50,000 pounds of kinetic energy!!!"

It was like holding a hand grenade, or a stick of dynamite.

FIFTY! THOUSAND! POUNDS! of ENERGY! in the palm of my hand.

Wow.

I think I was 7 (would have been 1966) the Summer our street was being resurfaced. The crew was using a steam roller, and I wondered - as only a 7 year old could - what damage 50,000 lbs of energy would do to it.

The next morning, I non-chalantly sauntered up the hill, eyeing my chance,

then,

I struck.

I rolled the ball down the hill to the approaching steel roller,

unseen by the unsuspecting driver,

and stepped back to get out of the blast zone...

...Sadly my dreams of high explosive fun were turned to powder,

along with my blue SuperBall.

Thanks to Bolus, for the memories.

IRS Economic Stimulus Calculator Calendar and Estimator

Thought you'd find this handy,
Here is the website for IRS information on the Schedule of Payments:

http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html

Also you can answer some questions from your tax form
to get an estimate of the $ amount of your "Economic Stimulus" .

Our estimated check is higher than I thought 'twould be.
While we won't return the cash,
I have doubts about the effectiveness of redistribution tactics like this.

If a Government check for a few hundred dollars
to everyone is a cure for a slow economy,
wouldn't checks for several thousand dollars be better?

(Just for fun, I reran the estimator with 99 dependants,
it estimated my rebate at $30900 !!)

If a minimum wage of $7.50 is good, isn't a
minimum wage of $50 an hour better?

TANSTAAFL !

Michelle Malkin » Another addition to the Unhinged mugshot gallery

Michelle Malkin » Another addition to the Unhinged mugshot gallery

By Michelle Malkin • February 25, 2008 07:41 PM

My Unhinged mugshot gallery just keeps growing!

Hope your family dinner doesn’t look like this (via JWF):

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office is investigating a politically motivated stabbing that left one in-law hospitalized and another in prison.
Authorities said brother-in-laws Jose Ortiz and Sean Shurelds were involved in a verbal altercation over Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton when the argument escalated into a stabbing inside their family home on Honey Locust Court in Collegeville.
Authorities said Ortiz, a registered Republican and Clinton supporter, allegedly stabbed Shurelds, an Obama supporter, in the stomach. Ortiz told police Shurelds began to choke him, so he grabbed a knife and stabbed him.
“Their verbal argument turned physical, one began choking the other, and then the victim of the choking took a kitchen knife and stabbed his brother-in-law in the stomach,” Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Veti Ferman said.

Remind me to send a copy of Unhinged to the clueless D.A.:

“It is a very serious charge, we see people fight over many things; some of them very frivolous, some of them serious, the fact of the matter is that this is the kind of argument that takes place in households across the region, across the state, across the country, but it never turns violent like this,” Ferman said.

Reality check on aisle 9.
***

Hmmm: “…a registered Republican and Clinton supporter.”
That’s not adding up, eh?

~~~END EXCERPT~~~

I’m told they were actually fighting over which one
loved Hillary the most…
~
Ortiz: “YOU love her!”
Shurelds: “No, YOU do”
Ortiz:”Not as much as YOU!”
Shurelds grabs Ortiz’s throat.
Ortiz stabs Shurelds.
~
They told the police that they won the weekly family “Charades” game,

because no one guessed that they were pantomiming
“The 2008 Democrat Convention”

Source: Michelle Malkin » Another addition to the Unhinged mugshot gallery

A most ripping victory !!

An ESPN columnist pointed out the amazing
prescience of Prince Hakeem of Burundi
--->

taking things into your own hands ?

From Ray Comfort's Blog- Comfort Food

Back in 2006, wild life expert Steve Irwin tragically died when a stingray
“barb” shot through heart. His natural instinct was to pull it out, and experts
say that’s what killed him. Had he left it in and been rescued, there was a
possibility surgery could have saved his life. Dr Eugene Costantini, who
operated on 82-year-old American stingray victim James Bertakis, said that Irwin
might have been able to receive vital medical attention had he not ripped the
barb out of his chest. "The key was the removal that released the blood flow
from the inside of the heart and I think that was probably the final event for
Steve . . . If [the barb] had been left in place, he might have had the
opportunity to make it to a hospital.''
The following year (2007) was a
difficult one for me. Incident after incident took place to a point where I felt
stabbed through the heart. My natural instinct was to try and justify myself. I
wanted to take things into my own hands, but I didn’t. I instead committed
myself into the hands of the Chief Surgeon. I did so because I knew that that is
God’s way, and to do things His way is a life-saver indeed. Look at Jesus, our
great example in Scripture: “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his
mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judges righteously . . . ” (1
Peter 2:22--23).

So if you are going through a tough time, and you feel like
taking things into your own hands, stop and think about it for a moment. It may
seem like the right thing to do, but the consequences may be tragic.

Speaks to me. What do you say?

Iowa State Law...

... requires me to blog about the caucus, so...

We opened with the Pledge of Allegiance, and after some housekeeping details for the local committee, representatives of candidates were asked to speak on behalf of their candidates.

I met some college kids from AZ and CA in town to work for Ron Paul.
One of them gave a short , emotional sales pitch for the earnest Congressman. Another
Paul-iac tried to impress the middle aged crowd with the definitions of Neo-Liberal and Neo-Conservative he had learned at Granola State Community College, or where ever the hell the pony-tailed Poli-Sci major was from - it was less than motivational.

My next door neighbor - as Romney's precinct Captain - read a letter from Romney to the crowd, and the other candidates were promoted by their supporters in 1-2 minute speeches.

One old fella went on a tirade about the "Fair Tax" that was mentioned on a Huckabee
flier. He wanted everyone to "understand what that fair tax was ",
then misrepresented it for a minute or so.

The Huckabee poll worker asked for 15 seconds to straighten out the misconceptions that were raised, recieved the time and did so.

When everyone who wished to speak had spoken, ballots were passed out and a secret ballot was taken.
There was some confusion as one young man who was inelegible to vote had cast a ballot for Ron Paul.
The count of those registered and ballots cast was thus reconciled, and the results were official.

I voted for Fred Thompson.

Here's the results.
Romney-17
Huckabee-11
Fred Thompson-9
Paul-8
McCain-5
Rudy-2
Hunter-0

So, I finished tied with Rep. Hunter,
and only a percent or two behind him in the entire state!
Not bad!!


-On the dark side-
Of 220,000 Dems, 154,000 stood up to say
"Hell no, Hillary."
It's a start.
Though the boobs they voted FOR aren't much either.

What a lousy way to start a year here...

...Geez, all three in the same day?

Politicians Plan New Year's Stops In Council Bluffs

Prodigal Christmas / Are You Ready??

I've really enjoyed a new discovery this Christmas -
choreographed, syncronized Christmas lights.
We saw this one in Omaha, and others at http://www.christmasutah.com/

I've always liked quieter , more serious, contemplative Christmas observances;
so the loud, extravagant, practically garish light and sound
lawn extravaganzas like this one in Omaha feel like a bit of a guilty pleasure-

There is an Old English word that describes this kind of display perfectly:

Prodigal
prod·i·gal Date: 15th century
1 : characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure : lavish

2 : recklessly spendthrift

3 : yielding abundantly : luxuriant —

It is a word most often associated with Jesus' parable of the "prodigal son" who burned through his inheritance with wild abandon, then returned to his awaiting father who forgave him, accepted him , and threw a huge party to celebrate his son's return.

Certainly the time and treasure spent creating these temporary Christmas light shows is lavish ,recklessly 'spend-y' , and yielded in abundance.

But, consider it in the Spirit in which it is given, the light show is free to all who will drive by,(and visible 3/4 mile away from the Interstate highway!) the music availiable to any who will tune their FM radio to his transmitter- what a kind, extravagant gift to all who will stop to enjoy it. A small picture of the Greatest Gift.

Malcolm Smith once taught about that parable as the" parable of the prodigal father"- who lavished his love , mercy, and acceptance upon his wayward ,foolish, wastrel son- a picture of the Love shown to us, the sinful and unworthy, through the great gift of God's Son, Jesus Christ.

Celebrate Christmas, celebrate Jesus, and the Holy 'lavish overspending' God the Prodigal Father poured out to purchase us from sin's bondage with the precious lifeblood of His Son.

Look at the crazy lights and sounds as if they were noise from the party, the prodigal son has come home, the prodigal Father has welcomed him. Those who are forgiven much, love much (and we all need much forgiveness). Recieve His great forgiveness, and celebrate with great jubilation !!

~~~Reposted from December 2006~~~
"Are you ready for Christmas?"

A common salutation in late December, so, "Are you?"

We prepare for long anticipated family gatherings with anticipation,

sometimes with anxiety, for some folks, with dread.

So much to buy, to plan, to do, to prepare. Are you ready?

As we age we recall at Christmastime lost family members

and lost relationships .

Are you ready to deal with those memories of Christmas past?

"Long past?" " Your past, Ebeneezer."

Are you Ready?

Get ready for Christmas.

Step back from the busyness and consider whose birth we celebrate.

Consider the wonder of the Creator stepping from his proper place on the throne of the Universe to enter His creation. As one author wrote, "it is a much greater step down than it would be for a man to become an ant, or an amoeba; because men and women, insects and amoebas are all created ."

The incarnation - literally "in the flesh", God becoming human-

is on the order of a Painter stepping into a two dimentional painting,

or an Author entering His books as character- setting aside , for a time,

His pen so that the two dimentional creations could know the three dimentional Creator. (Imagine that for a moment. It's a lot to wrap our little brains around.)

Similarly, Jesus Christ came so that finite beings could know the infinite God.

Not just know of Him, but know Him.

He came also to deal with the thing that separates the created from Creator - sin.

"Only an infinite God could bear the full penalty for all the sins of all the people" ***

The wise men didn't scurry about buying each other gifts, but they did bring gifts to the newborn King as an act of worship. What can we learn from the gifts of the Magi, the gold, frankinscense and myrrh?

Please click on this to read Peter marshall's commentary-

(Here is a hint : Surrender, Praise and Sacrifice)

Get ready.

Merry Christmas, Terry

Crazy Christmas Lights

We saw the glow of this Omaha, Nebraska display from West bound I-80 between the
60th and 72nd St exits and had to investigate. The music was broadcast via low power FM, You might be able to pick it up on that stretch of interstate on 103.9

It's kitschy, commercialized, over the top , off the hook, a crazy chaos of noise and light, and completely addictive.






There are more of these syncronized displays on YouTube and at www.Lightorama.com
Here's a fun one, Boogie Woogie Santa.

Just shoot ME.

I came home to hear the sounds of the season...
Kids crying, Mom yelling,must be time
for the Christmas Card photo shoot.

Each photo is worth a thousand words.
We are so proud of these kids,
though sometimes,
well,
not as much.
Merry Christmas.










Here's a keeper- 3 of them I'd say.

Vive la France!

"For me, failure is not an option. Terrorism will not win because
democracies are not weak, because we are not afraid of this barbarism. America
can count on France."

Hallelulah.
Other than the obligatory global warming drivel, there is little to quibble with and much to praise here.

"I want to tell you that whenever an American soldier falls
somewhere in the world, I think of what the American army did for France. I think of them and I am sad, as one is sad to lose a member of one's family."

He expresses a better understanding of America than most Congressmen do.

"America did not tell the millions of men and women who came
from every country in the world and who — with their hands, their
intelligence and their heart — built the greatest nation in the world:
"Come, and everything will be given to you." She said: "Come, and the only
limits to what you'll be able to achieve will be your own courage and your
own talent." America embodies this extraordinary ability to grant each and
every person a second chance."

Beautiful.

Vive Sarkozy!
Dieu Bénissent La France!!

(Thanks to http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr for the hasty French translation)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From http://www.ibdeditorials.com/
Check out the site and the 2 week trial subscription to IBD.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Verbatim: 'America Can
Count On France'
By NICOLAS SARKOZY Posted Wednesday, November 07, 2007 4:30
PM PT

Following is the speech that French President Nicolas Sarkozy
delivered Wednesday in a rare address by a foreign dignitary to a joint session
of the Senate and House of Representatives. U.S. lawmakers gave the French
leader a three-minute standing ovation and his address was met bursts of warm
applause.

Madam Speaker, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the
United States Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen, the state of our friendship and
our alliance is strong.

Friendship, first and foremost, means being true
to one's friends. Since the United States first appeared on the world scene, the
loyalty between the French and American people has never failed. And far from
being weakened by the vicissitudes of history, it has never ceased growing
stronger.

Friends may have differences; they may have disagreements;
they may have disputes. But in times of difficulty, in times of hardship,
friends stand together, side by side; they support each other; and help one
another. In times of difficulty, in times of hardship, America and France have
always stood side by side, supported one another, helped one another, fought for
each other's freedom.

The United States and France remain true to the
memory of their common history, true to the blood spilled by their children in
common battles. But they are not true merely to the memory of what they
accomplished together in the past. They remain true, first and foremost, to the
same ideal, the same principles, the same values that have always united them.

The deliberations of your Congress are conducted under the double gaze
of Washington and Lafayette. Lafayette, whose 250th birthday we are celebrating
this year and who was the first foreign dignitary, in 1824, to address a joint
session of Congress. What was it that brought these two men — so far apart in
age and background — together, if not their faith in common values, the heritage
of the Enlightenment, the same love for freedom and justice?

Upon first
meeting Washington, Lafayette told him: "I have come here to learn, not to
teach." It was this new spirit and youth of the Old World seeking out the wisdom
of the New World that opened a new era for all of humanity.

From the
very beginning, the American dream meant putting into practice the dreams of the
Old World. From the very beginning, the American dream meant proving to all
mankind that freedom, justice, human rights and democracy were no utopia but
were rather the most realistic policy there is and the most likely to improve
the fate of each and every person.

America did not tell the millions of
men and women who came from every country in the world and who — with their
hands, their intelligence and their heart — built the greatest nation in the
world: "Come, and everything will be given to you." She said: "Come, and the
only limits to what you'll be able to achieve will be your own courage and your
own talent." America embodies this extraordinary ability to grant each and every
person a second chance.

Here, both the humblest and most illustrious
citizens alike know that nothing is owed to them and that everything has to be
earned. That's what constitutes the moral value of America. America did not
teach men the idea of freedom; she taught them how to practice it. And she
fought for this freedom whenever she felt it to be threatened somewhere in the
world. It was by watching America grow that men and women understood that
freedom was possible.

What made America great was her ability to
transform her own dream into hope for all mankind.

Ladies and gentlemen,
the men and women of my generation heard their grandparents talk about how in
1917, America saved France at a time when it had reached the final limits of its
strength, which it had exhausted in the most absurd and bloodiest of wars. The
men and women of my generation heard their parents talk about how in 1944,
America returned to free Europe from the horrifying tyranny that threatened to
enslave it.

Fathers took their sons to see the vast cemeteries where,
under thousands of white crosses so far from home, thousands of young American
soldiers lay who had fallen not to defend their own freedom but the freedom of
all others, not to defend their own families, their own homeland, but to defend
humanity as a whole.

Fathers took their sons to the beaches where the
young men of America had so heroically landed. They read them the admirable
letters of farewell that those 20-year-old soldiers had written to their
families before the battle to tell them: "We don't consider ourselves heroes. We
want this war to be over. But however much dread we may feel, you can count on
us."

Before they landed, Eisenhower told them: "The eyes of the world
are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march
with you."

And as they listened to their fathers, watched movies, read
history books and the letters of soldiers who died on the beaches of Normandy
and Provence, as they visited the cemeteries where the star-spangled banner
flies, the children of my generation understood that these young Americans, 20
years old, were true heroes to whom they owed the fact that they were free
people and not slaves. France will never forget the sacrifice of your children.

To those 20-year-old heroes who gave us everything, to the families of
those who never returned, to the children who mourned fathers they barely got a
chance to know, I want to express France's eternal gratitude.

On behalf
of my generation, which did not experience war but knows how much it owes to
their courage and their sacrifice; on behalf of our children, who must never
forget; to all the veterans who are here today and, notably the seven I had the
honor to decorate yesterday evening, one of whom, Senator Inouye, belongs to
your Congress, I want to express the deep, sincere gratitude of the French
people.

I want to tell you that whenever an American soldier falls
somewhere in the world, I think of what the American army did for France. I
think of them and I am sad, as one is sad to lose a member of one's family.

Ladies and gentlemen, the men and women of my generation remember the
Marshall Plan that allowed their fathers to rebuild a devastated Europe. They
remember the Cold War, during which America again stood as the bulwark of the
Free World against the threat of new tyranny.

I remember the Berlin
crisis and Kennedy who unhesitatingly risked engaging the United States in the
most destructive of wars so that Europe could preserve the freedom for which the
American people had already sacrificed so much. No one has the right to forget.
Forgetting, for a person of my generation, would be tantamount to self-denial.

But my generation did not love America only because she had defended
freedom. We also loved her because for us, she embodied what was most audacious
about the human adventure; for us, she embodied the spirit of conquest. We loved
America because for us, America was a new frontier that was continuously pushed
back — a constantly renewed challenge to the inventiveness of the human spirit.

My generation shared all the American dreams. Our imaginations were
fueled by the winning of the West and Hollywood. By Elvis Presley, Duke
Ellington, Hemingway. By John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Monroe, Rita
Hayworth. And by Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, fulfilling mankind's oldest
dream.

What was so extraordinary for us was that through her literature,
her cinema and her music, America always seemed to emerge from adversity even
greater and stronger; that instead of causing America to doubt herself, such
ordeals only strengthened her belief in her values.

What makes America
strong is the strength of this ideal that is shared by all Americans and by all
those who love her because they love freedom.

America's strength is not
only a material strength, it is first and foremost a spiritual and moral
strength. No one expressed this better than a black pastor who asked just one
thing of America: that she be true to the ideal in whose name he — the grandson
of a slave — felt so deeply American. His name was Martin Luther King. He made
America a universal role model.

The world still remembers his words —
words of love, dignity and justice. America heard those words and America
changed. And the men and women who had doubted America because they no longer
recognized her began loving her again.

Fundamentally, what are those who
love America asking of her, if not to remain forever true to her founding
values?

Ladies and gentlemen, today as in the past, as we stand at the
beginning of the 21st century, it is together that we must fight to defend and
promote the values and ideals of freedom and democracy that men such as
Washington and Lafayette invented together.

Together we must fight
against terrorism. On September 11, 2001, all of France — petrified with horror
— rallied to the side of the American people. The front-page headline of one of
our major dailies read: "We are all American." And on that day, when you were
mourning for so many dead, never had America appeared to us as so great, so
dignified, so strong.

The terrorists had thought they would weaken you.
They made you greater. The entire world felt admiration for the courage of the
American people. And from day one, France decided to participate shoulder to
shoulder with you in the war in Afghanistan. Let me tell you solemnly today:
France will remain engaged in Afghanistan as long as it takes, because what's at
stake in that country is the future of our values and that of the Atlantic
Alliance.

For me, failure is not an option. Terrorism will not win
because democracies are not weak, because we are not afraid of this barbarism.
America can count on France.

Together we must fight against
proliferation. Success in Libya and progress under way in North Korea shows that
nuclear proliferation is not inevitable. Let me say it here before all of you:
The prospect of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons is unacceptable. The Iranian
people are a great people. (Iran) deserves better than the increased sanctions
and growing isolation to which its leaders condemn it. Iran must be convinced to
choose cooperation, dialogue and openness. No one must doubt our determination.

Together we must help the people of the Middle East find the path of
peace and security. To the Israeli and Palestinian leaders I say this: Don't
hesitate! Risk peace! And do it now!
The status quo hides even greater
dangers: that of delivering Palestinian society as a whole to the extremists
that contest Israel's existence; that of playing into the hands of radical
regimes that are exploiting the deadlock in the conflict to destabilize the
region; that of fueling the propaganda of terrorists who want to set Islam
against the West. France wants security for Israel and a state for the
Palestinians.

Together we must help the Lebanese people affirm their
independence, their sovereignty, their freedom, their democracy. What Lebanon
needs today is a broad-based president elected according to the established
schedule and in strict respect of the Constitution. France stands engaged
alongside all the Lebanese. It will not accept attempts to subjugate the
Lebanese people.

Ladies and gentlemen, America feels it has the vocation
to inspire the world. Because she is the most powerful country in the world.
Because, for more than two centuries, she has striven to uphold the ideals of
democracy and freedom. But this stated responsibility comes with duties, the
first of which is setting an example.

Those who love this nation which,
more than any other, has demonstrated the virtues of free enterprise expect
America to be the first to denounce the abuses and excesses of a financial
capitalism that sets too great a store on speculation. They expect her to commit
fully to the establishment of the necessary rules and safeguards. The America I
love is the one that encourages entrepreneurs, not speculators.

Those
who admire the nation that has built the world's greatest economy and has never
ceased trying to persuade the world of the advantages of free trade expect her
to be the first to promote fair exchange rates. The yuan is already everyone's
problem. The dollar cannot remain solely the problem of others. If we're not
careful, monetary disarray could morph into economic war. We would all be its
victims.

Those who love the country of wide-open spaces, national parks
and nature reserves expect America to stand alongside Europe in leading the
fight against global warming that threatens the destruction of our planet. I
know that each day, in their cities and states, the American people are more
aware of the stakes and determined to act. This essential fight for the future
of humanity must be all of America's fight.

Those who have not forgotten
that it was the United States that, at the end of the Second World War, raised
hopes for a new world order are asking America to take the lead in the necessary
reforms of the U.N., the IMF, the World Bank and the G8. Our globalized world
must be organized for the 21st century, not for the last century. The emerging
countries we need for global equilibrium must be given their rightful place.

Ladies and gentlemen, Allow me to express one last conviction: Trust
Europe.
In this unstable, dangerous world, the United States of America
needs a strong, determined Europe. With the simplified treaty I proposed to our
partners, the European Union is about to emerge from 10 years of discussions on
its institutions and 10 years of paralysis. Soon it will have a stable president
and a more powerful High Representative for foreign and security policy, and it
must now reactivate the construction of its military capacities.

The
ambition I am proposing to our partners is based on a simple observation: There
are more crises than there are capacities to face them. NATO cannot be
everywhere. The EU must be able to act, as it did in the Balkans and in the
Congo, and as it will tomorrow on the border of Sudan and Chad. For that the
Europeans must step up their efforts.

My approach is purely pragmatic.
Having learned from history, I want the Europeans, in the years to come, to have
the means to shoulder a growing share of their defense. Who could blame the
United States for ensuring its own security? No one. Who could blame me for
wanting Europe to ensure more of its own security? No one. All of our allies,
beginning with the United States, with whom we most often share the same
interests and the same adversaries, have a strategic interest in a Europe that
can assert itself as a strong, credible security partner.

At the same
time, I want to affirm my attachment to NATO. I say it here before this
Congress: The more successful we are in the establishment of a European Defense,
the more France will be resolved to resume its full role in NATO.

I
would like France, a founding member of our alliance and already one of its
largest contributors, to assume its full role in the effort to renew NATO's
instruments and means of action and, in this context, to allow its relations
with the Alliance to evolve.
This is no time for theological quarrels but
for pragmatic responses to make our security tools more effective and
operational in the face of crises. The EU and NATO must march hand in hand.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to be your friend, your ally and your
partner. But a friend who stands on his own two feet. An independent ally. A
free partner.
France must be stronger. I am determined to carry through with
the reforms that my country has put off for all too long. I will not turn back,
because France has turned back for all too long. My country has enormous assets.
While respecting its unique identity, I want to put it into a position to win
all the battles of globalization. I passionately love France. I am lucid about
the work that remains to be accomplished.

It is this ambitious France
that I have come to present to you today. A France that comes out to meet
America to renew the pact of friendship and the alliance that Washington and
Lafayette sealed in Yorktown.

Together let us be worthy of their
example, let us be equal to their ambition, let us be true to their memories!

Long live the United States of America!

Vive la France!

Long live French-American friendship!

Haiku - Writers Guild Strike

Proud Union Printers

in true Solidarity

give them blank posters.

To The Point News - A QUARTET OF MESSAGES

It's time to stand for victory,

Inspite of President Bush's stirring words nearly 6 years ago, we have tired, we have faltered- not on the battlefield, but on the home front.

" We will not fail. " Who could have forseen the will to give up the battle among the Democrats?

The price of success is high, the cost of failure, inestimable.

Are you ready to surrender those in the last photo to Al-quaida thugs?

Say no to surrender.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To The Point News

A QUARTET OF MESSAGES

Written by To The Point, Inc.

Friday, 10 August 2007

A quartet of informative and inspirational messages for Moslem terrorists and their friends in Congress:

© 2007 To The Point News

Powered By Access Paid - Content Disclaimer

Link to To The Point News - A QUARTET OF MESSAGES

-Why don't you go "Broadcast Yourself".

I'm working on questions to submit to the GOP YouTube debate.

 Any ideas?

The questions posted so far are mostly by dope smoking ,smug, pony tailed , twittering , useful idiots of the radical left; and hopeless, helpless, government dependants who would cry for help from Washington D.C. if they were stuck on a broken escalator.

I don't have much of a chance in getting a question through-

                              unless I can find a snowman suit...  

 

Link to The Lazy Half S Ranch World Broadcast Headquarters.

Sendin' out an F.O.F.

Live earth II 8/8/08

Glenn Beck's Picture of the Day

World's Easiest Quiz

An oldie, but a goodie...

World's Easiest Quiz

You require only 4 correct answers to achieve a passing grade.

It is that easy!!!

1. How long did the 100 year war last?

2. Which country makes Panama hats?

3. From which animal do we get catgut?

4. In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

5. What is a camel's hair brush made of?

6. The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?

7. What was King George VI's first name?

8. What color is a purple finch?

9. Where are Chinese gooseberries from?

10. What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?

All done? Remember, you need 4 correct answers to pass.

Post your answers in the comments.

Correct answers next week.

Steadfast

If you look at a copy of the parchment Declaration of Independence,
The men who mutually pledged their Lives, Fortunes and sacred Honor
for the support of this Declaration,
with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence ,
signed the parchment with flourish.
Notable is the bold signature of John Hancock,
who signed it in large script -so the story is told-
King George III would be able to read it ,even with his weak eyes.

With strongly inked strokes signed Lewis Morris, Roger Sherman, and Robert Treat Paine.

Benjamin Franklin finished his signature with a flowery scribble, as , to a lesser extent did Abraham Clark and William Ellery. Looks like the finest calligraphy.

In the middle of the left column of signatures
is a quavering abbreviated signature:
Step.Hopkins
It's wrinkled, crooked appearance is the dandelion on the lawn
of the beautiful, stately signatures and perfectly penned Declaration.
However, it has always drawn my eyes to the bottom left corner
of that treasured document for another reason,
Stephen Hopkins, is my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather.

"In 1764 Stephen Hopkins penned

The Rights of Colonies Examined
published first in the Providence Gazette,

and which in 1765 by the order of the
General Assembly was reprinted as a pamplet,

and reissued in London in 1766 as
The Grievances of the American Colonies

Candidly Examined. This famous work

criticized parliamentary taxation

(the Stamp Act) and recommended colonial
home rule, and established Hopkins as one

of the earliest of the patriot leaders.

In 1765 he was elected chairman of the

committee appointed by a town
meeting in Providence to draft instructions

to the General Assembly on The Stamp Act.

The resolutions that were adopted were

nearly identical to those Patrick Henry

introduced into the House of Burgesses of
Virginia." http://www.gaspee.org/StephenHopkins.htm

As Rhode Island's Chief Justice, he
contributed to America's 'First Blow for Freedom'® ,the sinking of the HMS Gaspee in 1772.
An abolitionist who freed his own slaves in 1773, he sponsored the bill that banned importation of slaves into Rhode Island the next year. Member of the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776 , he was a proud signer of the Declaration. He had cerebral palsy, which left his right hand weak, he signed with his left hand helping guide his right, saying,

"My hand trembles, my heart is steadfast."

So many steadfast hearts were in Philadelphia that Summer.
May we Americans, in our course of human events,
be as strong as they in the support of liberty,
even if our hands tremble on occasion.
God Bless America.

Happy Independence Day
From Terry_Jim and the
Lazy Half S Ranch

From Quahog.org:

Stephen Hopkins' gravestone inscriptions

at the Old North Burial Ground, Providence, RI:

West side
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
THE ILLUSTRIOUS

STEPHEN HOPKINS,

OF REVOLUTIONARY FAME,

ATTESTED BY HIS SIGNATURE

TO THE DECLARATION

OF OUR NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.

GREAT IN COUNCIL,

FROM SAGACITY OF MIND;

MAGNANIMOUS IN SENTIMENT,

FIRM IN PURPOSE,

AND GOOD, AS GREAT,

FROM BENEVOLENCE OF HEART;

HE STOOD IN THE FRONT RANK OF

STATESMEN AND PATRIOTS.

SELF-EDUCATED,YET

AMONG THE MOST LEARNED OF MEN;

HIS VAST TREASURY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE,

HIS GREAT RETENTIVE

AND REFLECTIVE POWERS,

COMBINED WITH HIS SOCIAL NATURE,

MADE HIM THE MOST INTERESTING

OF COMPANIONS IN PRIVATE LIFE.
South side
HIS NAME IS ENGRAVED

ON THE IMMORTAL RECORDS

OF THE REVOLUTION,

AND CAN NEVER DIE:

HIS TITLES TO THAT DISTINCTION

ARE ENGRAVED ON THIS MONUMENT,

REARED BY

THE GRATEFUL ADMIRATION

OF HIS NATIVE STATE,

IN HONOR OF HER FAVORITE SON.
East side
HOPKINS

BORN MARCH 7, 1707

DIED JULY 13, 1785
North side
HERE lies the man in fateful hour,

Who boldly stemm'd tyrannic pow'r.

And held his hand in that decree,

Which bade America BE FREE!

—Arnold's poems

Historical oddity:
Stephen Hopkins greatly contributed to the destruction by others of the burning of the hated British revenue schooner, HMS Gaspee, by advising Deputy Governor Darius Sessions in March of 1772 that the actions of the commander of the vessel were probably illegal.
the burning of the Gaspee is celebrated annually in Pawtuxet ,RI .
http://www.gaspee.com/ http://gaspee.com/BurningMediaFactsSheet.doc

HMS Gaspee was the first ship sunk by the American colonists in the Revolutionary War.
Stephen Hopkins is credited by historians (or considered an un - indicted co-conspirator, if you look at it from the other side of the Atlantic) in the burning of the Gaspee.
Here's the oddity:
The first US ship to sink a German ship in WW II?
The US Merchant Marine Ship SS Stephen Hopkins !!

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hopkins_(politician)
http://famousamericans.net/StephenHopkins.com/
http://www.gaspee.org/StephenHopkins.htm
http://www.gaspee.com/

If my nose was runnin' money

Ah, they don't write songs like this very often...
Have a great weekend.




A tip of the hat to Dragon Lady's Den

The Latest Poll on Illegal Immigration

The latest telephone poll taken by the California Governor's
office asked whether people who live in California
think illegal immigration is a serious problem.

29% of respondents answered:
"Yes, it is a serious problem."
71% of respondents answered:
"No es una problema seriosa."


-from Rick

Foggy Night at Rosenblatt.

I recall going to a ballgame in Omaha at Rosenblatt Stadium
- where the College World Series begins tomorrow-
with my Dad and his Dad. Must have been in about 1967,
we were about 6, 26 and 76 years old,
sitting in the red seats in the upper section on the 3rd base side.

Grandpa said, "Boy , it sure is foggy tonight."
Dad said,"Yeah, it sure is foggy, Daddy."
(He always said "Daddy", instead of "Dad".
I did ,too, until a neighbor kid mocked me
about it. Said it sounded 'babyish.' ).

It was a warm, hazy summer night, and the nighthawks and barn swallows were swooping around, picking off moths in the translucent shafts of light that surrounded the field.

Hmmm, Grandpa said it was foggy,
Dad said it was foggy, they must know ...

I let my imagination run a bit, and saw the fog roll in from the nearby Missouri River. The Summer haze seemed to my little eyes a roiling, thickening mist as the shafts of light started to solidify. Excitement started to build as questions filled my head. Would it get too thick to play baseball ? How will the fielders be able to catch pop-ups traveling through the mist?
What weather wisdom Grandpa had!

That's how I remember it.

About 10 years ago Dad and I were there at a ball game with my son, sitting above the 3rd base line in similar Summer weather as that time with Grandpa, and I reminded Dad about that, about Grandpa and the foggy night we had at Rosenblatt.

Dad said, "Yeah, he really had a problem with those cataracts!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dad didn't tease Grandpa back then,
didn't correct his error of perception,
his faltering eyesight, the ravages of time.

He just said, "Yeah, Daddy, it sure is," with love and respect.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.


Follow this
Link to Father's Day trackback at Angel's Blog
for some great quotes and thoughts on Father's day.

SIXTEEN WAYS TO BE A GOOD LIBERAL

E Mailed from my brother, Rick...
SIXTEEN WAYS TO BE A GOOD LIBERAL

• 1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.
• 2. You have to believe that business's create oppression and governments create prosperity.
• 3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are more of a threat than nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Iran , China and North Korea .
• 4. You have to believe that there was no art before federal funding.
• 5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's.
• 6. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.
• 7. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.
• 8. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but PETA activists do.
• 9. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.
• 10. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.
• 11. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.
• 12. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, or Abraham Lincoln.
• 13. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.
• 14. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.
• 15. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag queens and transvestites should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
• 16. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right-wing conspiracy.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

• oops, can't do that either!

__________________________________________________-

How about these??

17. Clamor against conservatives for stifling democracy , then

a: worship at the feet of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, and

b: allow an unelected, unaccountable oligarchy of judges to block a vote of the people in Massachusetts on the sanctity of marriage.

18. Proclaim ,as the United States Senate Majority Leader, that the President of the United States is a 'loser', that the war is lost, and the men leading the fight are " incompetent"; while the only thing close to military experience your Viet-Nam-draft-eligible-student-deferred ass has was in a "political plum " Capitol Hill Police job guarding parking lots.

.... I was just going to blog about the Rodney Atkins concert, Navy Seal parachute drop, and fireworks at the College World Series opening ceremony tonight. Thanks a lot, Rick!