Dystopia not Utopia

I watched a new NZ TV One series called "This is not my life" last night. It was pretty good. The NZ Herald review called the fictional "Waimoana" neighborhood "dystopia not utopia" and I agree. The 2 hour preview did a great job poking at what a green utopian type of life might be in a near NZ future. It was frightening = a good thriller.

The main character wakes up in a "perfect" world with complete amnesia. His home, family, neighborhood, job and local 24 store are all a "perfect" green dreamland... which he is prevented from leaving. Resistance is futile.

Even near the end, when a boy he has tried to help mysteriously vanishes but is quickly replaced with another boy, ala Stepford, he acknowledges it, yet meagerly wonders why he has accepted it?

Mind control,literally, through some type of computer chip (?) "they" have implanted in his brain... We'll have to keep watching to find out who "they" are...

They did use a cool cell phone gadget called a "PeC" (personal entertainment and communications) device... Its so good "authorities have made it the only mobile communications device available..."

More CONTROL...

That is what the "green" movement is all about: CONTROL.

The book "Green Hell" looks interesting.

From one reader's review "...Many greens applaud these "de-developments" but it is worth noting that in planning their "managed communities" (like "Waimoana"...!) where people live above their work site, rarely travel and never truly experience a wilderness... Instead, they are transporting us to a brave new world where freedom is a thing of the past, and the recreational, indeed spiritual, values of the wilderness are no longer available to any but the privileged wealthy green elites. What Milloy has documented then is not just the "green agenda." He has documented a fundamental change in the American left. It is a change from concern, however misguided, about average people, to an open defense of the wealthy elites, and an economy that is designed to perpetuate this stratification in a way capitalism never could. It is a horrific vision and one which, unfortunately is now guiding American domestic policy. "

About the book: Big Brother Has Turned Green

The environmental movement has cultivated a warm and fuzzy public image, but behind the smiley-face rhetoric of "sustainability" and "conservation" lies a dark agenda. The Greens aim to regulate your behavior, downsize your lifestyle, and invade the most intimate aspects of your personal life.

"...their plans are much more ambitious than you think, says Milloy. What the Greens really seek, with increasing success, is to dictate the very parameters of your daily life--where you can live, what transportation you can use, what you can eat, and even how many children you can have.

Citing the tactics and goals of Green groups as explained by their own activists and leaders, Green Hell demonstrates:
* How Green pressure campaigns threaten the safety of your home and your car, and public health overall

* Why the election of President Obama portends a giant leap forward for coercive Green policies

* Why Greens obstruct the use of all forms of energy--even the renewable sources they tout to the public

* How wealthy Green elites stand to profit fabulously from the restrictions and regulations they seek to impose on the rest of us

* How Green pressure campaigns are hamstringing the military and endangering our national security

* Why big business is not only knuckling under to the Greens, but is aggressively promoting the green agenda to the detriment of its own stockholders

* What you can do to help stop the great Green machine

A one-of-a-kind, comprehensive takedown of the entire environmental movement, Green Hell will open your eyes to a looming threat to our economy, our civil liberties, and the entire American way of life.

No wonder "This is not my life" is so scary: it is a view of what type of future the left envisions... a nightmare we must all FIGHT.

12 million reasons for NO amnesty in USA for illegal aliens

ImmigrationCounters.com has a live count of stats EG how many illegal aliens are in the USA? When I checked today: their figure was 22,917,304. WOW!

Another interesting fact is how many JOBS illegal aliens are taking from LEGAL USA citizens: 11,718,916 when I looked. (see below).

HEY UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS: approximately 12 MILLION jobs COULD BE YOURS if these illegals are sent home. SAY NO TO AMNESTY... and 12 million Americans could get employed again.

grrrr... these stats are frightening and infuriating!

Check out 24ahead.com for concrete suggestions on How to stop amnesty and reduce illegal immigration including:

"Thousands of people have floated an endless series of plans that they think would end illegal immigration. The problem is that in the current environment those plans stand very little chance of being considered. Those in power will just continue doing what they've been doing. The methods below are designed to get us to the point where we can have a real dialogue about these issues, and at that point various policy proposals can be considered.

And, some people engage in difficult activities for little gain, for instance street protests. Those can have some sort of impact, but they can also be counter-productive.

1. The single most effective thing you can do is to publicly discredit a political leader over this issue on video, and then upload that to sites like Youtube where potentially millions of people can see it." More suggestions here.

Rush Limbaugh thinks the Judge has ripped the 'guts out of AZ law: its no longer illegal to be illegal' but states:

"All of you Democrats, all you liberals, you think you've won something here. This is just gonna add to your defeat, the size of your defeat come November. ... Its time to deport Washington." <- YESSSS! Great idea!

Part of Statement by Governor Jan Brewer on SB 1070 at AmericanPower as a response to BREAKING: Federal Judge to Block Parts of Arizona Immigration Law SB1070 as discussed at Gateway Pundit:

Gov Brewer states “I will battle all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, for the right to protect the citizens of Arizona. Meanwhile, I also know we still have work to do in confronting the fear-mongers, those dealing in hate and lies and economic boycotts that seek to do Arizona harm.

“We have already made some progress in waking up Washington. But the question still remains: will Washington do its job, and put an end to the daily operations of smugglers in our nation, or will the delays and sidesteps continue? I believe that the defenders of the rule of law will ultimately succeed with us in our demand for action.”

Jan Brewer's home page here. Keep up the fight governor, the majority of legal Americans are behind you 100%.

Mom Beats Chicago Machine‏: Crenshaw for IL Senate

Wow, this Republican lady has gumption! She was illegally kicked OFF the ballot, but FOUGHT and got BACK ON by judge's order. SWEET! IL needs her in the state senate!

From Publius Forum: Backed by a new organization called "For the good of Illinois" Cedra Crenshaw, quickly became the target of the Chicago Machine. Cedra’s opponent, Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi (IL-43rd), unleashed top election lawyer, Michael Kasper, to unjustly knock Cedra off the ballot on a 2-1 party line vote by the Will County Board of Elections.

"For the Good of Illinois and our members quickly took action…

•Protests were held outside Sen. Wilhelmi’s office.
•Gov. Quinn and Sen. Wilhelmi were confronted face-to-face.
•Supporters stood by Cedra during court appearances.
•Article after article appeared in the Tribune and local papers.
•Several blogs appeared on Red State and Big Government.
•During an appearance on Hannity, Andrew Breitbart discussed Cedra’s race.
•Cedra made several radio appearances including WLS and WIND.
•Cedra also appeared on WGN and Fox & Friends.

We are pleased to announce that your hard work paid off. On July 21, 2010, a Will County judge overturned the Will County Electoral Board - placing Cedra back on the ballot. You took on the Chicago Machine and won. "

That's the spirit, Illinois! Go Cedra!

Mid year budget? hey Feds: Just.Stop.Spending

poster from CafePress.com

Brenda Elliott at RBO asks "Who’s Going to Pay for the Government the Radical Left Dreams Of?"

Apparently on July 23, 2010 the White House Office of Management and Budget released the annual six-month budget review for Fiscal Year 2011.

From "A Mid-Year Update on the President’s Plan to Spend, and Then Tax, in Epic Proportions" at Economics21.org by James C. Capretta July 26, 2010:

"The numbers are eye-popping. The budget deficit in 2010 is expected to set a record at $1.471 trillion – or 10% of GDP. In 2011, the administration projects the deficit will again top $1.4 trillion. From 2010 to 2020, the Obama budget plan would run up a cumulative deficit of nearly $10 trillion, and the nation’s debt would reach $18.5 trillion in 2020, up from $5.8 trillion at the end of 2008.

Even more ominous for the (putative) president is the economic forecast. It shows unemployment remaining at over 8% through the 2012 presidential re-election campaign, despite the assumption that relatively normal economic growth would have been underway for more than two years by then.

The primary problem is quite plainly out of control federal spending."

Brenda at RBO suggests "Of course there is a simple answer. Stop spending"

That is WAY too simple, eh? Capretta says:
"If the federal government managed to return to the per-household spending level of the Reagan administration, the budget would be balanced by 2012 without any tax hikes. Too ambitious? Just returning to the per-household spending levels that existed before the current recession would balance the budget by 2019.

The out-of-control radicals in Congress are not going to do that. It’s not the plan. They’ve been waiting decades for this moment. They’re certainly not going to let the creation of a crisis slip through their collective fingers. Richard Cloward is smiling."

Also at Economics21.org, check out the "Promises vs Reality" of "Obamacare":

Promise #1: The new health law will not increase the federal budget deficit over the next twenty years, and will in fact cut the budget deficit over that time frame.

Reality: The claim of deficit reduction is based on accounting gimmicks, double-counting, budgetary sleight of hand, and implausible assumptions. CBO is required to estimate legislation as it is presented to it, smoke and mirrors and all. But a more careful examination of the legislation shows that it will greatly increase the budgetary exposure of the federal government, and thus almost certainly increase the budget deficit, not reduce it
===
Promise #2: The cost-curve will get bent downward, and families will save $2500 in annual premiums.

Reality: All evidence indicates that the new health law will increase overall health care costs, increase premiums, and increase tax burdens for the vast majority of Americans. In short, costs will go up collectively and for most households, not down.
===
Promise #3: The new health law lets people keep the coverage they have today if they like it.

Reality: The Reality: Millions of Americans will lose the coverage they have today involuntarily.
===
Promise #4: It's not a government takeover.

Reality: The new health law hands over to the federal government immense new powers, powers that will, over time, mean all important decisions about the organization and financing of American health care will need to meet the approval of federal agencies and bureaucrats
===
Promise #5: The new health law will improve, not hurt, the quality of American health care.

Reality: The new health law finances a massive health entitlement expansion with deeper price controls in federally-run insurance. The result will be a surge in demand coupled with much a more restricted number of willing suppliers of medical services.
===
Promise #6: The new health law will not raise taxes on the middle class.

Reality: The new health law includes at least a dozen new taxes that will directly or indirectly hit middle class families.

More details and proof, if you can stand the truth: here

Journolist, a visual

Journolist - explained by Hillbuzz.org:



Journolist and media bias discussed at Conservatives 4 Palin

.... and MORE on the growing list of names from iOwnTheWorld.com

Zo on Sherrod and more on Pigford

At Breitbart, Zo explains the racist Sherrod charade:



American Thinker has more on Pigford and USDA corruption:

"Shirley Sherrod's quick dismissal from the Obama administration may have had less to do with her comments on race before the NAACP than her long involvement in the aptly named Pigford case, a class action against the US government on behalf of black farmers alleging that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had discriminated against black farmers during the period from 1983 through 1997"

"a few bigger-picture questions:

•Did Shirley Sherrod resign so quickly because the circumstances of her hiring and the lawsuit settlement with her organization that preceded it might expose some unpleasant truths about her possible and possibly sanctioned conflicts of interest?
•Is USDA worried about the exposure of possible waste, fraud, and abuse in its handling of Pigford?
•Did USDA also dispatch Sherrod hastily because her continued presence, even for another day, might have gotten in the way of settling Pigford matters quickly?

I second his conclusion that the media and bloggers shouldn't be so quick to dismiss Shirley Sherrod. Let me start by adding another question to the list. In her position at not for profit, Rural Development Leadership Network, a network of activists and community builder, was Sherrod involved in any way in encouraging people to submit fraudulent claims under Pigford? Did she put black people who owned rural land in touch with lawyers who would file the paperwork claiming attempts to farm had been prevented by the non cooperation of the local USDA?"

hmmmmm

MonCrief Filing FEC Charges Against Obama Administration

Anita's new site: Emerging Corruption

She has posted the donor list... (may the lawsuits commence!)

Anita Moncrief is filing charges against BHO administration

hat tip Gateway Pundit

Anita is great - a brave truth warrior!

More on Anita's previous warnings from May 2010 and how ACORN is rebranding itself.

Follow the MONEY... and truth will be revealed...

Shocking Imagery Of Human Misery in Gaza

hat tip: iOwnTheWorld.com - check out the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza?

Ooops... those who buy into the anti-Israel Arab/Hamas propaganda, sorry, you have been conned.

The JournOlist as American Pravda

Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991.

In 1917:

"...Lenin prevailed at the April Party conference, at which point Pravda also condemned the Provisional Government as "counter-revolutionary". From then on, Pravda essentially followed Lenin's editorial stance. After the October Revolution of 1917 Pravda was selling nearly 100,000 copies daily."

In 1918:

The offices of the newspaper were transferred to Moscow (the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe.)

On March 3, 1918 when the Soviet capital was moved there. Pravda became an official publication, or "organ", of the Soviet Communist Party (the ruling and only legal political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world).

Pravda became the conduit for announcing official policy and policy changes and would remain so until 1991. Subscription to Pravda was mandatory for state run companies, the armed services and other organizations until 1989.

1917-1987: Say... what's wrong with communism again?

"...governments under the banner of Communism have caused the death of somewhere between 40 million to 260 million human lives. Dr. R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii, is the scholar who first coined the term democide (death by government). Dr. R. J. Rummel's mid estimate regarding the loss of life due to communism is that communism caused the death of approximately 110,286,000 people between 1917 and 1987."

Ok, so currently a "Pravda" reference means journalists who lie = push "propaganda" ...

Which brings us to 2008:

USA "JournOlist" members fully engaged as a leftist-ideology political journalist group. Examples surfacing about how they conspired to:

- killing the Reverend Wright stories so no negative light was cast towards their chosen candidate BHO.

- badmouth Hillary Clinton so BHO would win the nomination

- coordinate a full attack on Gov. Sarah Palin (from the Daily Caller) which started on the day she was announced as the vice presidentional candidate "As the morning wore on into the afternoon, some on Journolist came to believe the Palin pick had been shrewd. Palin was coming off as appealing and a maverick, they worried. “Okay, let’s get deadly serious, folks. Grating voice or not, ‘inexperienced’ or not, Sarah Palin’s just been introduced to the country as a brave, above-party, oil-company-bashing, pork-hating maverick ‘outsider’,” Kilgore said, “What we can do is to expose her ideology.”

More on the coordinate S.Palin attack at HillBuzz.org.

===
The JournOlist-ers must be EXPOSED and condemned. They conspired to lie to the American people to get their chosen candidate elected by ANY MEANS possible.

Citizens and alternative media is exposing them and investigating the $$. Who paid these people? (any Soros backed organizations?)

Here is a list of 65 names (so far) from American Thinker:

1. Ezra Klein 2. Dave Weigel 3. Matthew Yglesias 4. David Dayen 5. Spencer Ackerman 6. Jeffrey Toobin 7. Eric Alterman 8. Paul Krugman 9. John Judis 10. Eve Fairbanks 11. Mike Allen 12. Ben Smith 13. Lisa Lerer 14. Joe Klein 15. Brad DeLong 16. Chris Hayes 17. Matt Duss 18. Jonathan Chait 19. Jesse Singal 20. Michael Cohen 21. Isaac Chotiner 22. Katha Pollitt 23. Alyssa Rosenberg 24. Rick Perlstein 25. Alex Rossmiller 26. Ed Kilgore 27. Walter Shapiro 28. Noam Scheiber 29. Michael Tomasky 30. Rich Yesels 31. Tim Fernholz 32. Dana Goldstein 33. Jonathan Cohn 34. Scott Winship 35. David Roberts 36. Luke Mitchell 37. John Blevins 38. Moira Whelan 39. Henry Farrell 40. Josh Bearman 41. Alec McGillis 42. Greg Anrig 43. Adele Stan 44. Steven Teles 45. Harold Pollack 46. Adam Serwer 47. Ryan Donmoyer 48. Seth Michaels 49. Kate Steadman 50. Matt Duss 51. Laura Rozen 52. Jesse Taylor 53. Michael Hirsh54. Daniel Davies 55. Jonathan Zasloff 56. Richard Kim 57. Thomas Schaller 58. Jared Bernstein 59. Holly Yeager 60. Joe Conason 61. David Greenberg 62. Todd Gitlin 63. Mark Schmitt 64. Kevin Drum 65. Sarah Spitz
Sources:
(http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/25/the-death-of-journolist-does-privacy-end-at-the-edge-of-your-th/)(http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20086.html)(http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2010/06/after-journolist)(http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/17/politico-the-secret-liberal-journalist-cabal/)(http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/kausfiles/archive/2009/03/26/journolist-revealed-inside-the-liberal-media-email-cabal.aspx)(http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2009/03/who-doesnt-love-the-journolist.html)(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/jun/25/usa)(http://www.frumforum.com/the-inside-scoop-on-journolist)(http://twitter.com/TimFernholz)(http://twitter.com/DanaGoldstein)(http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/9/22/142845/064?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime+%28TalkLeft%3A+The+Politics+of+Crime%29)(http://www.fr/ umforum.com/responding-to-john-hawkins)(http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/21/obama-wins-and-journolisters-rejoice/)(http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/21/a-few-excerpts-from-journolist-journalists/)(http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/20/documents-show-media-plotting-to-kill-stories-about-rev-jeremiah-wright/)

Boehner suggests TEA partiers are tip of iceberg

Republican representatives John Boehner gets it. Hat tip Breitbart: "These folks are the tip of the iceberg," says Boehner. "They represent the same values, concerns, frustration, anger and fear that you see from tens of millions of other Americans who aren't on the streets yet." Indeed, sir... indeed

Payouts only for poor black farmers sound racist to you?

Over in discussion at Breitbart following up on Sherrod story, a commenter advised a group representing poor black farmers sued the federal government, the USDA, won and got a huge payout. Apparently these payouts continue - only for black farmers.

Why? What about poor farmers, perhaps in similar situations, of any OTHER color?!

Sound a bit "racist" to you? Checkout comments, questions from "Buddy":

"BuddyTWD 43p · 1 hour ago - Pigford case is very big deal-originally settled under Clinton in 1999-reopened in part due to shenanigans revolving around attorneys. Weird to see a settled case re-opened-kind of unprecedented even. Obama supported the Pigford payouts when he was senator-worked on behalf of it. Another group pushing Pigford case payouts is NOI first dibs on farm auction equipment: check it out- New rules to FSA-Must Sell repossessed farm real property and equipment to Pigford case farmers before auction opened to the public http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_Notice/flp_5....

By federal decree- MUST sell to Pigford farmers before auctions are opened to general public---redistribution of farm equipment?????

"7 CFR 767.151 and 5-FLP, paragraph 776 explain the general process for advertising and selling inventory property. All inventory property must be advertised for sale to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers before it is available to the general public according to FSA’s enabling statute (7 U.S.C. 1985 (c))."

repeat not beginning OR socially disadvantaged BUT "beginning AND socially disadvantaged". legaleese----- the words "OR" and "AND" make a BIG difference. AND meaning both

So I wonder if the bank is mandated to sell that John Deere for $100 offer-or if the offer is ridiculous is the foreclosed farmer/rancher still allowed to advertise it to the public?

A farmer that is having his farm foreclosed on/auctioned off and equipment auctioned off ought to be able to sell to the highest bidder? So the poor guy can pay off his debts-isn't that what an auction is about? But now it is federally mandated to advertise to the "beginning and socially disadvantaged " before the public auction can take place? definition of socially disadvantaged by the SBA http://www.ezcertify.com/certificationfacts/8afac....

"Socially disadvantaged individuals are those who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias within American society because of their identities as members of groups and without regard to their individual qualities. The social disadvantage must stem from circumstances beyond their control." DOT.gov definition http://www.dotcr.ost.dot.gov/documents/dbe/Append....

USDA grants $100,000-$300,000 for socially disadvantaged farmers http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/outreachassistances.... USDA loans for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers http://attra.ncat.org/guide/a_m/socially_disadvan.... Pigford I settlement dished out over $600 and half Million (as of 2003)--

Pigford II just had $1.25 Billion in BY2010 from Obama Budget and was approved by congress.

So Georgia Farm Bureau big wig admittedly sabotages the white farmer in Geogia and does not help the guy-even though it is her job to help black, brown, yellow purple , green and even white farmers-her job is to assist ALL farmers. ahem , what about race neutral ????

ALL the mom and pop farmers have it tough. So when put into this context- given the fact that it is federally mandated by the FSA that Pigford case farmers get first dibs on the auction farm equipment. So what is this-redistribution of farm assets????? "

Good questions Buddy

Sorry, you're not in the clique running the USA

Remember high school cliques?

Of course you do! Sporties/jocks, "cool kids", cheerleaders, brainiacs, nerds, rebels... (etc) ... All schools had/have their little groups of "popular" kids and many band together to form tight little cliques.

Others strive to join.. but never make it.

Cliques happen in adult groups. I've seen it happen in large office environments and guess what!

The current USA Federal government, both Democrats and Republicans, are the clique running America!

It's called the "political class" and you are not invited to join. Nope.

This political class has been in place for decades: last POTUS NOT in the club was Reagan.

Harry Truman wasn't in the clique either and remarked "I remember when I first came to Washington. For the first six months you wonder how the hell you ever got here. For the next six months you wonder how the hell the rest of them ever got here."

Rus Limbaugh discusses recent article at American Spectator called "America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution" and describes who is in the political class clique:

"... the ruling class is Democrats and liberals in Washington and everywhere -- New York, Washington. Washington is the power capital of the world and the financial capital of the world as well. The ruling class also does not work. The ruling class is involved in nonprofits. The ruling class seeks their wealth from government, and more and more and more people do. There's a story today in the stack. While the rest of the country in the Summer of Recovery is hurting, Washington is expanding. Washington's doing great. The people who live and work in the ruling class in Washington are prospering because government is prospering. Government is prospering because government is raiding the private sector. Government's raiding the country class (the rest of us), if you will. The way this (American Spectator) piece starts out: "As over-leveraged investment houses began to fail in September 2008, the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties, of major corporations, and opinion leaders stretching from the National Review magazine (and the Wall Street Journal) on the right to the Nation magazine on the left, agreed that spending some $700 billion to buy the investors' 'toxic assets' was the only alternative to the U.S. economy's 'systemic collapse.'"

They all agreed. You and I did not. You and I fought this bailout, remember? They told us, "We have 24 hours! If we don't do this, the country collapses, the economy collapses." It finally took two weeks of persuasion by the ruling class to convince enough people because the Republicans, conservatives in the country, were not buying into it. They didn't believe any of it. The majority of the American people did not want the bailout yet it happened anyway, and look what it got us."

Go read Rush.
Go read the American Spectator.

The clique must be dismantled.

Peaceful but prepared

A few good questions from the Conservative Sportsmen (approx 60,000,000) - yep 60 million law abiding, gun owning Americans:

Why is it acceptable for the government to take from a productive, hard-working American citizen and give to someone who will not work or may even be here illegally?

Why are illegal aliens granted more rights and privileges than American citizens?

Why do those in the U.S. military have to be drug-tested but not people who receive money from federal entitlement programs?

Why don't we come together as Americans, not hyphenated Americans, and address the problems facing our nation.

Why is the government in bed with the country's most powerful unions?

Why are we unwilling to profile potential terrorists?

Why are so many Americans afraid to hear the truth on most issues?

When is the American public going to say "Enough is enough"?

Grady Warren explains his group's position on getting radical muslims our of America (more from Grady telling like it is on illegal aliens and the BHO regime's failings at Radio Patriot):

Enough corruption smorgasbord & ready to upchuck

WOW... this lady gets it... she is a great patriot speaking at a Douglas County TEA party in Georgia.



hat tip: NiceDeb

Polarize This

From HillBuzz.org

From left leaning Gallup

"Betty's spaghetti" & memories of mom's childhood

My mom was one of 9 kids. They grew up on the northwest side of Chicago. My grandpa was a successful fruit & vegetable merchant from the early 1900s-10s into the 1940s-50s putting all his 9 kids through college.

After mom and her siblings moved out to start their own families, I remember visiting my mom's childhood home 1960s-70s as grandma & grandpa still lived there for a few years as they grew elderly.

Their Chicago home was a condo, by today's namesake, 2 levels and (I believe) 2 units joined together to accommodate 11 people. My grandfather had cleverly inserted a large circular hole into the ceiling/floor of the back room next to the kitchen - I think the laundry room on 1st floor and a study type room on 2nd.

Why a hole?

To install a full, working firepole of course.

So this was great fun: get the courage as a 7 year old to go down the firepole, run or walk quickly (..." no running in the house kids..." as we streamed on by) back to the front of the house, up the stairs, down to the back room and down the firepole - round and round, again and again.

I don't remember how many times I went down that pole, as a visiting grandchild in my grandparents Chicago home, but I do remember multiples.

I do remember grandma's huge kitchen as it was next to the firepole landing area. It was a big 1940s style room full of antiques, but the dining room table was a long, sturdy picnic table with 2 long, sturdy benches. There was huge lazy susan on the top which rotated with condiments. Very practical.

While I was still quite young (probably age 7-9-ish?), I could instantly tell by the firepole and the picnic table kitchen, my grandparents were cool, loving and humorous.

My mom has told me some great stories about her past and growing up in both Chicago and their family farms 2 hours north in Wisconsin. Since there were 9 kids, when old enough, several were tasked with making dinner for the whole family. My mom said she would always make spaghetti since it was easy, but tasty.

She called it "Betty's Spaghetti". Catchy, isn't it?

Now, whenever I make spaghetti, I am forever fondly cursed to always think of "Betty's Spaghetti".

I have no idea what ingredients she put in: the recipe doesn't matter.

What matters is I always just add a little dash of silent homage to my mother, her 6 brothers, 2 sisters, my grandma and grandpa.

I picture her in a busy, happy family life in their cozy, crazy-firepoled Chicago condo. I see my mom, a teenager, toiling away in the kitchen cooking up a large quantities of noodles & meat sauce. When finished, calling up for stragglers upstairs to hurry up down for dinner resulting in pounding feet on the ceiling as my uncles zip down to the firepole to join everyone in the kitchen.

I hear grandma's phrase "mabel no elbows on the table", loud laughter, jokes and clever sibling teasing about another batch of mom's regular fare as its devoured each week just the same... happy for their food, joy and love of family.

BS removal

Is "Cracker baby" racist? If not, why?

Graphic from Moonbattery

Is this mock ad "racist"?

Are only white people "racist"?

If Yes to either question: why? (keep it clean)

6 steps to restore America from Alinsky Defeater

From Alinsky Defeater:

1. Obey the Constitution.
2. Spend less than you take in.
3. Encourage and support a sensibly regulated and minimally taxed capitalist economy.
4. Read the Bills.
5. Enforce the law.
6. Opt out of the UN.

I just found above on this cool blog but the author's last post says they may not continue. I hope they do!

At the minimum, it is good to have information on DEFEATING the ALINSKY followers (like BHO and the current statist regime in Washington, "main" stream media and Hollyweird leftist types).

GO READ ABOUT IT HERE.

I can think of a few more steps:

7. Allow 1 vote and a revised, fraud free process by Americans (no illegals) to elect all local or federal officials

8. Term limits for all elected local or federal office holders and a restricted, set amount of $ and time to spend for all campaigns

Got any good ones you'd like to share? :)

Declaration Entertainment

Declaration Entertainment: help change the world ... by changing the contents of Hollywood movies... good idea!

hat tip: iOwnTheWorld

USA summer of non-recovery or 5-6 year recession?

Remember the "stimulus" was supposed to "help" the USA economy? Uh uh... Dark Angel has the stats on where some of the $ has gone:

•A boat cruise company in Chicago got almost $1 million to “combat terrorism”
•$500,000 went to Ariz. State Univ. to study ant genetics
•Another $450,000 went to Uinv. of Arizona to study ants
•Almost $400,000 went to Univ. of New York to pay students to drink beer and smoke marijuana for a study there

HUH? W.T.F.?! (see more of this painful list here)

Speechless... Do you mean the Democrats are LYING with they say the economy is "recovering"? ... Yes... hmm, I'm shocked... OH BUT wait... DON'T WORRY, the "Dodd-Frank" financial reform bill will SAVE the USA! RIGHT?

The Dodd-Frank financial reform monster bill just passed "by cloture" as discussed at Michelle Malkin. The Hindenblog muses the glass might be a bit more than 1/2 empty "Anyone who was hoping against hope that The Great Recession was over...your hope is effectively dead."

Why? What's in this bill? A brief overview for you from Heritage, sparky: "... this law is going to be continually rewritten by federal bureaucrats for years to come. And the continued uncertainty it will create is just the beginning of its faults..."

Oh, that doesn't sound right, what do they mean? For starters:

Permanent Bailout Authority
Trusting the Same Regulators that Failed Last Time
Brand New Innovation Killing Regulators
Micromanaging the Market
Fannie and Freddie Forever

I thought Fannie & Freddie caused the housing market bubble which led the financial crash in 2007-2008, didn't it? So the economy WON'T recover with these same bad rules in place? hmm...

"These two government-sponsored enterprises, now in federal receivership, helped fuel the housing bubble. When it popped, taxpayers found themselves on the hook for some $150 billion in bailout money. The failure to address their future is a serious error and shows just how hollow are claims that this agreement will prevent future crises."

Oh, I see... but I'm just a worried blogger with 20 years working in Chicago financial institutions, what does a "real" financial analyst think?

"Explaining that the Dodd-Frank bill would force banks to either take on more risk to recoup earnings diminished by reform or behave too conservatively in order to avoid losses, financial analyst Chris Mutascio summarized the ultimate effect of the legislation: “Pick your poison—neither tastes good to us and we believe neither is particularly good for the economy and job growth.”

What do the smarties at Forbes think? "Financial Reform, R.I.P." says "The Dodd-Frank bill does nothing to deal with Wall Street's central problem: systemic non-disclosure.

So long Glass-Steagall. Hello Dodd-Frank--the most comprehensive rewrite of financial rules since 1933. This 2,319-page colossus--10 times the length of Glass-Steagall--took 1.5 years to produce and will cost $30 billion and many more years to implement. Will all this time and treasure make Wall Street safe for Main Street?

No.

Dodd-Frank is a full-employment act for regulators that addresses everything but the root causes of the financial collapse."

But when WILL America recover then? Gateway Pundit advises not for another 5-6 years?! Damn it, sparky... what are people scared of? A long recession perhaps from Moonbattery.

When will the economy pick up again? HotAir advises there has been a big drop in manufacturing. From AP business writers:

"WASHINGTON – New evidence of a slowing economic rebound emerged Thursday in reports that manufacturing activity is slowing after helping drive the early stages of the recovery.

Factory output fell in June, according to a government report on industrial production. It was the sharpest monthly drop in a year. And two regional manufacturing indexes sank this month.

Production of automobiles, home-building materials and processed food all fell in June. The data sent stocks falling.

Federal Reserve officials took note of the weakening recovery when they met last month and lowered their forecast for economic growth, according to minutes released Wednesday."

"Economists viewed the reduction in factory output as further evidence that the economy is weakening as it enters the second half of this year.

"It is pretty clear that a slowdown is in process," said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist for IHS Global Insight. "The healing process from a severe recession is still under way, but given the kind of trauma the economy was subjected to, it isn't going to bounce back on a sustained basis right away."

Thoughts from a UK currency chief HSBC via the Telegraph:

"Usually the dollar serves as a safe haven whenever the world takes fright, and there was plenty of sobering news from China and other quarters on Thursday. Not this time. The US itself has become the problem.

"The worm is turning," said David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC. "We're in a world of rotating sovereign crises. The market seems to become obsessed with one idea at a time, then violently swings towards another. People thought the euro would break-up. Now we're moving into a new phase because we're hearing alarm bells of a US double dip."

Well from Rasmussen (and pretty consistently the last couple months now) about 70% of America think its HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION... (ya think?!)

Damn it sparky... bad dog

Non racist thoughts on a NZ Friday morning

If you want a good discussion about how the NAACP in America is a racist organization, sadly no longer helps black people but instead promotes victim-ology so is now basically irrelevant and how TEA parties are actually NOT racist (anyone can join and there are quite a few black TEA party activists) check out:

Breitbart's excellent articles over at BigGovernment.com site

or how the NAACP has gone rogue

or Frantz Kabreatu at the NAACPC is fighting the NAACP to end identity politics in America forever

or how one black conservative patriot and TEA party spokesperson rebukes the NAACP resolution against TEA parties

or how Mee-chelle-the-FLOTUS thinks fat black kids showcase America's racism (huh, wtf?...)

or how NAACP leftists really ought to clean up their own racist mess before they start pointing fingers...

ummm... be my guest...

... otherwise, here are a few non racist pictures from winter in Auckland ...

View from my NZ office
Lots of rainbows in Auckland winter

Yet more rainbows... we are never bored of rainbows down here

Angelic winter morning commute in Auckland

Sunrise over Rangitoto closeup bit fuzzy but I like the colors

Sky tower and downtown Auckland NZ

while USA heats up, we are cool & mellow down here in winter

Learn from history: FDR wrong. Dems wrong. Paul Ryan right.

Paul Ryan (R - Wisconsin) is correct in describing the current mess the always wrong Democrats have gotten America into... again:


Guess what: history shows FDR and "the new deal" was all wrong, too. And now the same damn mistakes from the 1930s are being repeated as Obamster-regime tries to push America towards the European socialist-marxist model. A good Feb 2009 post from Instapunk explains FDRs failures well - with YouTube clips even:

"It's simply false that FDR was universally admired and that there was never any doubt his policies had rescued the American economy from the Great Depression. The truth is, there's a growing school of revisionist thought which asserts that FDR almost single-handedly kept the United States in a depression that could have been cured with a lot less government interference, no matter how much he is idolized by people who swallowed the MSM idolatry of the time."

This week, the brilliant Rush Limbaugh warns Republicans the Democrats have probably figured out they will lose HUGE in November (if rampant voting fraud by Dems isn't successful): so Dems will try to blame Repubs for the Dem MESS they have created since 2007:

"The Republicans have been blocking and Democrats have been doing great things, but they're not getting any credit for it. No. The reason they're not getting any credit is because nobody likes anything that they're doing. So back to the scenario: All of the excrement hits the fan starting in January, coinciding with the Republicans taking control of the House, maybe even the Senate, and being sworn in, and Obama proposes all these fixes. The debt commission, by the way, can't do anything on its own. The debt commission can make recommendations, but then they have to be enacted into law via legislation or executive order or what have you. So let's say the Republicans say, "We're not gonna do all this. It's gonna destroy what's left the country." There's Obama saying, "See? See? I appointed this commission. I got people that really care about this! We gotta fix this country. I inherited a mess, and the same people from whom I inherited the mess are now in charge over in the House of Representatives."

And you can bet that the media chorus would just line up and follow the same thing. I mean, I think the Democrats, Obama, might actually hope the Democrats lose so big that they might as well go for broke and get everything they can during the lame duck session and then with the help of our one-party media, all the things rammed through in the lame duck Congress will be blamed on the Republicans -- and if not that, when things go to hell in a handbasket starting in 2011..."

Elected and current Republicans better talk up Paul Ryan's plans LOUDLY and often - Roadmap for America's future:

Darth Berwick? Courtesy of Momma Grizzly

Darth Berwick?

(OK, ummm, I know ... this was just an attempt at a Darth Vader + Dr. Donald Berwick merge... sue me)


Remember that ol' "death panel" remark by Sarah Palin last year (from a Facebook post no less) and all the leftist whup-dee-doo, waa waaa-ing hooooooopla about it?


Stuart Schwartz at American Thinker points out this Obamster appointed Dr. Berwick IS THE DARTH VADER of the death panel! Sarah Palin, momma grizzly, was correct all along.

"Darth Vader is out of the closet...and we have Sarah Palin to thank."

"The intrepid crusader from the north cut to the heart of Obamacare a year ago, slashing through the professor-speak and government gobbledygook with a searing summary on Facebook of its bottom line: "death panels."

With those words, the grounds for debate had shifted, the mainstream media ideological blackout was circumvented, and now, although it may have been Obama's new head of Medicare, Harvard's Dr. Donald Berwick, who stepped on the shuttle at Boston's Logan International Airport, it is Darth Vader who has exited at Reagan National.

Darth Vader -- really? The man responsible for the death of a gazillion inhabited worlds, through whom the evil Emperor Palpatine -- described as " a middle-aged politician ... who gains power through deception and treachery"...sound familiar? -- sought to enslave the universe in the fictional Star Wars saga?

Surely, an exaggeration!

Yes, and deliberately so, for Berwick starts off his gig as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid as an enthusiastic proponent of, as one British media commentator noted, a system that routinely denies "some poor suffering victim a remedy that is available in other countries."

At the same time, it views the elderly as simply less worthy of care, an expendable segment of the population for whom doctors and heart specialists provide less treatment past the official "cut-off" of 65 years, a British health research journal documented. "

"In the end, it is about power. Donald Berwick and Barack Obama, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine want to dictate the care you can and can't have. Berwick, for example, calls ultrasounds and cesarean sections a "form of assault and battery."

Under Obamacare, he (through his rationing bureaucracy), not you or your doctor, decides whether you have a procedure. This is nothing new -- the political systems and policy bureaucracies Berwick and Obama seek to emulate have been doing it with disastrous results for individuals for years (e.g., England, Cuba, the old Soviet Union, Hitler's Germany).

As one senior staff member at Berwick's base in the Harvard School of Public Health has put it so eloquently in his blogs and books, we will do away with a Constitution and government that are the "enemy of the working class."

Read the full article at American Thinker here.

More about this guy's ideas on health care RATIONING at Investor's Business Daily about "The president's one-man death panel".

"Health Care: The president recess-appoints a fan of rationing and Britain's National Health Service to direct one-third of American health care. Why does the administration want his views hidden from scrutiny?

'The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open." That's what Dr. Donald Berwick, President Obama's nominee to head the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, told a National Institutes of Health publication a year ago, when he was just president and CEO of the Institute for Health Care Improvement."

"Donald Berwick is a one-man death panel," said David O'Steen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee. "While Americans may not remember the agency he heads, he will quickly become known as Obama's rationing czar."

Berwick has opined: "We can make a sensible social decision and say, 'Well, at this point, to have access to a particular additional benefit (new drug or medical intervention) is so expensive that our taxpayers have better use for those funds."

Sounds like denial of care to us.

Berwick's medical views also fit in well with Obama's stated goal of transforming America through the redistribution of wealth."

Ms. Palin was correct - you betcha!

Tennessee citizens need to expose the corruption NOW

Interesting article about local and deep corruption going on in Monroe County Tennessee. Not much of a stretch to see this occurring elsewhere across the USA as well.

I remember reading about this last year wondering if anything would happen:

"On March 17, 2009, Walter Fitzpatrick III filed a criminal complaint against Barack Hussein Obama II with the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Tennessee charging him with Treason."

An interview at the Post and Email gives us a shocking update from Cdr. Fitzpatrick: corruption is RAMPANT in Tennessee. From "The Face of Treason":

"Fitzpatrick attempted on several occasions to bring his criminal complaint against Obama to the Monroe County, TN grand jury but was unsuccessful. Fitzpatrick reported that there had been a second criminal complaint from a Monroe County resident naming Obama as well. In an astounding and unexpected turn of events, Fitzpatrick discovered that Mr. Gary Pettway, the jury foreman, had served for 20 consecutive years at the judge’s behest, in violation of TCA 22-2-314.

Cdr. Fitzpatrick generously gave of his time to explain the events which led up to his discovery of the depth of corruption in his own community which stemmed from his attempt to file the criminal complaint of Treason against Obama."

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT, CITIZENS OF TENNESSEE?

"The story here is about a man being on a grand jury for 20 years in a row. The judge also said, during the course of the hearing on Monday, “Mr. Pettway has done a great job for us.” What did I just hear the judge say? The judge said that Mr. Pettway has been doing “a great job for us,” meaning THE GOVERNMENT. He’s been doing a great job for us and fostering racial harmony for 20 years. He’s been doing a great job. And, Mr. Fitzpatrick, we’ll keep him on…we’ll do this for 50 years if we want to.”

OK, what the judge just admitted to is that yes, they’re rigging the jury."

Does a judge rigging the jury BOTHER you, citizens of Tennessee?

"...the power of this country belongs to the people. In the Constitution, “we the people” is in the construction and assembly of the group known as the Grand Jury. That’s where you find it: in the Fifth Amendment. The Grand Jury was intended to be that group of people with more power than any other part of the government cited in the Constitution in Articles I, II and III to come in and make sure that the tyranny that was being visited upon the country by King George III would not be repeated. In other words, there was an oversight citizenry group that would come in and say, “Government, you’ve done something bad there.” So what did the government do? It took over the grand juries."

To Tennessee and all American citizens:

If you want to help correct the course America is on and fight the slide towards tyranny: get involved.

It is time to go beyond waving a flag at a TEA party.

It is time for action. Grand juries and LOTS more charges of treason? Yep

Read the full article here.

Grand Jury citizen involvement NEEDED
How to file treason charges for less than $20

Update on Obummer's health care: still BAD for America

From the Weekly Standard:

"On the 100 day anniversary that Obamacare became law, which was Wednesday, Senators Coburn and Barrasso passed around a memo reminding folks that the law isn't actually good for America:

· Fact: Sixteen million Americans are forced into Medicaid – a program that denies care, has higher rates of infant mortality, and yields poorer health outcomes for patients.

· Fact: Citizens will be forced to purchase costlier health insurance or pay a tax, but illegal immigrants will continue to get free care and those costs will be shifted onto citizens.

· Fact: The individual mandate will fail with the IRS as the health care enforcer, but uninsured Americans will be considered violators of the law even as costs increase further.

· Fact: Millions of Americans will lose their current health plan as employers either drop coverage or purchase more expensive, government-dictated health insurance.

· Fact: Patients with pre-existing conditions still face care restrictions, since the new federal risk pool is seriously underfunded and will offer coverage months after required by the new law.

· Fact: The new health law increases the cost of health care. "

About that Democrat controlled congress inheritance

graphic from Apathetic-USA

"Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress, and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democratic Party.

They controlled the budget process for FY 2008 and FY 2009, as well as FY 2010 and FY 2011. In that first year, they had to contend with George Bush, which caused them to compromise on spending, when Bush, somewhat belatedly, got tough on spending increases.

For FY 2009, though, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama could take office. At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the FY 2009 budgets.

And where was Barack Obama during this time? He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus bill as President to complete FY 2009.

If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the FY 2007 deficit, the last of the Republican budgets.

That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending.

After that, Democrats in Congress took control of spending, and that includes Barack Obama, who voted for the budgets. If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it from himself. "