No Nanny State - Molon Labe!

Very divisive issue, indeed

• Thank God she's passed. While I believe Michael was in the right on this issue, she should have been given a massive dose of morphine to end it all. The slow death was barbaric.


• I would ask those that believe she should have been allowed to live this question: Given that there are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS - as was Terri) do you really want all of those cases to go through the courts? Where do you draw the line between the State having authority over the final wishes of your loved ones?


• Where are the protesters, politicians and camera crews for the thousands of Americans that are allowed to "expire" every year? Why is Terri's life so much more deserving of your time?


• Get yourself an Advanced Health Care Directive so there is no question about your wishes. This one is for California, but I'm sure your state has something similar.


• A number of "pro-Terri" (for lack of a better term) folks have said that at a minimum, this will get politicians in gear to change some laws. What changes to existing law would you suggest? More power to the State?

Go in peace, young lady....

Before This Gets More Out Of Hand

I was reading Gut Rumbles and thought about a discussion my wife and I had had only hours earlier. It revolved around how our government is sucking the ass of illegal aliens and keeping Americans or legal aliens economically impoverished.

There has been a good deal of outrage over the recent comments our president made about a group of Americans that are volunteering to monitor our borders. This group from Arizona called the Minuteman Project, is planning on patrolling the Mexico/Arizona border during April to watch for illegals, and report them to the Border Patrol. No shooting. No detentions. No citizens arrests (though I think that would be a great idea). Simply report to the INS.

Bush calls them "vigilantes".

Asshole. I call them Patriots.

While I think this type of public support is laudable, I don't think it will work. Too much territory, too many illegals, too few INS agents. It's akin to stopping the flow of drugs into the country. You'll never stop the supply if there's a demand.

So let's attack the demand.

The biggest reason illegals come to the US is for employment. If there were no jobs, they wouldn't come - it would be a waste of time. Now, our illustrious leader, the Mexican president and the left-wing socialists (as well as my party of choice, the Libertarians) all say that the illegals or the participants in the Guest Worker program will only be taking jobs that American's won't take. I've blown that bullshit logic all to hell in this earlier post titled, "The Fallacy Of Bush's Immigration Proposal". His plan actually exacerbates the problem.

Back to the issue as hand: We have laws on the books that fine companies for hiring undocumented workers. They're a joke, because there aren't enough INS agents to enforce the laws. Also, most regular Americans don't see much harm with the illegals. They don't like it, but they don't have any personal incentive to help address the problem.

Here's how we fix (or at least address) this problem:

Redeploy the majority of our INS agents from hopelessly trying to stem the tide of illegals, to finding the businesses that hire them. If the business is unable to prove their employees are here legally, they are fined $10,000 for each and every undocumented worker. To incent regular Americans to participate in eradicating this problem, if you identify a business that is employing illegals, you receive half of the fine money as a "referral fee" or reward money. Americans formerly "luke warm" on this issue, will warm up quickly.

Some people have felt a bit uneasy about this part of the solution. Hell, I myself was a bit squeamish about it when I described it as a "bounty". But that makes no sense.

We regularly laud and financially reward "concerned citizens" that turn in law breakers. Every day, regular Americans are given FBI reward money, "criminal tip line" money for "information leading to the arrest and conviction of...", et cetera. Think "America's Most Wanted". Why should we feel any differently about illegal immigrants?

If you do a number of high-profile, big-fine actions, these businesses will see we're serious, and the jobs will dry up. Wages will have to be increased to get the positions filled. In the short term, some business may be shut down because they are unable to pay the fines. Tough shit. This is a "big picture" issue. In the long run, Americans and legal residents will be better off.

And that's the point, isn't it?

I am hopeful

I've ranted about the due process flaws of the USA PATRIOT Act for quite some time. It has a number of provisions which side-step many important American laws, such as judicial review of search warrants and notification that you are subject to a search.

I'm please to see that a group called "Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances" has come together to lobby for changes. What is unique to this group, is that is made up of conservatives and liberals. They both see the threat to America that is manifest in this Act.

Members of the coalition include the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform, the Citizens' Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, the Eagle Forum and the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons.

Leadership is from the right

The group, headed by former Republican Representative Bob Barr of Georgia, also urged President George W. Bush in a letter to reconsider his support for full renewal of the Patriot Act.

And from the left

``Given the number of folks in this room wearing elephant lapel pins, I don't think the administration can easily discount our message,'' Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's Washington office, said at a press conference today.

I hope the President listens to this bi-partisan group, but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed. Considering his selection for Attorney General, the President clearly leans towards the "authoritarian" segments of his party. Let's hope the group will also target members of both houses of Congress, and clearer heads will prevail.

Well, pretty close...

A newly released study on illegal immigration trends shows that the US has over 10 million illegals. This is not a good thing.

Passel estimated that about 7 million people are employed in the United States without legal authorization, roughly 5 percent of the workforce. The willingness of those workers to accept low pay is, by some estimates, driving down wages for legal workers. The fact that they are working illegally often means they lack protection from workplace exploitation.

Oh really? Where have I heard that before?

Why do you think there was no one willing to take the position? It's because it does not pay what American's feel the position is worth. Supply and demand. By allowing guest workers to take these low-qualification jobs for below-market wages, you are destroying the basic economic model by which our country has prospered for over 200 years.

So let me get this straight: Illegal immigrants are eating up 5% of our jobs (our unemployment rate was 5.4% in Feb 2005), their acceptance of below market rate jobs is driving down wages for Americans and legal immigrants, and the illegals are getting the shaft when they do work here.

Can I see a show of hands by those that still think illegal immigration is a good thing?

This is some scary shit, folks....

I'm confused. I thought it was the Republicans that want smaller government, and the Democrats that want the Nanny State. It now looks like it doesn't matter any more which side of the aisle you sit on.

Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va don't think any of us love our children. Nor do we have the mental capacity or moral backbone needed to raise them "right". At least in their eyes.

These two illustrious Senators have introduced the "Indecent and Gratuitous and Excessive Violence Broadcasting Control Act of 2005". That's quite a mouthful (uhm, can I still say that?).

Whenever the phrase, "to protect children" oozes out of the mouth of a politician, either grab your wallet, or start burning your Penthouse magazines, 'cause the shit is about to hit the fan.

"The overwhelming majority of Americans get their broadcast channels and others through cable and satellite," said Chris Paulitz, spokesman for Hutchinson. "If you are going to do something to protect children, you also have to do it on cable and satellite or you will only hit about 5 to 10 percent of country."

And as for the wide array of channels (many decidedly not family friendly) that cable and satellite subscribers willingly choose to purchase every month, Paulitz had an Orwellian answer: "Nobody considers them pay channels these days."

Oh really. As the article points out, I think that Comcast or The Dish Network would beg to differ. We get our 200+ channels each month, and it comes with a hefty bill. I get to choose what I want to see. Now, it seems, I will get to pay for what the government chooses for me to see.

What is most disconcerting about this is the censorship. We have a bunch of self-important government employees making decisions about what you can and cannot pay to see. You have got to know that the next target will be the Internet. It is the "wild west frontier" and is as bawdy as it gets. And kids have access to it. We need to protect them there, too.

Hell, I can get porn of any stripe, anti-American gibberish, and pro-Islamic Fundamentalist doctrine. I can also get pre-paid pieces by Armstrong Williams, propaganda "news" pieces by the Agriculture Department and pro-Christian Fundamentalist doctrine.

Which do you think will be "scrubbed" by government censors? Hey, it's all for our own good, right?

People react very strongly when I tell them that, because of shit like this, I may leave the US when I retire in 12 years. Mexico or Costa Rica. "How could you abandon your country?" is the usual refrain.

"This" isn't my country. My country values personal freedom and responsibility above all else. My country values the individual and his or her right to make decisions about themselves and their family. As long as my actions don't infringe on your right to happiness, stay out of my face.

I will work my hardest over the next 12 years to help right the ship, but I'm not optimistic. We have vast numbers of Americans that actually want this type of intrusion into our lives. Welfare junkies on the left. Censorship zealots on the right.

It's feeling kinda lonely here in the middle.

When will American's Wake Up To This?

When was Congress given the mandate to interfere directly into the daily lives of individual American's or business? My understanding of their roll in our form of government, is they are responsible for making the laws by which we are governed. Big Sky stuff. 30,000 foot level. The Broad Canvas view.

As Acidman laments, "What in the hell is the US Congress doing getting involved in this matter?" "This matter" being the pull/don't pull the plug on Terri Schiavo, the brain-dead woman in Florida.

Whether you agree with her husband or her parents, you must be concerned with how Congress is dealing with this issue. Just as I pointed out with regards to the steroids issue here earlier this month and here in December, Congress is overstepping it's boundaries and wrongly getting directly involved in the affairs of specific private businesses and individual lives.

We've become so used to Nanny taking care of everything in our lives, we now actually expect this type of government involvement. We no longer want to do for ourselves, we'll just let someone else take care of it for us. The backbone of American Individualism has been broken.

So sad, so sad.

Armstrong Williams... Paging Mr. Armstrong Williams...

Nanny not only looks for ways in which to run your life, such as forcing your kids to have mental health exams, they now want you to pay for the privilege (it's our tax money, after all) of hearing what a good job they're doing spending your money. Yeah, we're spending tax dollars to produce TV pieces that look like news items. These are then being run by local news stations without being identified as government-sponsored releases.

It seems that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) - the watch-dog arm of the US Congress - thinks this runs afoul of government propaganda laws.

The Government Accountability Office found this kind of phony news to be impermissible "covert propaganda." It warned the government last month that such prepackaged news stories must be accompanied by a "clear disclosure to the television viewing audience" of the government's involvement.

The administration disagrees with that assessment [gasp]. Their mouthpiece, White House press secretary Scott McClellan, tells us not to worry. The fake news pieces are, "an informational tool to provide factual information to the American people."

Right. Fair and Balanced.

Hey, no problem. They say they got a letter from the Justice Department stating this stealth propaganda was just fine. That would be the same Justice Department that gave a "thumbs up" to torture.

The question that remains unanswered is this: If these government produced pieces are on the up-and-up, why the secrecy? Why not have a disclosure at the start and finish of the piece saying, "I'm George Bush, and I approved of this message". OK, something that says it's from the Department of Agriculture, or the FAA or whatever.

It's because you would then view the piece with a wary eye. And Nanny wants no part of that.

prop-a-gan-da: The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.

How can the administration say, with a straight face, that this isn't propaganda? They are pissing away our tax dollars on commercials touting how good they're doing their job. Seriously, if the re-election committees were doing this, that would be OK, as it's their job to get the Republicans re-elected. Our tax dollars should not be used in this way unless they're going to allocate equal funding to the opposition.

I don't care which way your ballot gets punched, this should infuriate all Americans as an abuse of office.

No, there's no bias in our high schools....

My oldest son is a junior in high school. In his Spanish class, they had to watch a move called, El Norte.

I guess the film is in Spanish, so this was supposed to help the kids with their conversational language skills. At least that was the story they were given.

My son comes home and is telling me about the story. A brother and sister leave Guatemala and go north to the US (El Norte) to find work. The film covers their travels and travails as they work their way through Mexico to America.

Apparently, the sister dies somewhere during the movie. My son said something about her getting bitten by rats while trying to sneak into the US through a sewer pipe.

OK. Touching story.

My son then says the class was broken into groups. Each was given a "cause" for the death of the sister, and they then had to present their "point of view" to the class in Spanish. The nasty Border Patrol Agent. The Oppressive Guatemalan government. The greedy "coyote" who was trying to sneak her in.

My son was assigned to the Border Patrol agent group. He's telling me how they were kicking the ideas around, and I stopped him in his tracks.

"Those were the only options you were given?"

"Uh, yeah." He's giving me the eye, like, "Uh, oh, dad's about to blow."

So I ask, "There was never the option given that it was her own decision to illegally enter the US that resulted in her death?"

"Nope."

At what point in our history did we decide that simply because you're poor, or because you live in some shit-hole of a country, that you can do nothing wrong? Why are we so willing to overlook the blatant disregard for our laws simply because the law-breakers come from another country?

And when the hell did we decide to indoctrinate our youth with the principle that breaking our laws is OK?

The basis of our country is our laws. If you don't agree with them, vote in politicians that will get them changed. But until that happens, our schools MUST stress that our laws have to be followed.

What's ironic, is it's the schools that are saying that parents need to be more involved in teaching "values" to our children. They then turn around and regurgitate this leftist drivel that tells kids not to value our laws, and that the law enforcers are the bad guys.

Hey, teachers: The next time some kid mouths off, or takes a swing at you, you'll have no one but yourselves to blame. After all, they're just disregarding a law that they feel is oppressive.

Nanny is at it again

I was reading this short blurb over at Gut Rumbles, and it got my blood boiling over an issue that's in the news right now. Our illustrious congress has decided they need to fix the Steroid Scandal.

I get why they're doing it. I get why most Americans support them for doing it. And both parties are wrong.

Don't for one second think that congress is doing this for the "Good of America". They're doing it to get their mugs on TV and in print. They couldn't give a flying fuck about these over-paid primadonas. They want to preserve the illusion that they're actually doing something for us in DC. When they say they're doing it to protect our kids, I want to puke.

They have no right interfering with the operations of a private enterprise. That's what Professional Baseball is. It's not a government entity. It's not related to public safety (like the airlines). It's not involved with national security.

It's part of the fucking entertainment industry. And yeah, I know, congress doesn't need the right to do anything. They'll still do it, just the same, because we let them.

The only way the government should be involved with this is as a law enforcement issue. THAT should be a low priority, and would only include police and prosecutors, not lawmakers.

If steroids are such a menace to society, why didn't they go after "professional" wrestling? Because they'd be laughed off of the podium. If one of those guys DOESN'T use steroids, I'd be shocked.

What is more worrisome is the attitude of most Americans. Instead of talking to our kids about the evils of drugs, we want to lay the burden of raising our kids on Nanny. In that way, if something goes wrong, we can blame it on someone else. "TV fucked my kid up." Turn off the TV. "Society made my kid a crack-head." No. You probably didn't teach your kids about drugs, or know their friends, or get them involved in sports or other after-school activities. It's much easier when you can point the finger at someone else for your failures.

As Acidman said, be wary whenever the government does something, "for your own good". You'll generally need a tube of Astroglide while Nanny is "taking care" of the problem.

I feel for the dog....

It's been busy as hell at work, and I can't find any time to blog. Imaging the inconvenience!

My brother sent me this email and I laughed my ass off. I hope you will too. I've got the drafts for a couple of posts, that I'll be able to put up in a day or so. Until then, hope you enjoy this! It's not far from the truth....


THE PERFECT DAY-- FOR HER

8:15 - Wake up to hugs and kisses.
8:30 - Weigh in 2 pounds lighter than yesterday.
8:45 - Breakfast in bed: freshly squeezed orange juice and croissants. Open presents: expensive jewelry chosen by thoughtful partner.
9:15 - Soothing hot bath with Frangipani bath oil.
10:00 - Light work out at club with sexy, funny, personal trainer.
10:30 - Facial, manicure, shampoo, condition, blow dry.
12:00 - Lunch with best friend at fashionable outdoor cafe.
12:45 - Catch sight of partner's ex and notices she has gained 17 pounds.
1:00 - Shopping with friends, unlimited credit.
3:00 - Nap
4:00 - Three dozen roses delivered by florist. Card is from "Secret
Admirer".
4:15 - Light work out at club, followed by massage from strong but gentle hunk, who says he rarely gets to work on such a perfect body.
5:30 - Choose outfit from expensive designer wardrobe. Parade before full length mirror.
7:30 - Candle-lit dinner for two followed by dancing, with compliments received from other diners/dancers.
10:00 - Hot shower (alone).
10:50 - Carried to bed . . . (freshly ironed, crisp, new, white linen)
11:00 - Pillow talk, light touching and cuddling.
11:15 - Fall asleep in his big strong arms.

THE PERFECT DAY-- FOR HIM
6:00 - Alarm
6:15 - Blow job
6:30 - Massive satisfying shit while reading the Sports section.
7:00 - Breakfast: steak and eggs, coffee and toast, all cooked by naked,buxom wench who bends over a lot showing her growler.
7:30 - Limo arrives
7:45 - Several beers en-route to airport
9:15 - Flight in personal Lear Jet.
9:30 - Limo to Pebble Beach G. C. (blow job en-route).
9:45 - Play front nine - 2 under.
11:45 - Lunch: steak and lobster, 3 beers and a bottle of Dom Perignon
12:15 - Blow job.
12:30 - Play back nine - 4 under.
2:15 - Limo back to the airport (several bourbons).
2:30 - Fly to Bahamas.
3:30 - Late afternoon fishing excursion with all female crew, all nude who also bend over a lot displaying growlers.
4:30 - Land world record Marlin (1234 lbs.) - on light tackle.
5.00 - Fly home, massage and hand job by naked Elle McPherson (bending over, naturally).
6:45 - Shit, Shower and Shave.
7:00 - Watch news: Michael Jackson assassinated.
7:30 - Dinner: lobster appetizers, Dom Perignon (1953), big juicy filet steak followed by Ice-cream.
9:00 - Napoleon Brandy and Habanos cigar in front of wall-size TV as you watch football game.
9:30 - Sex with three women (all with lesbian tendencies...some bending over).
11:00 - Massage and Jacuzzi with tasty pizza snacks and a cleansing beer.
11:30 - A night cap blow job.
11:45 - In bed alone.
11:50 - A 22 second fart which changes note 4 times and forces the dog to leave the room.
11:51 - Laugh yourself to sleep.