Myron J. Poltroonian

"Demoralization, Destabilization, Insurgency, Normalization"

2010-10-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

"Those who do not know history, are doomed to repeat it.” If you have no time to read this, make it. If you have no interest in Soviet era intrigue, acquire it. This is too important to ignore. It explains the genesis of our (un)surprising, apparently sudden, headlong plunge into European style Socialism": This amazing interview was done back in 1985 with a former KGB agent who was trained in subversion techniques. He explains the 4 basic steps to socially engineering entire generations into thinking and behaving the way those in power want them to. It’s shocking because our nation has been transformed in the exact same way, and followed the exact same steps.

Interviewer, G. Edward Griffin: Our conversation is with Mr. Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov. Mr. Bezmenov was born in 1939 in a suburb of Moscow. He was the son of a high ranking Soviet Army officer. He was educated in the elite schools inside the Soviet Union and became an expert in Indian culture and Indian languages. He had an outstanding career with Novesti, which was the, and still is, I should say, the Press arm or the press agency of the Soviet Union. It turns out that this is a front for the KGB. He escaped to the West in 1970 after becoming totally disgusted with the Soviet System. And he did this at great risk to his life. He is certainly one of the world’s experts on the subject of Soviet propaganda and disinformation and active measures.
When the Soviets use the phrase ideological subversion, what do they mean by it?
Yuri Bezmenov: Ideological subversion is the process which is legitimate, overt and open. You can see it with your own eyes. All you have to do — all American mass media has to do — is to unplug their bananas from their ears, open up their eyes and they can see it. There is no mystery. There is nothing to do with espionage.
I know that espionage — intelligence gathering — looks more romantic. It sells more deodorants through their advertising, probably. That’s why your Hollywood producers are so crazy about James Bond type, in free words.
But in reality, the main emphasis of the KGB is not in the area of intelligence at all. According to my opinion and the opinion of many defectors of my caliber only about fifteen percent of time, money, and manpower is spent on espionage as such. The other eighty-five percent is a slow process which we call either ideological subversion, or active measures, (~Activitia perionachia, in the language of the KGB), or psychological warfare. What it basically means is to change the perception of reality of every American to such an extent that despite the abundance of information no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interests of defending themselves, their families, their community, and their country. It’s a great brainwashing process which goes very slow and is divided into four basic stages. The first one being demoralization.
It takes from fifteen to twenty years to demoralize a nation. Why that many years? Because this is the minimum number of years which requires to educate one generation of students in the country of your enemy exposed to the ideology of the enemy. In other words Marxist-Leninism ideology is being pumped into the soft heads of at least three generations of American students without being challenged or counter-balanced by the basic values of Americanism, American patriotism. …
Most of the activity of the Department was to compile huge amount, volume of information on individuals who were instrumental in creating public opinion, publishers, editors, journalists, actors, educationalists, professors of political science, members of Parliament, representatives of business circles. Most of these people were divided roughly in two groups, those that would toe the Soviet foreign policy. They would be promoted to the positions of power through media and public opinion manipulation. Those who refused the Soviet influence in their own country would be character assassinated or executed physically, counter-revolution.
Same way, as in the small town of Hue, in South Vietnam, several thousands of Vietnamese were executed in one night when city was captured by Vietcong for only two days. And American CIA could never figure out, how could possibly Communists know each individual, where he lives, where, where to get him and would be arrested in one night, basically, arrested four hours before dawn, put on a van, taken out of the city limits and shot? The answer is very simple. Long before Communists occupied city there was extensive network of informers, local Vietnamese citizens who knew absolutely everything about people who are instrumental in public opinion, including barbers and taxi drivers. Everyone who was sympathetic to United States was executed.
Same thing was done under the guidance of the Soviet Embassy in Hanoi. And same thing I was doing in New Delhi. To my horror, I discovered that in the files were people who were doomed to execution. There were names of pro-Soviet journalists with whom I was personally friendly.
G. Edward Griffin : Pro-Soviet?
Yuri Bezmenov: Yes. They were idealistically-minded Leftists who made several visits to USSR and yet the KGB decided that counter-revolution or drastic changes in political structure in India, they would have to go.
G. Edward Griffin : Why is that?
Yuri Bezmenov: Because they know too much. Simply because, you see, the useful idiots, the Leftists who are idealistically believing in the beauty of Soviet socialist or Communist or whatever system when they get disillusioned, they become the worst enemies. That’s why my KGB instructors specifically made a point, never bother with Leftists. Forget about these political prostitutes. Aim higher. This was my instruction. Try to get into wide circulation, established conservative media. Reach the filthy rich movie makers, intellectuals, so-called academic circles, cynical, ego-centric people who can look into your eyes with an angelic expression and tell you a lie. These are the most recruit-able people. People who lack moral principles who are either too greedy or to suffer from self-importance, they feel that they matter a lot. These are the people who KGB wanted very much to recruit.
Interviewer, G. Edward Griffin: To eliminate the others, to execute the others, don’t they serve some purpose? Wouldn’t they be the ones to rely on?
Yuri Bezmenov: They serve purpose only at the stage of destabilization of a nation. For example, your Leftists in the United States, all these professors and all these beautiful civil rights defender, they are instrumental in the process of subversion, only to destabilize the nation. When the job is completed, they are none, they are not needed any more. They know too much. Some of them, when they see the Marxist-Leninists come to power, obviously, they get offended. They think that they will come to power. That will never happen, of course. They will be lined up against the wall and shot. But, they may turn into the most bitter enemies of Marxist-Leninism when they come to power. And that’s what happened in Nicaragua.
You remember, most of the former Marxist-Leninist either were put to prison. And one of them split and now he’s working against the Sandinistas. It happened in Grenada, when Maurice Bishop, he was already a Marxist. He was executed by a new Marxist who was more Marxist than this Marxist. The same happened in Afghanistan. First there was Taraki. He was killed by Amin and Amin was killed by Brabak Karbakil with the help of the KGB. The same happened in Bangladesh when Mungi Burackman, the very pro-Soviet Leftist, was assassinated by his own Marxist-Leninist military comrades. It’s the same pattern everywhere. The moment they serve their purpose, all these useful idiots are used, either be executed entirely, or exiled or put in prison. Many former Marxists are in Cuba, are in prison.
So, basically, you in America are stuck with demoralization. And unless, even if you start right now, here this minute, educating a new generation of Americans, it will still take fifteen or twenty years to turn the tide of ideological perception of reality and normalcy and patriotism.
The result? The result you can see. Most of the people who graduated in the sixties, dropouts or half-baked intellectuals are now occupying the positions of power in the government, civil service, business, mass media, educational system. You are stuck with them. You cannot get rid of them. They are contaminated. They are programmed to think and react to certain stimuli in a certain pattern. You cannot change their mind even if you expose them to authentic information. Even if you prove that white is white and black is black. You cannot change the basic perception and illogical behavior. In other words, these people, the process of demoralization is complete and irreversible. To rid society of these people you need another twenty or fifteen years to educate a new generation of patriotically-minded and, and common sense people who would be acting in favor and in the interests of United States society.
Interviewer, G. Edward Griffin: And yet these people who have been programmed and as you say, in-placed ….
Yuri Bezmenov: Yes.
Interviewer, G. Edward Griffin: … who are favorable to an opening with the Soviet concept. These are the very people who would be marked for extermination?
Yuri Bezmenov: Most of them, yes. Simply because the psychological shock when they will see the future, what the beautiful society of equality and social justice means in practice. Obviously, they will revolt. They will be very unhappy, frustrated people. A Marxist-Leninist regime does not tolerate these people. They obviously will join the leagues of dissenters, dissidents. Unlike in present United States, there will be no place for dissent in future Marxist-Leninist America. Here you can, you can get popular, like Daniel Ellsberg, or filthy rich, like Jane Fonda, for being dissident, for criticizing your Pentagon. In future these people will simply be squashed like cockroaches. Nobody is going to pay them nothing for their beautiful, noble ideas of equality. This they don’t understand. And will be greatest shock for them, of course.
The demoralization process in the United States is basically completed already. For the last thirty-five years. Actually, it is over-fulfilled because demoralization reaches such areas where previously, not even Comrade Andropov [1911-1984] and all his experts would even dream of such a tremendous success. Most of it is done by Americans to Americans, thanks to lack of moral standards. As I mentioned before, exposure to true information does not matter any more. A person who is demoralized is unable to assess true information. The facts tell nothing to him. Even if I shower him with information, with authentic proof, with documents, with pictures. Even if I take him, by force, to the Soviet Union and show him concentration camp, he will refuse to believe it until he is going to receive a kick in his fat bottom. When the military boot crashes his, then he will understand. But not before that. That is the tragedy of this situation of demoralization.
The next stage is destabilization. This time, the subverter does not care about your ideas, the patterns of your consumption, whether you eat junk food and get fat and flabby. It doesn’t matter anymore. This time, and it only takes from two to five years to destabilize a nation, what matters is essentials, economy, foreign relations, defense systems. And you can see it quite clearly in sensitive areas as defense and economy. The Marxist-Leninist ideas in the United States is absolutely fantastic. I could never have believed in fourteen years ago [1971] when I landed in this part of the world that the process would go that fast.
The next stage is crisis. It may take only six weeks to bring a country to the verge of crisis. You see it in Central America now. And after crisis, with a violent change in power, structure, and economy, you have the period of so-called normalization will last indefinitely. Normalization is a cynical expression borrowed from Soviet propaganda. When the Soviet tanks moved into Czechoslovakia in ’68, Brezhnev said, ‘now brother Czechoslovakia is normalized.’ This is what will happen in the United States if you allow all these schmucks to promise all the goodies and paradise on earth to destabilize your economy, to eliminate the principle of free market competition, and to put a big brother government in Washington, D.C. with benevolent dictators like Walter Mondale who will promise lots of things, never mind if they are fulfilled or not. He will go to Moscow to kiss the bottoms of the new generation of Soviet assassins. Never mind. He will create false illusions that the situation is under control. Situation is not under control. Situation is disgustingly out of control.
Most politicians, media, and educational system frames another generation who think they are living at the peace time. False. The United States is in a state of war against the basic principles and the foundations of this system.
And the initiator of this war is not comrade Andropov of course. It’s the system. However ridiculous it may sound, the world Communist system, the world Communist conspiracy. Whether I scare some people or not, I don’t give a hoot. If you are not scared by now, nothing can scare you. But you don’t have to be paranoid about it. What actually happens now, that unlike myself you have literally several years to live on unless the United States wake up. The time bomb is ticking. Every second the disaster is coming closer and closer. Unlike myself, you will have nowhere to defect to, unless you want to live in Antarctica with penguins. This is the last country of freedom and possibility.
G. Edward Griffin: OK, what do we do? What is your recommendation to the American people?
Yuri Bezmenov: The immediate thing that comes to my mind, of course, there must be an immediate, very strong national effort to educate people in the spirit of real patriotism, number one. Number two, explain the real danger of socialist, Communist, whatever welfare state, big brother government. If people will fail to grasp the impending danger of their development, nothing ever can help United States. You might kiss goodbye to your freedoms, including freedoms to homosexuals, prison inmates, all this freedom will vanish, evaporate in five seconds, including your precious life.
The second thing, the moment at least part of the United States is convinced that the danger is real, they have to force the American government, and I’m not talking about sending letters, signing petitions and all these beautiful noble activity. I’m talking about forcing the United States government to stop aiding Communist government.

L says:
January 26, 2010 at 6:41 p.m.
I have personally witnessed the behavior and effects in persons that Mr. Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov has described as being proven. The current political and social structure is as he has warned. Only the faithful to the original intent of the American Constitution, thru the conservative party Republicans have a realistic hope of preventing the horrors which are looming before the face.

On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs by LTC (RET) Dave Grossman 03/02/2010

2010-03-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

I have many friends who may be offended that I would hold, let alone post and agree with these ideas. To them I say: Tolerance is something which is best practiced when challenged.

Gen. Dula's letter to the University of Washington Student Senate Leader, Jill Edwards.

Jill Edwards is one of the students at the University of Washington who
did not want to honor Medal of Honor winner USMC Colonel Greg Boyington because she does not think those who serve in the U.S. Armed services are good role models. I think that this response is an excellent and thought provoking response.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General Dula is a Retired Air Force Lt Gen (3 Star Gen).

Gen. Dula's letter to the University of Washington student senate leader.
To: Edwards, Jill (student, UW)

Subject: Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs

Miss Edwards, I read of your 'student activity' regarding the proposed memorial to Col Greg Boyington, USMC and a Medal of Honor winner. I suspect you will receive a bellyful of angry e-mails from conservative folks like me. You may be too young to appreciate fully the sacrifices of generations of servicemen and servicewomen on whose shoulders you and your fellow students stand. I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your naïveté. It may be that you are, simply, a sheep. There's no dishonor in being a sheep - - as long as you know and accept what you are.
Please take a couple of minutes to read the following. And be grateful for the thousands - - millions - - of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express even bad ideas.
Brett Dula
Sheepdog, retired
----------------------------------------------------------

ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS
By LTC(RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER,
Ph.D., author of "On Killing."

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains:
What is worth defending?
What is worth dying for?
What is worth living for?
- William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident."
This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation.

They are sheep. I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me, it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep.

There is no safety in denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf." If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports, in camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa." Until the wolf shows up.

Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them.

This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero? Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle.

The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed, right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into "warriorhood", you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference. There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: Slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself. Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. - Edmund Burke -- Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep.

Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice.

But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision. If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many police officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying a weapon. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them. Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up. Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear, helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.
Gavin de Becker puts it like this in "Fear Less", his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling." Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level. And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes. If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself..."Baa."

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from "sheephood" and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

"The winner of 'Ukraine’s Got Talent', Kseniya Simonova"

2010-02-20T01:00:00.000-08:00

This is about 8 minutes long, (if your computer is "upper to snuff" than mine) but it is well worth watching when you have the time. Worth watching! One of the best videos I seen to date: (If ever there was a work of art that captured the cultural angst of the effects of socialism on a conquered population, this gives silent voice to why, at every turn, we must resist, with all force necessary, any effort to subjugate responsibly expressed individual, cultural and national freedoms for the "good of the collective". If you'll notice, not only the audience's reaction, but also the reaction of the announcer as well to this most powerful piece of performance art go far beyond mere words. How can I say this more strongly? Imagine "The Diary of Ann Frank" times an entire nations cultural memory, yet reduced to its essence. She, through her art and this gift, are absolutely incredible. Something more powerful speaks through her, as it does through all true artists'. She creates, discards and recreates numerous images, each worthy of capturing and framing in its own right, at a pace that is phenomenal. Who am I to make such lofty observations? Just an old git-fiddle player that now drives big trucks and used to take pictures for a living in the service. Someone who has lived a full life in association with and blessed by some of the most talented, caring people on the planet. Hopefully, some of it rubbed off.)

. . .first, please, read this all the way through…

This video shows the winner of "Ukraine’s Got Talent," Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears, and she won the top prize of about £75,000.

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple, sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear, and the happy scene is obliterated.

It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives, and the woman smiles again. Once again, war returns, and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.

She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside, and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population’s being killed, with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

Kseniya Simonova says: "I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And, there’s surely no bigger compliment."

Please take time out to see this amazing piece of art ...

go to the link below - Please

< http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vOhf3OvRXKg >

"M. J."

"The Wages of Sin"

2010-02-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking man in a HoverRound who said his name was Lynn and asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner.

I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars and asked, 'If I give you this money, will you buy wine with it instead of dinner?'

'No, I had to stop drinking years ago', Lynn told me.

'Will you use it to go gambling instead of buying food?' I asked.

'No, I don't waste time gambling,' Lynn said. 'I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.'

'Will you spend this on a massage parlor instead of food?' I asked.

'Are you NUTS!' replied Lynn . I haven't had a massage 20 years!'

'Well, I said, 'I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my wife and me tonight.'

Lynn was shocked. 'Won't your wife be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.'

I said, 'That's okay. It's important for her to see what a man looks like after he has given up gambling, massages and wine.'

"A Cowboy Named Bud"

2010-01-30T09:53:00.000-08:00

A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote

mountainous pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new

BMW advanced toward him out of a cloud of dust.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes,

Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked

the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you

have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

Bud looks at the man then looks at his peacefully grazing

herd and says, "Sure, Why not?" The yuppie parks his car,

whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular

RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet,

where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his

location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans

the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop

and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany .

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that

the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses

an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet

with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his

hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer, turns to the cowboy

and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Bud.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks

on with amusement as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then Bud says to the young man,

"Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"

"You're a liberal democrat Congressman for the U.S. Government", says Bud.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here

even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer

I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of

dollars worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter

than me you are; and you don't know a thing about how working

people make a living - or about cows, for that matter.

This is a herd of sheep. ......

Now give me back my Dog.

"I Am An American"

2010-01-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

Words to live up to: "I am an American." A non-hyphenated product of legal immigrants who willingly uprooted from their homelands to start anew in a search of a better life for not just themselves, but, most especially, for their posterity. Did they decide to stay in or move to Europe? Hell no! They looked around and decided that America's promise of freedom to succeed or fail, based on your own efforts and abilities, offered a far greater opportunity for success for they and their families than the ingrained cast system of their homelands, wherein one is not supposed (nor, in many cases, allowed) to "Rise Above One's Station" ever encouraged or offered. We have, until recently resisted the "womb to the tomb" mentality that permeates so much of Europa over the last half century or so, let alone the rest of the world's numerous and various despotisms. They, our ancestors, also wished most fervently to escape the tyranny, soft or harsh, of their oppressive, anti-individualistic governments. If you're so inclined to remain where you are, supinely depending on manna from "Big Brother", that is your God given right. It is your right to choose giving up those unalienable rights He gave you. (It's called: "Free Will".) It is also your right to allow nameless, faceless others to choose for you what you may earn, where you may live, what products you may buy, how many and when and where you may do so. Where you may go to school, live and work. How and when you will get to and fro on your daily rounds, as well as; How much "Charity" you will fund with the sweat of your brow, and to whom it will be given in your government's name. I, however, am an American - and I choose otherwise.

"Eulogy to the Great Liberator"

2010-01-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

Margaret Thatcher's Eulogy to Ronald Reagan -- Eulogy to the Great Liberator, National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., June 11, 2004 -- "We have lost a great president, a great American, and a great man. And I have lost a dear friend. In his lifetime Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism . These were causes hard to accomplish and heavy with risk. Yet they were pursued with almost a lightness of spirit. For Ronald Reagan also embodied another great cause - what Arnold Bennett once called `the great cause of cheering us all up'. His politics had a freshness and optimism that won converts from every class and every nation - and ultimately from the very heart of the evil empire. Yet his humour often had a purpose beyond humour. In the terrible hours after the attempt on his life, his easy jokes gave reassurance to an anxious world. They were evidence that in the aftermath of terror and in the midst of hysteria, one great heart at least remained sane and jocular. They were truly grace under pressure. And perhaps they signified grace of a deeper kind. Ronnie himself certainly believed that he had been given back his life for a purpose. As he told a priest after his recovery `Whatever time I've got left now belongs to the Big Fella Upstairs'. And surely it is hard to deny that Ronald Reagan's life was providential, when we look at what he achieved in the eight years that followed. Others prophesied the decline of the West; he inspired America and its allies with renewed faith in their mission of freedom. Others saw only limits to growth; he transformed a stagnant economy into an engine of opportunity. Others hoped, at best, for an uneasy cohabitation with the Soviet Union; he won the Cold War - not only without firing a shot, but also by inviting enemies out of their fortress and turning them into friends. I cannot imagine how any diplomat, or any dramatist, could improve on his words to Mikhail Gorbachev at the Geneva summit: `Let me tell you why it is we distrust you.' Those words are candid and tough and they cannot have been easy to hear. But they are also a clear invitation to a new beginning and a new relationship that would be rooted in trust. We live today in the world that Ronald Reagan began to reshape with those words. It is a very different world with different challenges and new dangers. All in all, however, it is one of greater freedom and prosperity, one more hopeful than the world he inherited on becoming president. As Prime Minister, I worked closely with Ronald Reagan for eight of the most important years of all our lives. We talked regularly both before and after his presidency. And I have had time and cause to reflect on what made him a great president. Ronald Reagan knew his own mind. He had firm principles - and, I believe, right ones. He expounded them clearly, he acted upon them decisively. When the world threw problems at the White House, he was not baffled, or disorientated, or overwhelmed. He knew almost instinctively what to do. When his aides were preparing option papers for his decision, they were able to cut out entire rafts of proposals that they knew `the Old Man' would never wear. When his allies came under Soviet or domestic pressure, they could look confidently to Washington for firm leadership. And when his enemies tested American resolve, they soon discovered that his resolve was firm and unyielding. Yet his ideas, though clear, were never simplistic. He saw the many sides of truth. Yes, he warned that the Soviet Union had an insatiable drive for military power and territorial expansion; but he also sensed it was being eaten away by systemic failures impossible to reform. Yes, he did not shrink from denouncing Moscow's `evil empire'. But he realised that a man of goodwill might nonetheless emerge from within its dark corridors.

So the President resisted Soviet expansion and pressed down on Soviet weakness at every point until the day came when communism began to collapse beneath the combined weight of these pressures and its own failures. And when a man of goodwill did emerge from the ruins, President Reagan stepped forward to shake his hand and to offer sincere cooperation. Nothing was more typical of Ronald Reagan than that large-hearted magnanimity - and nothing was more American. Therein lies perhaps the final explanation of his achievements. Ronald Reagan carried the American people with him in his great endeavours because there was perfect sympathy between them. He and they loved America and what it stands for - freedom and opportunity for ordinary people. As an actor in Hollywood's golden age, he helped to make the American dream live for millions all over the globe. His own life was a fulfilment of that dream. He never succumbed to the embarrassment some people feel about an honest expression of love of country. He was able to say `God Bless America' with equal fervour in public and in private. And so he was able to call confidently upon his fellow-countrymen to make sacrifices for America - and to make sacrifices for those who looked to America for hope and rescue. With the lever of American patriotism, he lifted up the world. And so today the world - in Prague, in Budapest, in Warsaw, in Sofia, in Bucharest, in Kiev and in Moscow itself - the world mourns the passing of the Great Liberator and echoes his prayer "God Bless America". Ronald Reagan's life was rich not only in public achievement, but also in private happiness. Indeed, his public achievements were rooted in his private happiness. The great turning point of his life was his meeting and marriage with Nancy. On that we have the plain testimony of a loving and grateful husband: `Nancy came along and saved my soul'. We share her grief today. But we also share her pride - and the grief and pride of Ronnie's children. For the final years of his life, Ronnie's mind was clouded by illness. That cloud has now lifted. He is himself again - more himself than at any time on this earth. For we may be sure that the Big Fella Upstairs never forgets those who remember Him. And as the last journey of this faithful pilgrim took him beyond the sunset, and as heaven's morning broke, I like to think - in the words of Bunyan - that `all the trumpets sounded on the other side'. We here still move in twilight. But we have one beacon to guide us that Ronald Reagan never had. We have his example. Let us give thanks today for a life that achieved so much for all of God's children."

"Post and (my) Response"

2010-01-15T17:42:00.000-08:00

I am a fair skinned female person of German, French, Scotch, Irish and English ancestry. I was very disturbed this morning when I heard BHO saying we are "investing" in Haiti. With an investment you expect a return. There will be no return on this expenditure of borrowed money. Very shortly I expect to see droves of refugees that will be placed on Medicaid, Social Security and any other hand out available, all at the expense of the American taxpayer. As an "individual" I support donating to the Red Cross, Salvation Army and other other charitable missionary groups that will help the Haitian people, regardless of the color of their skin. If there was a natural disaster in Germany, France, Scotland, Ireland or England, I would expect to help in the same way. We can not "invest" in all the natural disasters, but we can send short term aid.

Signed:

Bonnie Parmenter

Madam. You realize, of course, that you've opened up yourself to (false) charges of "Racism" and "Bigotry", as you dared point out a politically incorrect truth. Of course all the hue and cry will be to both shut you up, and distract everyone from seeing the elephant in the room. To wit: The political advantage being taken of this crises "Never let a crises go to waste" - hmm. I totally agree with you regarding the benefits of private charity vs. government "largess". While either way, we, you and I get to pay, at least we still have the right to chose how and where our charitable dollars are spent. (And spent, I might add, much more wisely and frugally that the government's "Just throw money at it" approach.) I'm also pleased that you didn't identify yourself as, say, a "German-American", or whatever. Please let me relate a little story, with one minor quibble. Quibble first: " 'Scots' is what you are. 'Scotch' is what you drink", is what I was taught a very long time ago. Second: I was asked by a fellow (female) community action group member, "What" I was. When I responded "American", she went into apoplexy, admonishing me sternly that I couldn't make that claim, as that wasn't a "recognized" category or group. I responded that when I was stationed near Munich, West Germany, I was asked, in German, the same question. I then told her I responded thus: "Armenisher, Englander, Franklander, Hollander und Scotlander", to which my German questioner, bursting into a big smile said, "Ach! Amerikaner!".

"Fair and Balanced"

2010-01-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

A Harley biker is riding by the zoo in Washington, DC when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to eat her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.

The biker jumps off his Harley, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch.

Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly. A reporter has watched the whole event.

The reporter addressing the Harley rider says, 'Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I've seen a man do in my whole life.'

The Harley rider replies, 'Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger and acted as I felt right.'

The reporter says, 'Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist, you know, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page... So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?'

The biker replies, 'I'm a U.S. Marine and a Republican.' The journalist leaves.

The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page:

U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH

(Any Questions?)

French Pigs

2010-01-11T17:35:00.001-08:00

I think it's about time the French redeem their tarnished reputation. For centuries now, they have taught swine to search out Truffles, a delicacy which grows underground. Now, if they would only teach them to sniff out other things, such as various and diverse chemicals used in concocting the explosives used in blowing up aircraft, they could make a fortune renting them out to the TSA, for example. An added benefit, of course, would be the separation of the "Porcine Intolerant" from the non-Porcine Intolerant. That would make the intolerant automatically eligible for a mandatory full cavity search - or an escorted removal away from the airport - far, far away.

"Counting Seconds"

2009-12-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

On Armed Self Defense: "When seconds count, minutes don't matter".

"A Conservative with Libertine Leanings"

2009-12-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

My Dear “DaveH”, and the rest of the Libertarians out there: When are you folks going to wise up? Weren’t enough of you around to observe the “H” Effect? Yes, sir, ol’ H. Ross Perot certainly got “under the hood and fix(ed) it”, now didn’t he? Third party’s cause liberals to win. Pure and simple. There are signs that the conservative tide is rising once again in this country. When will Libertarians realize that by joining the Republican Party, to help it return to it’s conservative roots, it would be a giant step towards achieving a more laissez faire, “Don’t Tread On Me”, constitutionalist form of Federal governance? I’ve always been a “Conservative with Libertine Leanings”, as I put it, and I’m a’tryn’ t’do a’what ah’kin m’own self to make this happen. Where the Hell are you folks, except on the outside looking in and constantly, continually (and, apparently, contentedly) complaining. The time to “put up, or shut up” is at hand. As the old song asks: “Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on?”

"Freedom is not free"

2009-11-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

As a child, during WW II and just after, I traveled with my parents from New England to California and back again by train across this country twice. I vividly remember the railcars, Pullman or Sleeping, Day Coach or Dining, being full of servicemen on their way to, then from the war. I've often wondered how many of them came home safely. I'm not a veteran (by my definition) but I am an ex GI (06/'59-06/'62). Perhaps being from New England, coupled with my military experience, I'm a bit more outwardly thankful for the sacrifices made by our military "to protect us from all enemies, foreign and domestic", ever since the founding of this "Great Experiment"; "A republic, if [we] can keep it". It is ever thus that "Freedom is not free".

"Centrist" vs. "Moderate"

2009-11-25T08:48:00.000-08:00

They say: “Honesty is the best policy”, except, of course, when it comes to political promises. When you give the voters a choice between a “Centrist” from column A or a “Moderate” from column B, what you’re doing is giving them a choice between TweedleD("emo"crat) and TweedleDum(bo). ‘nough said?

"Waste not" found wanting?

2009-11-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life."

--Charles Darwin,

English naturalist

"A man who does not deign to pause for an hour to contemplate his navel does not understand the meaning of life."

--Myron J. Poltroonian

American observationist

Carly Vs. Chuck - RINO's Vs. Rhino's

2009-11-23T11:25:00.000-08:00

In a discussion in The Personal Liberty Digest over the qualifications of Carly Fiorina verses Chuck DeVore as a conservative candidate to replace (defeat) Barbara Boxer as a U.S. senator from California, there seems to be a pattern here. There are some, it seems, who are of the bent that "Only the 'Purest of the Pure' are qualified enough". Given that mind-set, I wonder if Ron Paul or even John Birch would be "Pure" enough for them. As to the "Throw [all] the bums out!" crowd, others, with cooler heads, have pointed out that there are some politicians (such as Tom McClintock, Peter Hoekstra and others) who've already proved their bona fides as to their conservative credentials and ask, why on Gods green earth would we want to "Throw out the baby with the bath water"? In all of this I sadly discern the hand of Public (Un)Education (in spelling and grammar), and a willingness to follow the media's headlong descent into abbreviated "New Speak", i.e.: Plural sentence structure in the singular and/or vise versa. All in the name of "Increased space for 'Content' " (i.e.: more room for advertising, actually). By the way, "RINO's" lack what I call the "H" factor, they have very thin skins, unlike Rhino's, who can take an extraordinary amount of punishment and still keep charging ahead.

"You'll get all the healthcare you need."

2009-11-20T15:46:00.000-08:00

Those were the words uttered by "NerObama" a few months ago in response to a question about "His" Healthcare Plan that I saw on a television (broadcast, not cable). That was enough for me. He was signaling that "His" government bureaucrats would be deciding how much care you "needed", not you and your physicians. I'm sick and tired of hearing "Your habits are costing me money", type of arguments vis a vis insurance rates. If you could shop for your insurance and chose a provider that does not cover smokers, non vegetarians, et cetera, then you could better control your costs. What the ["bleep"] is so hard to figure out about that? Nothing. Trust me, if I, an old former guitarist of 20 years (and now a trucker for 23) can, even the "Pinheads in the pinstripe suits" in DC can. They are just too addicted to the gravy train of campaign donations (and/or outright bribes) the current system provides for them. After all, their health benefits aren't affected, just their ability to get reelected and stay on the train. Hopefully, someday we, the people will be actually able to derail that gravy train. Until then, "Just Say No" to this blatant grab for the ultimate power over our lives - our very health and well-being.

Gangs, Guns and the Police

2009-11-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

An article, about DC police arresting an MS XII gang member for killing a nine year old, was published in the Washington Times today, prompted me to reply thusly: Now, I don't know if the apartment building in question is privately or publicly owned, nor should it make much difference, as I'm willing to bet that that there are quite a few tenants there (and in the neighborhood) who are on one form or another of subsidized rent. That, unfortunately leads to a attitude of disrespect and an outward lack of care as exemplified by the mere act of not closing the doors or gates where one lives, ("Hey! I didn't leave it open! So why should I be expected to close it?") et cetera. I've seen this attitude displayed over and over again. If the residents of DC were "allowed" by their "Electeds" (something unconstitutional for them to deny, by the way) to freely exercise their 2nd amendment rights, then the criminals wouldn't be nearly so freely plying their trade. All that said, gangs such MS XIII, are just one of the problems we're importing with our current lack of enforcement of our far too porous borders. One third of all federal prisoners are illegal aliens. Why? When will the will of the people be enforced - not the will of the politicians trolling for loyal voters, or campaign funds (or outright bribes) from the corporations who employ them? Don't blame "Heller", or "Easy Access to (evil implied) Guns", as those are just the excuses that politicians and bleeding hearts use to hid the truth. That being that, for one reason or the other, they want you totally dependent on them; and, if you won't submit willingly, they'll legislate you into submission. Then the criminals will enjoy an even greater "Free Fire Zone", since, as the police readily admitted, their efforts are reactive, not proactive. Who saves your life in the very first seconds of a violent assault? Not those you have to wait for to show up after you finally connect with 911.

"Bad Men Cannot Make Good Citizens"

2009-11-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles."

-Patrick Henry

"Freud Employed"

2009-10-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

I cannot help but notice that those who use the term 'Teabaggers" as a vulgar, derogatory reference to those who voluntarily attended "Tea Party" rallies; unwittingly expose what it is they use for dental floss. "If you lay down with ..., you'll get up with ... ."

"Oil Shale Reserves?"

2009-10-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

Most interesting….

Pass this along to you're Representatives and ask "Why?" I"ll bet that most of them will not know what you're talking about... Sinful!
About 6 months ago I was watching a news program on oil and one of the Forbes Bros. was the guest. This is out of context, but this is the actual question as asked. The host said to Forbes, "I am going to ask you a direct question and I would like a direct answer, how much oil does the U.S. have in the ground." Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, "more than all the Middle East put together." Please read below.
The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota ; western South Dakota ; and extreme eastern Montana .... check THIS out:
The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay , and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.
'When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea..' says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.
'This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years' reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada . For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago.. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!
That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 2041 years straight.
2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from TWO YEARS AGO!
U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World!
Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006

Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?
They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:
- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
- 22-times as much oil as Iran
- 500-times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States.
HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY?
James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.
Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to. Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?
Got your attention/ire up yet? Hope so! Now, while you're thinking about it .... and hopefully P.O'd, do this:
3. Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you want to complain about gas prices--- because by doing NOTHING, you've forfeited your right to complain.
--------
Now I just wonder what would happen in this country if every one of you sent this to every one in your address book.
By the way....this is all true. Check it out at the link below!!!
GOOGLE it or follow this link. It will blow your mind.
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

"History Unfolding"

2009-10-21T02:25:00.000-07:00

I was reading Chuck Norris' weekly column in Human Events <http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34042&page=8&viewID=1166499>, when I stumbled across this comment on page six of the readers comments:

Take the four minutes to read this.

Maybe he is wrong.

What if he is right?

David Kaiser is a respected historian whose published works have covered a broad range of topics, from European Warfare to American League Baseball. Born in 1947, the son of a diplomat, Kaiser spent his childhood in three capital cities: Washington D.C. , Albany , New York , and Dakar , Senegal .. He attended Harvard University , graduating there in 1969 with a B.A. in history. He then spent several years more at Harvard, gaining a PhD in history, which he obtained in 1976. He served in the Army Reserve from 1970 to 1976.

He is a professor in the Strategy and Policy Department of the United States Naval War College. He has previously taught at Carnegie Mellon, Williams College and Harvard University . Kaiser's latest book, The Road to Dallas, about the Kennedy assassination, was just published by Harvard University Press.

History Unfolding

I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life. I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus.

Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.

We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back? Why?

We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "we the people," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.

We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy.. Why?

We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?

We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it simply wants marriage to remain defined as between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?) We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose?

Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and I know precisely what I am talking about) - the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth.. It is potentially 1929 x ten...And we are at war with an enemy we cannot even name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who, in turn, cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.

And finally, we have elected a man that no one really knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla , Alaska .. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important.)

Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why?

I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.

This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.

And that is only the beginning..

As a serious student of history, I thought I would never come to experience what the ordinary, moral German must have felt in the mid-1930s In those times, the "savior" was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they should have known was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory. Conservative "losers" read it right now.

And there were the promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and frowned and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully and beat them into submission. Which they did - regularly. And then, he was duly elected to office, while a full-throttled economic crisis bloomed at hand - the Great Depression. Slowly, but surely he seized the controls of government power, person by person, department by department, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The children of German citizens were at first, encouraged to join a Youth Movement in his name where they were taught exactly what to think. Later, they were required to do so. No Jews of course,

How did he get people on his side? He did it by promising jobs to the jobless, money to the money-less, and rewards for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe , and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and .... . .. change. And the people surely got what they voted for.

If you think I am exaggerating, look it up. It's all there in the history books.

So read your history books. Many people of conscience objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and ridiculed. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. And the world came to regret that he was not listened to.

Do not forget that Germany was the most educated, the most cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And yet, in less than six years (a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency) it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors.. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them.

As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me..

I choose to believe the evidence. No doubt some people will scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. To some degree, perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe-and why I believe it.

I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am. Perhaps the only hope is our vote in the next elections.

David Kaiser

Jamestown , Rhode Island

United States

"The Price Of (Defending) Freedom"

2009-10-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Have any of you seen this? (Link to: youtube.com/watch?v=B8ltm3ZrRB8&feature=player_embedded ) The price of freedom is never free. And yet, we, America, keep paying it. It's evidently a thankless task, as it seems no one ever says "Thank You, America". Not, anyway, anyone in charge of the government whose people we rescue from whatever tyranny has befallen them. Whether in/or/external murderous oppression, we go in and try and set things right. Our reward is to be disrespected in the United Nations, voted down at every opportunity and held up for ever more financial gifts masquerading as "Aid", and, adding insult to injury, what ever goods we send are relabeled with UN labels so the people who receive our largess are not even aware of the origin of the meager remnants of the UN pilfered aid we send.

"ADVICE FROM AN OLD TENNESSEE MOUNTAIN MAN" by Jeff the Trucker

2009-10-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

ADVICE FROM AN OLD TENNESSEE MOUNTAIN MAN
Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered... not yelled.
Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel, or unkind word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
Don't judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back,
you'll enjoy it a second time.
Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop
diggin'.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a [w]hole lot easier than puttin' it
back in.
If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try
orderin' somebody else's dog around.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest up to God.
Live & Let Live.

"Good Enough for Caesar?"

2009-09-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

Has anyone else noted that politicians tend to insulate themselves from "their Constituency" between elections as much as possible? "Thank you for your e-mail. Due to the great volume 'We' receive ... . Please go to our website; send us a letter; call us at", et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Dammit! When politicians limit their lawmaking, and so forth, to just the handful of fools who elected them, then they can claim that they only have to listen to their electorate. As long as their foolishness lays claim to the lives of the rest of us, then by God, they'd better pay attention to the rest of us. My view of "Fair Taxation" is: "If 10% is good enough for God, it's good enough for Caesar".

"Politically, or Epidemiologically Correct?"

2009-09-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

Post to: My Dear "Healthy Man, here": Are you "Healthy" enough to remember the "Karpis Sarcoma" outbreak during the mid-eighties in San Francisco? I am. Diane Feinstein was the mayor at the time. And, to appease her voting block, she refused to close the "Gay" Bath Houses for an entire year, in order to not offend the majority of her party's "Politically Correct" cohorts. While it may have been a "Politically Correct" decision, from her party's political perspective, it was disastrously disingenuous from an epidemiological standpoint. (If you doubt me, ask your now deceased "friends" who did not survive the post-initial onslaught of this insidious disease.)

"It's Coming"

2009-09-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

I said it during the Clinton administration: "It's coming.". That was during the Janet Reno/Jamie Garelick "Actions" to "Save the Children" at Waco, Texas, (by killing them), and at Ruby Ridge, Colorado (by killing a mother with a babe in arms in order to capture someone who may (repeat, may) have violated the minimum rifle barrel length by 1/16th of an inch). To what "It" was I referring? The revolution by Americans to return our country back to it's constitutional [Cons(. )( .)utional - if the "Washington Times rude language monitor-savant" is still disallowing the proper spelling of English words, and their] roots. Now, much to my sad recognition, the "Bloodless Coup" has not yet been confronted by the "Non-Bloodless Counter Revolution". Am I happy over this apparent inevitability? Hell no! Am I resigned to it's inevitability? Sadly, reluctantly, disgustedly, I'm beginning to see no other way out of this decent into Fascism. Benito Mussolini would be proud of GE, PHILLIPS, GENERAL MOTORS, CHRYSLER, (or anything run and/or funded/controled by George Soros) et al, and their conjoining with big government to curtail competition from their competitors. God preserve us. He knows the current administration won't. I say that as a not overtly religious man. But I am "An American" who firmly believes in the founding principles of our country, first, last and always.

"What Would Jesus Do?" Ask His Father.

2009-09-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

I found the following question posted as a comment to an article in the Washington Times. I felt constrained to reply as follows: My Dear Roger47: "Would Jesus want everyone to get medical care, without regard for ability to pay? If so, He would support health care reform." True enough. His Father, however, saw fit to give His creations the free will to decide for themselves how much charity they wished to give to others and the ability to teach others how to take care of themselves. ("If you give a man a fish, etc ... ." Verses the "Water into wine ... ." scenario.) He also gave His creations the ability to choose how to use their abilities to either take care of themselves with pride, or to depend on the largess of their fellows with envy. He did not, however, give anyone the "Right" to demand (at the point of any weapon) a share of unearned largess produced by others.

"The Tree of Liberty"

2009-09-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

Quercus Liberatus thirsts. Feed her well.

"Words to live by. And, if necessary, to cause others to die for."

2009-09-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

"Quaker Voting Rights"

2009-08-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

How shall I put this? If, at any time, anyone, black, white, green (shirted), blue, yellow or brown, or any shade in between, ever tries to intimidate, delay, dissuade or otherwise harass or prevent me from voting, I'm afraid I'll have to remind them of the words of the irate Quaker: "Friend. I would not harm thee for the world. However, thou art standing where I am about to shoot.". They will not "Take my gun from my cold, dead fingers", rather, "Others will take my bullets from their (and/or your) cold, dead bodies.". Any questions? (Note for "Progressives" with "Aggressive Gun Control Disorder" - this means you and any turncoat "Americans" you send to do that which you have no B(eggs)s to do yourself.)

"English Only?" My Grandmothers Solution"

2009-07-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

My grandmother, on my father's side, emigrated to America with her husband, my grandfather, shortly after the turn of the last century, to escape the impending massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks. My grandfather died when my father was 11, and my grandmother went to work teaching immigrants citizenship classes for well over 50 years. She would speak the native tongue with her contemporaries, but, except for teaching them how to say: "Hello. How are you?" - and, "I'm fine, thank you." in her native tongue, never with her children. She instead taught her children, all of whom were born in America, "You live here. You learn, speak and think in the language of this country". They all did quite well for themselves, and their families, as a result.

"Mores the Pity"

2009-07-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

Regarding the continuing scandals over outrageous expenses charged to their expense accounts in Parliament by the MP's, as they're known: If only the current pack o' Brits had what we cheeky, upstart colonists had the temerity and foresight to enshrine in our "God given rights" proclaimed when we threw off the yoke of their oppressive government; the second amendment. Then, they could credibly offer to pay for the "Final Expenses" for those arrogant "Spawn of Unwedded Bliss" in Parliament who act so "Upper Crust", if you will and refuse to either change their ways or leave office. Alas, their government has no fear whatsoever of their "Wards" ability to forcefully, if need be, "Throw the Bums Out". "Mores the Pity". Indeed.

"Don't Worry, Bob's here!"

2009-07-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

"Don't Worry, Bob's here!" That was the punch line from a rather memorable commercial for a temp agency from a few years ago. I took that line, applied it to illegal immigration and came up with the following tongue in cheek essay: "Don't worry, B.O.B.'s here!" "B.O.B." stands for "Bag limit? Or Bounty?" It went on from there. Unfortunately, it's lost somewhere in the old, real old computer it was created on. You, however, I believe, get the idea. Of course, the "progressives" who read it were "outraged, simply outraged" by it. I saw this reaction as a good sign, since they usually are by the truth. I also was saddened by the realization that "A Modest Proposal", or something similar, could not be published in todays world of "Politically Correct, New Speak".

Catty "C's"

2009-07-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

The following was posted by me after reading an article written by a woman about Sara Palin's resignation in a positive, family manner. The comments posted, especially by women, were so vitriolic, I felt constrained to give a little "Backhanded" response, if, for no other reason, only to shock the vicious vixens' to rethink their responses to conservative women: I love the left's "Unkinder, Less gentler" demeanor ("de less dey have to offer, de meaner dey gets"). Catty c(vagina's)s attempts at keeping suppressed the message of any part of an American conservative culture's views, which, unlike their own, actually take pride in their down home, "plain speaking" (Harry S. Truman), if you will. What you blathering bimbette's do not understand is the fact that even this 68 year old Alpha Male who hunts, fishes and is a conservationist - not an environmentalist - and an America First, Last and Always voter, would trust someone who does not make a big deal out of who she is. You do. You make the big deal out of every last bit of she and her family's life. Then, if (trick word) you don't like what she stands for, she finds herself responding to innumerable false accusations made by all the jealous, frowzy frumps such as yourselves who can't stand anyone who doesn't fit their (allegedly) sophisticated (and, of course it's so superior) world view. Would conservatives want an Andy Jackson type for President again? Anyone? Hell yes!. (Now scurry, scurry. Off you go to Google, Lexus Nexus, Wikipedia or wherever one goes searching for any "dirt" on ol' Andy J. one can use to bolster one's specious argument's against Mrs. (not Ms., but Mrs.) Palin. Ta, ta! By the way, "Ladies" (or is it Laddies in drag?), never vote for anyone who uses "Trust", "Vote" and "Me" in the same sentence. Oh yes. Even I would've sat down and had a beer with the ol' "Elmer Gantry" of politics, Bill Clinton, but that doesn't mean I'd ever vote for him.

"On Gun Control"

2009-07-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

"An armed society, is a polite society."; Thus noted the late, great author, Robert Heinlein. He also, in one of his works noted, at the entrance to "the Woods", the following: "Warning" "The varmints in these parts are not tame." "visitors are advised to stay on the road, as their remains will not be forwarded to next of kin.". I have, on occasion, had to make the presence of a firearm known. I too, was not in violation of the second amendment of our constitution, just the laws of the state I was residing in that contravene the constitution. As a matter of fact, I had my right eye socket broken in March of '73 because there was no one willing to intervene and there was no firearm handy. The neurosurgeon who put me back together told me I was lucky to be alive and never let that happen again. I haven't. Several times in urban settings, only once or twice in the wilds of the back country.

I have gone hunting in the Trinity National Forest, for example, and encountered extra-urban agronomists, in their 20's to early 30's, just leaving their crops as the deer hunting season opened. In the tradition of any farmer describing an animal consuming or destroying their crops, "Varmints" is the very term they used to describe the deer I was about to hunt.

Fortunately, for them, my appearance was both disarming and not threatening. Older; Salt and Pepper hair and beard; 9 month old mixed-breed dog; '57 vintage Winchester model '97 30-30 WCF; Smith & Wesson N Frame .44 Spec. on my hip, all went towards convincing them I was not after their crop. What they didn't see, was my .44 Spec. calibre Charter Arms Bulldog secreted, yet handy, on my person. We chatted briefly, and went our separate ways, as I intended. If it had turned out otherwise, I knew I had a better chance than they thought, giving me the edge. I have, on occasion, had to use a firearm to defuse a potentially violent situation. Never have had to actually shoot anyone, as the sudden appearance of the gun was argument enough, and that's all I wanted in the first place.

"Enemy of the State?"

2009-07-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

When this speech becomes illegal, I'll become a criminal: "I may become an enemy of the state, but never of the people".

"How Time Fly's"

2009-06-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of my enlistment into the United States Army and my first day of three years of active duty. I must be having fun, as "It seems like only yesterday", indeed.

"Why I'll Never run for Political Office"

2009-06-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

I wear my wrinkles and warts proudly. "Less Pasty - More Tasty", that's my motto. LIfe. Live it; love it; never waste it.

Michael Golring redux

2009-06-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

Considering the Fourth Estate's response, I cannot resist: Obama. "Dark Lord of the Flies"?

"Can't we all just get along?" Redux

2009-06-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

"Can't we all just get along?" Oh, I forgot. Not as long as there's money to be made and power to be gained for the pretentious-petulant-pointy-heads (pretending intellectual perspicacity), who dominate the allegedly enlightened left we can't. (At least an ostrich has enough sense to stick it's (pointy) head in the sand, and not some other dark, smelly place.) How anyone with a modicum of common sense (If common sense were, there'd be more of it) could believe that either side is without sin (yes, you fool - even your vaunted democrat party big whigs) is maintaining a state of delusion. Self or otherwise. I recently was asked by a fellow (female) community action group member, "What" I was. When I responded "American", she went into apoplexy, admonishing me sternly that I couldn't make that claim, as that wasn't a "recognized" category or group. I responded that when I was stationed near Munich, West Germany, I was asked, in German, the same question. I then told her I responded thus: "Armenisher, Englander, Franklander, Hollander und Scotlander", to which my questioner, bursting into a big smile said, "Ach! Amerikaner!". I told her it was a lesson I've never forgotten. As long as we Balkanize, segregate, separate, categorize, fold, spindle and mutilate the American polity, we diminish this grand experiment. We must embrace our uniquely American commonality, especially those precepts as espoused in our Constitution and it's Preamble thereto that bind us together. We must disavow those who would divide to conquer, control and diminish us, both as a people and as a nation.

"If common sense were, there'd be more of it"

2009-06-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

I consider this to be good news for our local newspapers. I sent the following to the "Major Sacramento Fish-wrap": Why do you let the illiteratus infest your "comments" by the public? If I wished to be insulted, I'd go to their family reunion. It's bad enough that you go along with the new A.P. style book of bastardized English (that which eliminates proper usage, spelling and grammar) for corporate greed. (Yes, you and old "Mr. Gecko" have a lot in common.) But, you also do not warn new "Subscribers" that they have to pay to e-view this tripe, with no option to say "No", before going to the register page. It seems consistent with the bright ideas conjured up by your "Pinheads in the pinstripe suits" that Tom Sullivan refers to in other corporate media. With the "Greying of America" by Boomers, who are your loyal readers, you cut even further your content, lower your standards and raise your prices. Remarkable what the "Johnnie come-lately's" in their 30's can accomplish by intimidating their superiors in their 40's, who have to come up with something to impress their bosses in their 50's. "See Ya!"

"Shaggy Highways" Revisited

2009-06-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is my follow up to the previous "Shaggy Story" I posted: Three years ago, last May, I was going up the Bass Lake Grade (a 71/2%, sweeping S shaped incline between Sacramento and Placerville, Calif.) at 8:55 am. I was driving a set of double bottoms painted white, pulled by a bright yellow tractor. It was clear and calm. I had my 4-way hazard lights on as at about 79,680 lbs. I couldn't make more than 26 mph up that grade. I was in the far right lane of three, with plenty of visibility fore and aft, when this brand new full sized pick up truck ploughs into the left rear of my back trailer going an estimated 60 + mph. I felt the slight impact, looked back in my mirror, and saw him at a dead stop with the hood straight up in the #2 lane. I pulled off to the shoulder, and assisted several people who'd stopped to help. He had trouble breathing, but otherwise seemed in fair condition. Another trucker and I tried to put out the engine fire, but the P/U burned to the ground. Fortunately, he'd just dropped off his kids at school. The really good news was that he hit left of dead center where the tires are. If, as I pointed out to the the Highway Patrol officer, he'd centered me, the impact would've placed the stinger that protrudes from the rear of the back trailer about 24", into the cab of his truck and likely would've killed him outright. Yes, I've seen a lot of idiocy out there, most of it by 4-wheelers who are "in a hurry", blind to their surroundings. I could go on, but you get the idea. I also agree that there seem to be more and more truck drivers (not truckers) who don't take the same care as most of us "more mature" truckers do. Maybe it's because, here in California at least, one can get a commercial drivers license in any of 31 different languages. Get that foolishness off the books, and I'll guarantee you a better class of trucker on the road. (If you can't understand the hand written emergency warning sign, put up by someone in the driving rain, at night, I don't want you on "My Highway". Period!

"Not Even Wrong"

2009-06-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

The following is excerpted from the preface of "Not Even Wrong"; illustrated edition; published by Basic Books; written by Peter Woit, and suitably modified by me to reflect the controversy surrounding man made global warming and/or climate change theory and all the hype involved:

The physicist Wolfgang Pauli was known for his often less than polite criticism of the work of some of his colleagues. He would sometimes exclaim "wrong" (falsch) or "completely wrong" (ganz falsch) when he disagreed with someone. Near the end of his life when asked his opinion of an article by a young physicist, he sadly said "it is not even wrong" (Das ist nicht einmal falsch). The phrase "not even wrong" is a popular one among physicists, and carries two different connotations, both of which Pauli likely had in mind. A theory can be "not even wrong" because it is so incomplete and ill-defined that it can't be used to make firm predictions whose failure would show it to be wrong. This has been the situation of man made global warming/climate change theory from its beginnings to the present day.

This sort of "not even wrong" is not necessarily a bad thing. Most new theoretical ideas begin in this state, and it can take quite a bit of work before their implications are well enough understood for researchers to be able to tell whether the idea is right or wrong. But there is a second connotation of "not even wrong": something worse than a wrong idea, and in this form the phrase often gets used as a generic term of abuse. In the case of the man made global warming/climate change theory, the way some researchers are abandoning fundamental scientific principals rather that admit a theory is wrong is something of this kind: worse than being wrong is to refuse to admit it when one is wrong. Not one of the computer models being used to predict the future of earths climate changes has ever been able to predict the climate changes from the past to the present, even though they were fed every last bit of scientific fact as based on the hard evidence of what has actually happened to our climate to date. Algore intentionally uses the term "denier" to imply that anyone who dares to disagree with he and his colleagues in the political sphere, or his coconspirators in the United Nations, is akin to the anti holocaust ranting's of those who hate Jews. He also cleverly uses the term "outlier", which in the scientific community defines something in their findings that is at odds with the theory being tested, but is considered to be inconsequential to the final outcome. Why does the phrase "Final Solution" come to mind? Oh, yes. Maybe it's because in order "act before all the evidence is in, just in case it's correct" requires an ungodly blend of Fascistic Socialism to be imposed on everyone. Carbon Credits; Cap and Trade; Mercury filled light bulbs; Toilet Capacity; Bovine Flatulence (a fitting term for the methods the "bull in the china shop" green regulators in charge envision implementing), and there are so many more to mention it would take a compendium "the size of Baltimore" to index the injustices to be done in the name of "Saving the Planet", "Before it's too late!" (or we really know what we're doing). If you doubt me, study the evidence with an open mind, not one filled with the preconceived notion that the only "pure" scientists are the ones who do research on the governments dole. (Where do you think most university research grants come from? How about peer pressure coupled with the drying up of funds for unpopular research?) If you believe that we can learn from the past, remember the recanting of his heliocentric theory by Galileo

"Shaggy Highways"

2009-06-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

I found the following article in the Washington Times today, which said in part: America's highways are taking on a shaggier look for the peak travel season. Grasses, shrubs and wildflowers are exploding across median strips and road shoulders this summer as states cut back on mowing to save money.

Although there are some environmental benefits, the principal reason for the cuts are financial since states rely on fuel taxes to pay for highway maintenance, and fuel sales have been hurt by the recession and the shift toward thriftier vehicles.

"Anywhere there are safety issues - sight-distance issues, known animal crossings - we'll still mow those areas. But we're not going to do fenceline-to-fenceline mowing like we do today," said Jeffrey Caldwell, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, which just announced it would mow half as often to save $20 million. ... etc.

One of the reader responses just really set me off. Heres why - unedited: we should remember, that the interstate road syttem was put in place for National Defence. RR systems are more likely to be hampered by bombs. GOOD, we have never been invaded (by an Army, that is). Rural roadways are managed by town-ship moneys, That is who pays for and purchase snow plows...etc. ...Truckers claim a right to the highways because they pay the gasoline taxes! Lets get those BIG TRUCKS off our highways!

My response was as follows: I wonder how those "Green Weenies" get this inconsistent "good idea" around another of their idiot dictums, designed to limit 4-wheeling as much as possible. To wit: That being, in part, that one mustn't stray from the designated trails because (get this), the (Evil implied) 4-wheeler's exhaust system's heat will set off grass-brush-forest-you-name-it fires. (And no, I'm not for trashing the environment either. Fool!) So, if for some reason - say you blow a tire - you have to suddenly swerve off the pavement onto said brushy/grassy/shrubbyand/or tree-filled median or shoulder - you may just ignite your own funeral pyre. Great going, inviro-nuts!

As to the complaint about Evil Big Rigs: I agree. Get the Hell off my roadways! I paid for their construction. I pay for their maintenance. Many times over, in fact. In fact I do both of those things, as I'm a "Dirt Hauler". If you would like to make the same claims, just pay all the same taxes each and every big rig owner does. Until you do - shut the Hell up! Unless, of course you want to take your puny Prius down to your nearest freight dock at either you closest international airport or container ship facility. Oh, yes. Those containers are designed to be transported by? And, after you pay through the nose in fuel/time wasted and inconvienience, then you have a right to complain. "Bubba".

"War Path? I'll show you stinking war path!"

2009-06-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

I've found this nation practicing what I'm starting to call "Intolerant Inclusiveness" (commonly called "Diversity Speech Codes"). Quite plainly, I'm not a fan of "Hyphenated-Americans". However, I even occasionally refer to myself as "A member of the Providence Band of Fresno Indians". Why? Because I was born in Providence, RI., and, I'd never heard the term, uttered by some racist bigot, "Fresno Indian", until I was in basic training at 18 years of age. (Apparently, there's a large population of immigrants from Armenia living there in the Fresno area.) It's my sense of humor that sustains me, not my tender sensibilities about this, that or the other, real or imagined, slight. Example: I was always "The skinny kid with the big nose" when I was growing up. As I put it: "I prefer to remember myself as 'The slender youth with the proud proboscis' ". Danny Thomas(ian) used to have a joke that went: "All of you people with little noses. You go around panting all day long. Me? Once a day!" as he vigorously inhaled and pounded his chest smilingly. Hey. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff.

"What is God?"

2009-05-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

I will turn 68 this Sunday, May 24th. When I was 17, having been raised to understand that "You don't have to be in a building, to believe in God", I decided that "God is Energy, after all, It's everywhere". Now, some five decades later, scientists in the field of "Quantum Mechanics", with "String Theory", have postulated that there indeed may be vibrating "Strings" of energy everywhere. Not only in interstellar, but intergalactic space as well. The other half of my postulation rests on the question: "What is thought?". In it's purest form, it is merely an inexplicable bit of energy carried by external means. If that is also true, then that, I believe, coupled with string theory, is the mind of God. How presumptuous is mankind to believe he can truly understand the mind, let alone interpret the will of God. If I may quote Puck: "What fools these mortals be".

"Whose side are you on, boys?"

2009-05-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

Lets see if I follow this excess greenhouse gasses problem to it's logical conclusion: While "NerObama" fiddles, a' jawboning the Iranians, they're a' busily building nuclear weapons and testing delivery systems with a greater and longer range than necessary for their stated target for destruction, giving secondary presumed targets pause to reflect (and, hopefully, time to prepare). One would presume that the Iranians have every intention of following through with their oft stated desire to "Wipe the Zionist State off the map", or some such verbiage to that effect. One could also easily assume that the targeted country would use every means at it's disposal to prevent such an action against it. At some point, while NerObama and the UN are a' busily decrying the Iranians "success" in going nuclear, the Israelis launch a preemptive nuclear strike against them; the Taliban takes control of Pakistan and it's nukes, joining the fray. Iran also strikes out at European countries within it's range (as well as their Arab enemies); Russia takes one side or the other (most likely Iran's), China sits back grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat, unless attacked. (Who knows what Kim Jong Il will do while the attention of the world is distracted elsewhere.) Anyway, when all the above transpires, voila! instant "Nuclear Winter". Which means what: "End Times prophesies become true for their believers; the ending of the "Global Warming" threat; and, if we're really lucky, the Moses of the environmental movement, Algore, will go out "in a blaze of glory" (or, as It's usually called, "a puff of smoke"). The old folk song lyric: "Whose side are you on, boys. Whose side are you on", comes to mind.

"Running on Empty (Headedness)"

2009-05-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

Limbaugh "tie[s] one half of [his] brain behind [his] back - just to be fair." (He can afford to.) RINO's tie both hands behind their backs trying to be more like the other side, a' hopin' to be liked by them by proving their "open mindedness". Which, when the votes are counted of course, merely proves their "Empty Headedness" instead.

"America" Love it, win it back, or lose it - forever

2009-05-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

"This far, and no further" is no longer an option for conservatism. Not for the America I was born into back in '41. Yes there were inequities, but we had the capacity, as a people, to begin to right those wrongs and kick the living Hell out of the Fascists and Imperial Japan at the same time. Where we went wrong was in feeling so much relief after WW II was over that the heavy leaning to the left, boosted by Hollywood's "coming out of the closet" all out attack on traditional values, such as fighting for what you believe in, that was aided and abetted by the media, wasn't seen for what it was by far too many folks. When Korea happened, we had already lost the "Stones" to go ahead and win the damn thing. Viet Nam was a joke, as far as fighting a successful engagement went. Especially after good old Walter Cronkite declared it lost, and the rest of the media took up the cudgel of defeatism. Until, and unless, Americans return to the values of free enterprise, tempered with fair play, and a belief in American Exceptionalism along with constitutionalist principles, we are doomed to slide down that slippery slope of "Let George Do It" and "The world owes me a living (at someone else's expense)".

Miss California and the "Compassionate Politically Correct " and their tolerance for diverse opinions

2009-05-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Rusty Warren, a comedienne from the '50's & '60's, used to have a routine she called "Knockers Up". In it, she encouraged women to be proud of themselves and their bodies, despite society's prudery. It seems to me that the old saw, "The more things change, the more they stay the same", is still in full bloom. And Keith Lewis(sic) is a blooming idiot. His voice (I've never seen him) pegs him as a full blown castratti. I base that on two things: 1. His weasel-wording on spilling the beans vis á vis her medical records (How did the questioner know what questions to ask?); 2. 20 years in the music business as a guitarist, in LA and the Bay Area, does help one to attune the ears. Where were all the females like Miss Rhode Island when I left in '55? This enquiring geezer wants to know.

Response to a Letter to the Editor re: Earth vs. Arbor day

2009-05-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

My Dear Mr. Meadows, The unsubtle difference between Earph Daze and Arbor day is simple. Anyone can explain, and debate, the reasons pro and con for planting suitable species of trees, in the proper locations, to provide the maximum desired benefit. However, when the mighty "Moses" of the environmental movement, "Algore" (the prophet who stands to profit mightily by his Carbon Offsets scheme), refuses to debate any and all who dare to disagree with his "Foregone Conclusions" (masquerading as "Settled Science"); who, in fact, belittles in extremely derisive tones, any of the scientists who've reached differing conclusions based on their reading of the evidence (the "Facts", as Al Moses Gore puts it), he puts the lie to his true purpose. And his purpose is not good. He, Obama, and many others of the left, wish, for various and diverse reasons, to dismantle private property protections, suppress the individuals ability to control their holdings and, by extension, our entire capitalist system, based on the freedom of choice to do as you wish with what is yours. I find the term "Community Gardens" to be amusing at present. However, I foresee the concept of an ill defined patchwork of small community efforts being overtaken (once again for the greater good) by "The State" and turned into, by whatever name, "Collective Farms". Collective farms run by the State wherein "Some are more equal than others", indeed.

"Flyby" details

2009-05-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

I just got the "fifty dollars is fifty dollars" e-mail from Jeff the Trucker and just about busted a gut laughing. That would be because I almost went the way of "Esther" during that flyby. It seems that the H-34 Choctaw I was in (Huey's came out just shortly before I left) had only one output jack for a headset, and that was by the crew chief's seat next to, and just forward of the sliding door (they only had the one) on the right hand side of the aircraft (cap. 14 + a crew of 3). As I had to give directions to the pilot, I was seated in that seat. During one of the go-around's, the crew chief motioned me over to the left side to take a photo or three for him. Immediately after, we were in position to take more pictures from the open R/H sliding door, so I hurried over, sat down and commenced to use my two still cameras and the 8mm movie camera that one of the officers wanted me to use. After a moment or two, I noticed the crew chief waving his arms (he had no intercom access) at me. I looked at him and he motioned down at my waist, making a closing motion with his hands. Yes, ol' dummah here had been leaning out of the aircraft without his seat belt being fastened, just a'merrily snapping away - it was a Kodak Moment indeed. And one I'll never forget.

"H1N1-ulus"?

2009-04-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

So. In order to not negatively affect the “Pork” industry with politics, are we now refering to: “H1N1-Barrel Spending”?

"Flyby's"

2009-04-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

Posted to the Tom Sullivan radio website:

Tom,

I spent the last 18 months of my 3 years of active duty in the U S Army (06/59-06/62) as the PIO Photographer for the 8th Transportation Battalion, Light Helicopters, just outside of Munich, West Germany. One day, we staged the first ever Flyby of 100 helicopters, at about 1,000 feet above the active, all without informing the locals first. Scared the you-know-what out of 'em too. Seems the last time they heard that many piston engined aircraft was - you guessed it - WW II.

Yes, "excrement occurs". sometimes literally.

Varmint Eradication Policy

2009-04-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

"Warning! The varmints in these parts are not tame. Visitors are advised to stay on the road, as their remains will not be forwarded to next of kin." Thus reads the sign at the entrance to the woods in the Robert Heinlein novel "Glory Road". Why do I bring this up? What in Sam Hill does this have to do with torture? Simple really: If you're going to play the "game", i.e.: defend yourself, your family, friends and country, against terrorists, especially ones who have no fear of death and are willing to sacrifice anyone to achieve their goal to create a worldwide Caliphate, then you had better learn their rules. RULE #1: THERE ARE NO RULES! RULE #2: Platitudes for being "better than that" on a gravestone are no substitute for victory. RULE #3: Win or die. (Unless, of course, you are of the "Submit to live like a slave" school of survive at any cost crowd. Sort of like the "Better Red Than Dead" crowd updated.) The bottom line, as far as I'm concerned is this; If you want to know what life for non Muslims under a Caliphate would be like, ask an Armenian.

And "Kool Aid" was her name 'O.

2009-04-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

(This was posted to Tom Sullivan's radio show's website on April 27, 2009, regarding General Motors being overtaken by the government.)

Tom,

Janet, whose call just ended, has drunk the Kool-Aid of "Change 'O". "I feel", "but the Banks are already, pretty much owned by the government", et cetera ... . Good lord man. the woman is a walking, talking "Obamaton". A "Glittering Jewel" ... , if you will. However, you sir, are a paragon of patience. " ... a better man than I, Gunga Din".

Upon "Civility", and the lack thereof.

2009-04-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

I'm saddened by the lack of civility engendered in society by the last 40 years of Public Indocucation and the advent of this medium - the internet. Now, I've "been accused of being ‘direct' before", as a dear friend once pointed out, but the vitriol that I find here on the internet seems to be brought about by untempered anonymity that breeds the inanity of the inane. I see some who find their compassion, as well as their vaunted tolerance, stretched beyond all limits; So, they have none - Compassion, Tolerance, nor Limits. I'm fully aware of the cries from the '60's: "Let me do my own thing!"; "Free Speech!"; Et al, ad nauseam, et cetera ... . A great cry is heard throughout the land: "FOX (because they actually promote up coming programing) Bad!", "PBS, CNN, MSNBC, NB/AB/C"BS" Good!". (Because they don't?) Oh, I get it! What people are exposed to in the media is only bad when it encourages people to watch what the tolerant don't wish them to see - especially if they actually go ahead and watch in greater numbers that the "approved" outlets enjoy. However, whatever people see in the media has no effect when it comes to things cultural conservatives wish not to be shown. Why that's silly - children aren't influenced by what they see on TV, the internet, nor in the movies - why, why, that's censorship!. At least an ostrich has enough sense to stick it's head in the sand, and not some other dark, smelly place.

Posted to Jeff The Trucker's Blog on "Earth Day"

2009-04-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

"It is not for us to wonder why." "It is just for us to do (without) and die." So ordaineth the mighty moses of the environmental movement - Algore. (Oh yes, and pay through the proboscis for the privilege of treading lightly on ol' mama earth.) My reply to such nonsense, [My good] fellow ... ? "Oh Ya!" "Offset this!"
"Myron."

"Fictionary" on Ayn Rand

2009-04-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

I watched a "Fictionary" on television awhile ago, depicting Ayn Rand as a sex-crazed older woman in a serial relationship with a younger man. We, the childlike great unwashed, (commonly known as viewers) were never, ever exposed, not one teeny weeny bit, to her radical philosophy of American Exceptionalism, as achieved through enlightened self-interest, also known as Capitalism. Not, as it is so often twisted into: "Unfettered Capitalism". The truth is, there is no truth when it comes to Hollywood and it's alphabet network outlets - at least when it comes to conservatism, it's philosophy and ideals. Yes: "No man is an island". Neither should he an anchor be. (As in a willing deadweight on society.)

Letter to the Professor

2009-04-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

My Dear Professor Obama (and "His" Teaching Assistants),

You all may chafe at the bit, so to speak, at the constraints the "Contract Of America", a.k.a. The Constitution of the United States" places on your fondest wishes: Establishing a grand kšathra-pāvan here, in place of a representative republic. By denying the very fact that our rights are given to us "by our Creator" and not subject to man denied wishes, edicts or special orders, you prove your intentions. It, our constitution, is by design, "Restrictive", and not "Proscriptive" for the very reason I'm addressing you now. It is not the fault of American gun owners that the failing oligarchs of Mexico can not control (in the sense of eliminate - not help them profit by) their increasingly violent drug lords. It is also not the fault of America's border patrol agents that their counterpart Mexican border agents are not doing the job they're supposed to be doing. Are they "on the take"? Most likely, in the land of mordida, far too many are. (That is not the type of cultural diversity we wish to "import" here, by the way.)

It bodes ill for the American people, if the definition of "Law Abiding" can be further restricted by the hand of anyone who does not trust the very people whose very unalienable rights are in their hands. That is not leadership by good example. rather it is the leadership of the tyrant; Whether or not by accident or design. That was something our founders (those dead Caucasian guys) were very aware of and addressed in great detail in their correspondences with one another. That, I believe, is what some, in power, are so very afraid of, a rebellion of "the great unwashed". That would be a very dim possibility indeed, if one only follows the constitutional precepts as set down by our founders.

With All Due Respect,

Mr. Myron J. Poltroonian

Life Member of the NRA

"Janus Rules"

2009-04-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

The following exchange took place, in the space of about an hour or so, on April 18, 2009:

Penny,

Hope I'm not intruding, but I just wanted to share an extraordinary series of exchanges to and from just two of the people we knew "Away back then". I know it's overlong, but its been just unbelievable for me. Exchanges follow:

This is from Diane Smith:

John, I'm trying to put together all the pieces of the murky Paradox past and it occurred to me that you and your bandmates once played a gig at Disneyland. Was that you or do I have you confused with someone else?

There were so many Disneyland connections -- like the time they wouldn't let us in because the Dirt Band's hair was too long, or the time when Johnny McEuen was working in the magic shop in the castle. So many good stories out there it's hard to keep track of them all!

Diane

My note to John Hutmacher, while forwarding Diane's missive:

My Dear Friend, It occurs to me that Diane's misconception may have it's genesis in the "Tall Tailing" of a certain friend of mine. To wit - you. Ms. Diane was a waitress at the Paradox, which was in Orange, California. I cannot remember if you ever went there yourself, but you met many of the same musicians that I did back then, and I have no other explanation as why else she, and others, would ever think such a thing. Do you? (I thought not.)

So, if you wish, you have my permission to contact her and put the poor girl's misconceptions to rest - or not - depending upon your sense of humor at the moment, of course. Do look up wearetheparadox.blogspot.com to see if you remember anyone from that time. Penny Nichols is stopping nearby in Davis on her way to giving a seminar in Oregon in June, and we hope to connect then. She was the 16 year old blond vocalist with perfect and relative pitch who was born with only one ear, and was the first female vocalist I ever played with. She's the one I used to say sounds like Judy Collins, only clearer.

Be well, my friend. I'll know by Diane's response whether or not you actually responded to her query.

"J. B."

John's response to me:

OMG John didn't see her email.......Fuzzy rememberances.....Magic Shoppe......Band playing......Penny for sure.....she is the one I gave the anhaeuser busch name to on her list at the ???something??? club in OC on chapman??? wow.....this alzheimers meds are great....just take them and all sorts of things come in the e-mails.......

Just sent yr security posts to my dear friend Corky whodidn;t know I was still in touch with you....what a day this has been....what a rare mood I'm In......and I thought it was just because the inlaws were away today with Margo at the Casino........

Will Copy Corky if I may and will write Diane........

A Bientot

IGOR

Hutmacher then sent this to Diane:

Dear Ms Smith ...

As a former representative of the Wurlitzer Company in Dekalb, Illinois and employee at the Wurlitzer Exhibit in the Magic Kingdom of the 60's wedged stratigically located at the corner of Main Street wedged between the Magic Choppy and the Hills Brothers Coffee bar on the left.....I was most surprised to read you posting to my dear Friend Dr. John.....It brings back many memories of times gone by and special memories to always savour.....I had a brief look at your blogspot and was impressed to see several name familiar to me and will monitor with yr kind permission to follow a bit...... Thank you for the memories and also if anyone was declined a booking because of attire, it was my dear friend and VP from the HS I attended..Mr. Dale who looked after enforcement in those days.......

May everyday be your best !

Kind regards,

John Hutmacher ( my place on the Tacoma Facebook shows a mightly Wurlitzer I was honoured to play a few years ago up in Bellingham, Washington...a piece of hisroy )

I was sending this to Diane, when John's above message came in:

My Dear Diane, I couldn't resist sending your query regarding Disneyland to a very dear friend of mine from that era. He is, amongst other things, a classical keyboardist (piano, harpsichord and organ), business man and, to his credit, the instigator of the unfounded rumor that I ever played Disneyland. I haven't been to "The Magic Kingdom" since before the "Mr. Lincoln" exhibit was installed. And that was, I believe, while I was stationed in Germany. Flash! I just received John's missive to you re: "In rccpt of fwd ... ." He's just one of many good and true friends I made in those days. Thank you all.

"J. B."

Diane sent this to the two of us. wow.:

Dr. John and Media John:

The two of you have made my day! Things were not going well this weekend and then all of a sudden I was transported back to Lincoln on Main Street, USA, at which, to quote a source .... "Mr. Lincoln would start having spasms or just bow forward and stop in the middle of the show....." This was, according to the source, the summer of 1966, so if Dr. Besharian did not play Disneyland during or after that event, then it must have been a different John Besharian.

What a small, small world we live in. Cheers to the both of you. Let the Wurlitzer play on. Diane

Whereupon I sent this to both of them:

Diane,

We aims to please. We does indeed. We hasn't had this much fun in ... (fill in the blank - and the well).

Once again, into the breach.

Looking Forward (Janus-like),

"J. B."

So, my dear friend, I'm now pounding my head with the heel of my hand, whilst asking myself, "Self? why did you wait so long to be dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21st century?". I do, by the way, understand why this exchange is believable - because of you and all the others we met during that very special time in our lives.

As they say "Down South": "See Ya!", (hopefully in June).

"J. B."

"Status Quotus"

2009-04-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

“Status Quotus”

By John Besharian

A collection of “Bits and Pieces” of my, and others, random reflections on life’s foibles

1. While this impending change in your life, may be a moving experience, the experience of moving can be frustrating, to say the least.

2. Its funny, in a sad sort ’o way, just how alone you can feel when you’ve stopped giving to others, and they notice.

3. “We’ve become ‘A Nation of Rubrics Cubed’ ”. (Coined by me in the early ’80’s.)

4. If Mark Twain (or Will Rogers) didn’t say this, he (or they) should have - “If common sense were, there’d be more of it!” (Coined by me in the mid-eighties.)

5. Question for Civil Rights Activists: regarding the ratio of one group or another’s incarceration for crime. “Do you think you’ll be any less dead if the person who killed you is of your own race or ethnicity?

6. ... as they “Rear their Ugly Rears!”

7. I haven’t managed to “Align My Waterfowl” yet. (“Get my ducks in a row”, so to speak.)

8. “Another day, another way”.

9. Future: A perception of realities as yet unlived. (A concept whose time is coming)

10. Self pity cannot replace self respect.

11. “Cluster Fuck”. (My name for Cluster House, the residence home Mairi lived in.) Motto: “Give Us Your tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Misses, Learning To Eat Brie”.

12. Ah yes, the duality (dualities?) of Gemini's.

13. They say that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. I guess that means that insincere flattery is called plagiarism, while sincere flattery (imitation) is called a “Tribute”. (Go to Vegas, or Reno, for examples. “Thank you very much.”)

14. “The Clutter of Your Mind” (sung to the melody of “The Sunshine of Your Smile”).

15. Spider to “Little Miss Muffet”. “How do I love Thee?” Let me count the whey’s.”

16. “Life’s a Jumble”

17. “The Last Rites of Spring.”, followed by, “The First Rites of Summer”.

18. The heart rarely does what the head deems prudent.

19. “So-Cal” A phrase I’ve been using for at least the past thirty five years, regarding Southern California. (Yes, yes, a play on :Low-cal” used for nutritionally “correct”, but, culinarily bland food. As in, “All style, and no substance.”, better yet, “All Taste and no flavor”, or, L.A.’s “All flavor and No Taste.”.

20. I want to rearrange “Bring Me A Dream”, from the movie “Death Warrant” staring Charles Van Damme, and then see if Mairi could understand me. Somehow, I doubt it. (Then again, there’s a ton of things (not just music) that I think I could do better. Ah yes! The arrogance of the typical Gemini.)

21. “Now is the time for all good men to come... “, she said languidly.

22. “The trouble with people is, we’re everywhere.” (My takeoff on something or another.)

23. “Why did the chicken cross the road? To show the ’possum it could be done!” (Mine.)

24. “If you think its hot here, wait ’til you get where we’re going.” (“The “Hell you say!”)

25. “Twelve, going on sixty Five.” (Meaning young at heart, but, old (wise) beyond their years.) Coined (by me) back in Nineteen Hundred and Sixty Three, Anno Domini.

26. With some people, it seems to be a wiring problem, ie; “ The electricity never gets to the bulb!”, so to speak.

27. The devil is not only in the details, he’s also in the Oval Office. (Re: Bill Clinton)

28. The institutions of our country are stronger than Clinton’s ego. They’re also infinitely more important. Truly great presidents are remembered for their passion and commitment to ideals and institutions greater than themselves, not for lying about their inability to contain their baser instincts. Great leaders, lead. They do not hand down “Edicts from on high”, they build consensus. Clinton seemingly rules by decree, daring Congress to veto his endless executive orders. (From a “Letter to the Editor”, published 09/30/98.)

29. Clinton’s “Chinese Curse” is that he is the cause of his “Interesting Times”.

30. “Prejudice”, implies bigotry and closed mindedness. “Discriminating” does not.

31. “...and yet, there are times, when our conversations take on a certain “mono-loguistic” (monologueous?) overtone. (“I must be a good listener.”, ie: You talk, I listen.)

32. At least an ostrich has enough sense to stick it’s head in the sand, and not some other dark, smelly place. (My coinage as well.)

33. On a less serious note: In light of the unfolding drama in the White House, perhaps Bill Clinton should consider moving to San Francisco, instead of Los Angles when he leaves office. Just imagine he and the flamboyant mayor, Willie Brown, giving a whole new meaning to the term “The Willies”. (Please forgive the bad pun, but, I believe Clinton deserves “The lowest form of humor” for dragging the Presidency to depths lower than ever before imagined.) “Throw the bum out!”, as they say. “What a country!” (What a joke!”)

34. “The Left (I am the Back) Hand of God.” Prospective name of some yet to be defined group, or organization. ( A nineties version of “The God Squad”? Ask Lisa Kindred.)

35. “Soyvey”: A new product for Sino-kosher vegans (& vegetarians). Slogans: “Guaranteed Pork Free!”, or, “Now, for Meatless Fridays”. (Oops! How catholic of me.)

36. One of the projects Steven Spielberg may have in mind for Bill Clinton, after he leaves office, is a remake of the film classic “Elmer Gantry”. As far as I can tell, it would be perfect type casting. (Method Acting?)

37. “MacroSquish” - competitive Modus Operandi for Microsoft.

38. My words, like my life, are “Works in Progress”.

39. I’m almost certain that P.M.S. stands for Peanut brittle, Marzipan, and Saltwater Taffy.

40. Q: “Do you have your own web site? A: “Only for flies and gnats (like you)”.

41. “Lets Concept!” (. )”What a Concept!”( .)Ok, ok! I can’t resist!

42. “It’s (They're) so Jersey.”

43. It’s always better to be “Independently Wealthy”, than “Dependently Poor”.

44. If not yes, then no. If not where, then why? If not how, then when? Said who!

45. Remember: All money belongs to the people that earn it, not the government.

46. No one, especially a concerned parent, appreciates being treated with what appears to be amused indulgence, grudging tolerance, or benign indifference, by even one of the staff or management responsible for their child’s education.

47. “Once upon a time, there was a story that began ... .” (A short-story written to be the shortest short-story in the English language, and intended to be put on a Mobius Strip.)

48. The “Three Stooges”, or “Why can stupid be funny? Often confused with “Why can funny be stupid? Or, ... ?

49. Our educational system today is geared to “Public Education”, not educating the public.

50. “Dragon Drops” A name for “Eye candy” (small graphics enhancement, or pictures) for various desktop publishing, web,and/or graphics programs. (Drag ’n Drops?).

51. If you trust any government to be benevolent with your information, to put it kindly, you may be mistaken.

52. Hey! Life’s a negotiation, so lets make a deal!

53. You can take the alcohol out of the bottle, but you can’t take the bottle away from the asshole. (Re: Mairi’s brother’s attitude towards her.)

54. I have this image of our fearless leader (Bill Clinton), his left hand on the bible, with his right hand raised, middle finger extended, asking, nay demanding, “Oath? Define Oath!”. Mores the pity.

55. Who controls the news? Why those supercilious, scintillating, self-satisfied (and smug), poltroons of journalistic integrity, of course. Who else?

56. Feeling as rich as an “Under financed African-American”?

57. “The Erectillian”, or, “What’s Up?” magazine.

58. “From there to here, can I get you not.”

59. Question: “Is it appropriate to impeach, try, and remove from office, the President of the United States of America for lying, perjury, and obstruction of justice?” Answer: ”Hell Yes!”

60. Regarding: “Litigation as Public Policy”, I have the following suggestions ... .

61. For Tobacco Taxes, how about: “A carton A Week Is All We Ask.”

62. For the “Firearms Lawsuits resulting in added taxes”: A Gun A Month, Is All We Ask.”, and/or, “A Box (carton) A Week Is All We Ask.”, for ammunition.

63. Regarding the “Gore Petrochemical Pollution Tax”: “A Tankful A Week Is All We Ask.”

64. Regarding any Sin Tax: "A Sin (or two) A Week Is All We Ask.”

65. My life is undone, and I don’t know if I can do it up again. (Somehow, I must.)

66. Before” “My country! Right or wrong, my country!” Now: “My Party! right or wrong, my Party!” Re Democrat’s participation in impeachment.

67. It doesn’t matter where you meet the people at, it’s where the people you meet are at that matters.

68. Regarding the current media atmosphere on coverage of “Newsworthy Events”: The pontificating prattle of pompous puerile pundits, prognosticating as prophetizing peers of great repute, decrying the nature of the stories dredged up, while still using the prurient and salacious material as fodder for furtherance of their own careers. It seems to be the result of a twisted logic handed down through the ages. From “Bread and Circuses”, to “Let them eat cake”, it is not “The opiate of the masses” that’s at fault. Television, Radio and the Internet simply provide a rapid means of dissemination of so-called information. It’s the masses’ lack of intellectual independence, brought on by a concerted, relentless effort to liberalize, and lower academic standards, yet raise tolerance for so-called “Alternative Lifestyles” in the young and impressionable, that provides room for the fetid fertile forage that fills the trough of public consumption, or distraction. (And they vote?)

69. Battle cry of the cannibal lesbians: “Eat the Women!” (You are who you eat?)

70. To paraphrase Twain, “If human nature wasn’t so despicable, it wouldn’t be so human.”.

71. “We have become ‘The Herd’ led ’round the world”, so to speak.

72. The three most important “E” words (in the English language) are “Exact”, “Existential”, and, now, “e-mail”.

73. For a retrospective, or tribute, of Phil Specter’s “Wall of Sound”, how about “Retro-Spec”?

74. Ah, yes! Give me a buxom young woman whose “Cups runneth Over” every time.

75. Hyphenated-Americans are of the “ ... divided you fall” variety.

76. Get crime out of the hands of criminals, and put it where it belongs, with the politicians!

77. “All it takes to disarm the general population, is for the well intentioned to do the work of the ill intended.” Then “It can’t happen here” can.

78. As far as “Beanie Baby Mania” is concerned: Darwin was right.

79. Look, we can dance around this all life long and never, ever, really say what we mean. Or, we can just blurt it out and never, ever, have to worry about it again. (“one way, or another ... .”)

80. “From Sonorous Heights, to Stygian depths.” (My breadth of crap is amazing!)

81. “Didja Blues? (all over Again)” (Idea for either an album, a song title, or both.)

82. I’m in a hole of my own digging. (regarding my current finances - 7/99)

83. “Pussy!” (My favorite subject. I wonder what i was going to say when I stopped in mid sentence?)

84. “It’s fallen, and I can’t get it up!” (The only real reason for Viagra™.)

85. re: “A search for your truth.” (“Under every rock is a potential birthplace.”)

86. “Upwardly Nubile!” My euphemism for a woman sleeping her way to the top.

87. “i Think, ergo i Different!”©(#’s 87 & 88 based on Apple’s “Think different” ads touting the new iMac, as well as the new G-3 and G-4 Macintosh computers.)

89. I believe “Big brother” has a not so insignificant other, and her name is “Big Nanny”.

90. Tell me, is it true that ambulances always travel so fast for fear of being run over by lawyers?

91. Those pedagogic piffle'rs of puerile proportions, who’ve been in charge of our children’s education far too long, will fight any change (of educational control) union tooth and nail.

92. I wonder what would happen, in that bastion of politically correct tolerance, if I opened a Pasta/Noodle Restaurant in the Castro district of San Francisco and called it “The Wet Noodle”, or “The Limp Lasagna”? Of course, The Rigid Rigatoni” would be wildly popular.

93. “AN IMMODEST (Business) PROPOSAL”©: Our country used to believe (and rightly so back in the dim, distant past of the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s) that it was awful, unjust, and immoral, that Socialist Communism (as practiced in the Soviet Union, and then China, and elsewhere) encouraged neighbors to spy upon one other, and children to spy on their parents for antigovernment thought crimes. However, these days we seem to have no qualms about turning in almost anyone: not only rightfully for breaking the law in major ways, (ie: plotting to violently overthrow the government) but, also, for the most picayune of infractions (ie: Barking dogs, too many cats, etc... ). We seem to also have a noisome minority of “Moderne Puritans” rabidly searching for perceived infractions of political correctness, in speech, action or thought as well. (Which, when think about it, is simply the same Socialist mindset revised and updated for Americans.)

Therefore, I propose to bring back a term that was, for many years, held in low esteem and change it’s usage to one of high repute and utility by making it as easy as possible for people to exercise their newfound propensity for tattling on one another. This would fulfill a great number of needs on many levels. Not only for “The Masses” (a Stalinist term for the euphemism “Useful Idiots”) but, and from a business prospective more importantly, as a conduit for gathering a great amount of information on an almost limitless number of topics related to human behavior and propensities, as well as perceived information on suspected criminal behavior, with nearly unlimited sales potential to Universities, Corporations, Security Agencies, Law Enforcement, Government Social Bureaus and so forth, with enough wealth of information to keep even the most demanding bureaucrat, and/or Social Statistician happy - yet wanting ever more.

The name of this service reflects not only my sense of irony (and disappointment at what we’ve become) but also seems to have a retro, yet cutting edge, cachet that would catch on in many different strata and spectrum of society as either a fun (or in) sort of thing, or as a topic of derision and scorn. This will work to the company’s advantage either way - as a massive free press and radio talk show controversy, and/or in terms of word of mouth advertising.

The name I consider essential for the success of this which I envision is “Stoolie”, as in “Stool Pigeon”, or one who tells on another. I propose setting up a nation (free world?) wide service network, of both telephone service centers and internet access, where people can report whatever non emergency information they wish, such as highway hazards, leaking sewerage pipes, et cetera, to noisy neighbors, unsightly properties, suspected drug activity, child abuse, ad nauseam. Thereby freeing up vital 911 emergency networks by using either a voice mail menu via telephone, or a web page display of links (both in the form of informational gathering nexus’, and as conduits directly to the desired entities) accessed simply by dialing “1-800-Stoolie”, or, throughout the World Wide web at “www.stoolie.com”, without having to remember any other numbers or addresses, just as 911 is so universally used and remembered. (The appropriate technologies already exist; they just need to be coordinated.) This system would make it as simple possible for our concerned, caring citizens (information providers) to use, and, they can do it anonymously (except, of course, for the telephone number they’re calling from, or the internet address they use). Although I imagine that local, state, and federal law enforcement, plus prosecutorial and defense lawyers (as well as telephone companies), will demand full and free access, they may have it along with everyone else, for a price. In some cases, the price of exclusivity comes to mind. In others - lots o’ money.

If knowledge is power, and power equates with money, then this , I believe, is a way to acquire more than even Crœsus imagined. I can only hope that the data generated will be beneficial, as well as useful, to society.

94. “... Those fractious fops of facetious frivolity, who are fervently feeling their fractured fundaments ... .”

95. “Pixel Pete” (takeoff on “Pistol Pete”). Name for an NRA dot.com for (fill in the blank).

96. “heART (he-ART?)” A male oriented art form/forum/outlet?

97. “sheART (she-ART?)” a female oriented art form/forum/outlet?

98. How about a restaurant called “Chez Á Trois”, or, Á Trois’ “? (Based upon the french term “Menage A Trois” meaning a threesome. All of these specialties would be for three ... with three sided tables, plates, glasses, et cetera ... .)

99. Ok. How about a club called “The House of Two Gemini’s”? (The symbol” ∏ + ∏ = ∞)

100. “The Double-Entendre”, or, “Dualities”? Symbol - same as above. “Twins?”

101. Just how far would one be tempted to go, in order to achieve one’s goals, lofty or otherwise? This is the dilemma faced by idealist’s confronted with the real world. (Note: The, “The ends justify the means!” crowd is always going to be at a tactical advantage, no matter what, so they’re just an added incentive to redouble one’s efforts to be victorious, yet ethically pure at the same time.

102. (More to be transcribed from my old, dying PowerMac 4400/200)

127. For Mairi:

“A stitch in time (they say) saves nine.”

So, say they, will a card sent on time.

Why, you ask? What’s the occasion?

Valentine?

Pal o’ Mine?

Stitch in time?

With lust (I must)

Admit it! The fire?

Ya done gone and lit it.

128. (Yet even more transcribing of much "under-the-bridge-water" remains to be done.)

262. I’m going to have to write a modern version of “The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf”. I’ll have to entitle it: “The Little Queen That Cried ‘Drama!’ ”. (Dedicated to Mairi, of course.)

263. The following was submitted to the Washington Times on April 09, 2009, as a comment on their commentary about four killed by a gunman in a Korean Religious Center, in Temecula, Ca.: Many commentators have noted the language barrier as one of the primary causes of the unintelligible mess the police faced when they arrived. Pro and Con alike may be surprised at California's Constitutional requirement that English be the Official State Language. Try enforcing that one on your own. Try using that as a defense in court for trying. Try getting it in front of the State Supreme Court to overturn your conviction - “You racist pig!”.

264. The original Tea Party was staged by the sons of Freedom against “Taxation without representation”. The critics of the Tea Party in 2009 claim that we protested against “Taxation with representation”. Nice try. We are protesting against “Taxation with misrepresentation”.

265. In 1994, Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” was derisively refereed to by Democrats (and, of course, the media) as a “Contract on America”. Actually, I believe that the Constitution of the United States of America is "The Contract of America".

266. I sent the following to Obama, Boxer, Finestein and Thompson o 04/19/09

My Dear Professor Obama (and "His" Teaching Assistants),

You all may chafe at the bit, so to speak, at the constraints the "Contract Of America", a.k.a. The Constitution of the United States" places on you fondest wishes: Establishing a grand ksathra-pavan here, in place of a representative republic. By denying the very fact that our rights are given to us "by our Creator" and not subject to man denied wishes, edicts or special orders, you prove your intentions. It, our constitution, is by design, "Restrictive", and not "Proscriptive" for the very reason I'm addressing you now. It is not the fault of American gun owners that the failing oligarchs of Mexico can not control (in the sense of eliminate - not help them profit by) their increasingly violent drug lords. It is also not the fault of America's border patrol agents that their counterpart Mexican border agents are not doing the job they're supposed to be doing. Are they "on the take"? Most likely, in the land of mordida, far too many are. (That is not the type of cultural diversity we wish to "import" here, by the way.)

It bodes ill for the American people, if the definition of "Law Abiding" can be further restricted by the hand of anyone who does not trust the very people whose very unalienable rights are in their hands. That is not leadership by good example. rather it is the leadership of the tyrant; Whether or not by accident or design. That was something our founders (those dead Caucasian guys) were very aware of and addressed in great detail in their correspondences with one another. That, I believe, is what some, in power, are so very afraid of. a rebellion of "the great unwashed". A very dim possibility indeed, if one only follows the constitutional precepts as set down by our founders.

With All Due Respect,

Mr. John Besharian

Life Member of the NRA

267. So. In order to not negatively affect the “Pork” industry with politics, are we now referring to: “H1N1-Barrel Spending”?

268. “A picture is worth a thousadnd words”. (Only if you have no imagineation.)

269.

"Whencefore art thou Myron?

2009-04-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

Mairi,

I took your advice and "fooled around" with Text Edit on my first ever entry into my Blog (my Nom d'Blog is Myron J. Poltroonian, which is through blogspot.) That was the name I used on the 1980 census I filled out in San Francisco - the one the poor college student asked for on a Saturday morning around 10:00 am, after I'd been out at a gig the night before and hadn't gotten home until about 2:30/3:00 in the morning. Let's just say the sight of this long-haired, bearded, grumpy and bedecked in only my old burgundy bathrobe musician was unsettling to the poor fellow to say the least, since my response to his inquiry was a somewhat gruff "Yah!", whereupon he he smiled weakly, apologized profusely, and beat a hasty retreat away from my door, never to be seen again. The preceding, chronologically, in Apple Script, is entitled "For Mairi":

History

2009-04-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

Born in Rhode Island (same day, same year as Bob Dylan). Moved to California during WW II, then back to R.I. twice more with my folks when I joined the US Army in California and served from '59-'62. I became, on my own, the 8th Transportation Battalion (Lt. Helicopters) Public Information Office Photographer for 18 months, just outside (by 5 miles) of Munich, Germany. I played music for a living for 20 years, starting in '65 in LA and Orange County then San Francisco and the Bay Area in '69. I've played with people you've heard of, as well as many more you have not. I walked away after 20 years because, as I've said many times: "I got fed up with people falling over with needles in their arms, and me depending on them for work". (More to follow, as time permits.) Oh, yes. My company, J.B. Enterprises, owns (. )( .)'s Up! Productions©

For Mairi (Written in Apple Chancery)

2009-03-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

“A stitch in time (they say) saves nine.”

So, say they, will a card sent on time.

Why, you ask? What’s the occasion?

Valentine?

Pal o’ Mine?

Stitch in time?

With lust (I must)

Admit it! The fire?

Ya done gone and lit it.