An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for September 2010
On This Day In History…..
…..TWELVE WHOLE YEARS AGO, my youngest granddaughter, also known as Short Person, popped into the world!
Censorship
Pentagon Destroys Copies of Controversial Memoir Written by Army Officer
The Pentagon has burned 9,500 copies of Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer’s memoir “Operation Dark Heart,” his book about going undercover in Afghanistan.
A Department of Defense official tells Fox News that the department purchased copies of the first printing because they contained information which could cause damage to national security.
The U.S. Army originally cleared the book for release.
So, when is the Pentagon going to push for charges against that Wikileaks moron? When are they going to push for charges against a certain so called NEWSpaper for printing items that could be very damaging to national security? Censorship is alive and well in the U.S.S.A.
An F.Y.I to the Pentagon: Most everyone who has been paying attention already knew about “Able Danger”.
Gotta Love Charlie Daniels
An Open Letter To President Obama
Mr. President,
I write this letter as a patriot, a taxpayer, a lifelong resident and as concerned citizen of what I consider to be the greatest nation ever known to man, the United States of America.
I am Caucasian, so let’s get the racial aspect out of the way to start with. This letter has nothing to do with your race. I lived through the cruelty of Jim Crow and segregation and learned early on in my life that the color of my skin does not make me better or worse than any other man.
We all remember Martin Luther King, Jr.’s statement about judging people, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character, and I believe that with all my heart.
I believe that America is an exceptional country. We have been liberator, benefactor and leader of the free world for centuries. America is an example of what can be achieved by free people living under the free enterprise system.
ZoNation – A REAL Important Message
Yes, I’m late posting this, but the message is still pertinent.
Saturday Afternoon – Packing Sucks – Laundry Time
And the Dems call the Tea-Party Racists and Bigots? What’s wrong with this picture, let me count the ways. – Red White Blue News
Liberal Environmentalists need to go back to high school Biology class – GOP2112
Islam Meets Catholicism as Muslim Protesters Call for Death of Pope Benedict – Lisa Graas
Ground Zero Imam Exposed Off-Mic – FrontPageMag
The Pledge To Repeal ObamaCare – The American TEA Party
Breaking news: Democrats Release their Contract with America. – American and Proud
The Entitlement Mindset – Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
How privileged Democrats pay for their houses – Michelle Malkin
The government are lying slugs – Social Sense
Obama Considering Act of Treason? – XelanBonn
Report: After Previous Denials, Liberal Jewish Group Admits Soros Funding… – Randy’s Right
Book smart does not always mean intelligent… – Billiam’s Bloviations
Obama Pledges World Development – Boots and Sabers
Quote of the Day – Fred Thompson – MacBourne’s Musings
ELIMINATE THE UNITED NATIONS FREAK SHOW FROM AMERICAN SOIL – Angry White Dude
The Messege Of The Tea Party – The Violence Worker!
SEIU Union Hack Admits that Local TV Stations Help ‘Get Our Message Across’ – 73Wire
US Navy Gets it Right – Infidel Bloggers Alliance
On The Threshold Of Turmoil…Again – The Camp of the Saints
Michael Moore Makes Jane Fonda Look Like a Patriot – Big Hollywood
Mr. Bill: ‘Russians And Settlers Are The Obstacles to MidEast Peace’ – JOSHUAPUNDIT
Expert Witness?? – silent E speaks
Civil Disobedience, Rightly, Becomes Popular Again – hillbillypolitics
Domestic Terrorist Denied University Accolade of Emeritus Status – Gateway Pundit
Freedom of so-called “Religion”? – Woman Honor Thyself
Will Liberty Continue To Have A Home In America? – Political Christian
Red flag on green-jobs numbers – Hot Air
Is Colin Powell even trying anymore? – Stu Blog
Un-Educating
‘Waiting for Superman’ fuels parents’ furor at broken schools, union
Fed-up parents and teachers who saw the explosive education documentary “Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” yesterday were left either seething or in tears — and calling for revolutionary change after the film’s Big Apple debut.
“The passing along of children through the system is just disgusting,” said Barbara Levinson, 63, who was crying by the film’s end. “Every child should be treated as an individual.”
Viewers were also rocked by the work’s portrayal of the teachers unions’ protection of subpar educators.
This has been going on for years, and these parents are just now noticing?
“The laws as they stand can protect ineffective teachers who are bad — I’m disappointed in what the union’s become,” said Patricia Jordan, who won state teacher of the year in 1993.
“Effective and wonderful teachers are stifled by the ones who are problematic and hard to get rid of,” she fumed.
I remember a few teachers I had through the years who should NEVER have been let in a classroom, but they were still there long after I had moved on to the real world. I also had EXCELLENT teachers that actually cared whether or not I, personally, learned anything.
The movie, from directors of “An Inconvenient Truth,” takes aim at teacher tenure and “rubber rooms” for teachers facing disciplinary action. It profiles five kids who enter charter-school lotteries.
There should be no need for such lotteries! Our schools SHOULD be exemplary! You can’t throw money at something, and expect it to solve the problems. It appears that so many tax dollars, meant for the education of our children is being thrown into teacher’s health care and pensions. Wisconsin teachers whining about viagra is just a symptom of the problems plaguing the public school system nationwide.
“There is definitely a call for action,” said Alex Bergson, 23, of the West Village. “The union leadership seemed a little bit to blame with their stubbornness to change.”
A “little bit to blame”? Is he serious??? Union leadership is a LOT to blame! I have no doubt there are many who go into the teaching profession who are sincere in their desire to educate, and make a big difference in kids’ lives. I have talked to a few who left their dream of teaching BECAUSE of the corruption of the unions. I won’t name names.
Many educators and union representatives are panning the film, saying it misses the realities of the classroom.
“We don’t like ‘Waiting for Superman’ because we feel it stereotypes union teachers, said Arthur Goldstein, 55, a teacher at Francis Lewis HS in Queens and a United Federation of Teachers chapter leader.
The “realities of the classroom” are that many are nothing more than indoctrination centers. Another reality is that there are parents who don’t give a damn about their children getting an education. Or, having both parents working just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, they don’t have the time, and in some cases, the energy, to get involved in their kids’ education. Another reality….there are many teachers these days who care nothing for the education of children, and are more concerned about their benefits.
Remove the power from the unions, return it to the parents and community. Personally, I don’t want my grandchildren learning how evil America is from their teachers. I want them to know how exceptional this country is, how people have fought and died to retain liberties, just for them, even though they would never meet. I want them to be able to balance a checkbook, without using a calculator, pay their bills without worrying if they will be able to afford to eat. I want them to be able to speak English, carry on a rational conversation, and spell more than “OMG!”, and “IDK”.
Voter Fraud
Citizens’ Group Helps Uncover Alleged Rampant Voter Fraud in Houston
When Catherine Engelbrecht and her friends sat down and started talking politics several years ago, they soon agreed that talking wasn’t enough. They wanted to do more. So when the 2008 election came around, “about 50” of her friends volunteered to work at Houston’s polling places.
“What we saw shocked us,” she said. “There was no one checking IDs, judges would vote for people that asked for help. It was fraud, and we watched like deer in the headlights.”
Since it’s obvious that the so called officials aren’t doing their job, I’m really glad to see every day, ordinary folks, step up to the plate! I applaud this group’s efforts!
“The first thing we started to do was look at houses with more than six voters in them” Engelbrecht said, because those houses were the most likely to have fraudulent registrations attached to them. “Most voting districts had 1,800 if they were Republican and 2,400 of these houses if they were Democratic . . .
“But we came across one with 24,000, and that was where we started looking.”
It was Houston’s poorest and predominantly black district, which has led some to accuse the group of targeting poor black areas. But Engelbrecht rejects that, saying, “It had nothing to do with politics. It was just the numbers.”
Numbers don’t have a color. Well, unless you use a crayon.
“Vacant lots had several voters registered on them. An eight-bed halfway house had more than 40 voters registered at its address,” Engelbrecht said. “We then decided to look at who was registering the voters.”
Unfortunately, Houston isn’t the only large city that has such fraud going on. Do you ever wonder what the outcome of an election would be if there weren’t such activities? If people were actually HONEST? What a concept! 
Most of the findings focused on a group called Houston Votes, a voter registration group headed by Steve Caddle, who also works for the Service Employees International Union. Among the findings were that only 1,793 of the 25,000 registrations the group submitted appeared to be valid. The other registrations included one of a woman who registered six times in the same day; registrations of non-citizens; so many applications from one Houston Voters collector in one day that it was deemed to be beyond human capability; and 1,597 registrations that named the same person multiple times, often with different signatures.
Hmmm…. Service Employees International Union. Where have I heard that same before? *tapping head…thinking* Oh yeah……SEIU! Obama’s favorite union! I wonder why I’m not shocked at this news?
The outcome of the efforts grew in importance the day after Vasquez made his announcement. On the morning of Aug. 27, a three-alarm fire destroyed almost all of Harris County’s voting machines, throwing the upcoming Nov. 2 election into turmoil. While the cause wasn’t determined, the $40 million blaze, according to press reports, means election officials will be focused on creating a whole new voting system in six weeks. Just how they do it will determine how vulnerable the process becomes.
Quite an interesting “coincidence”, don’t you think?
Glenn Beck 09/24/10
Ahmanutjob
The Last Best Hope
Fools and the U.N.
But I repeat myself.
Waiting for Crazy
The Foundry
President Barack Obama’s second address to the United Nations General Assembly almost sounded as if he were speaking to voters on the campaign trail in Iowa, instead of fawning diplomats in Manhattan. He mentioned his financial reform, his commitment to fighting global warming, his efforts to withdrawal from Afghanistan and his new nuclear treaty with Russia. In classic Obama form, he mentioned the words “I,” “me” or “my” 34 times, including this line about his efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program: “Now let me be clear once more: The United States and the international community seek a resolution to our differences with Iran, and the door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it.” As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech just hours later would show, President Obama is gonna be waiting a long time.
Tiny Racists?
More Than 250,000 British Toddlers Labeled Racists
Munira Mirza, a senior adviser to London Mayor Boris Johnson, says teachers are being forced to report children as young as 3 years old to the authorities for using alleged “racist” language.
“Teachers are now required to report incidents of racist abuse among children as young as three to local authorities, resulting in a massive increase of cases and reinforcing the perception that we need an army of experts to manage race relations from cradle to grave,” she wrote in Prospect magazine.
How can a freakin’ THREE YEAR OLD be a racist??? IMHO, I honestly believe governments are CREATING racism with their ‘cradle to grave’ mentality!
H/T: John
Have Ya Seen This?
(source)
Not much of a shocker, is it! Heh.
ObamaCare’s Consequences
Unintended, But Not Unforeseen
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, is to the law of unintended consequences what Newton’s apple was to the law of gravity: the illustration that bonks us on the head with its obviousness. Practically every week since its passage has added a new dimension of mirth to Nancy Pelosi’s punchline for the ages, that we had to pass the bill to find out what is in it. Out of the mouths of babes and clueless politicians . . .
And her chuckling proves, once again, the jokes’ on us. Well, quite a few, but not all of us. There were many out here in cyberland who warned, shouted it from the rooftops, but were we listened to? Of course not. We’re just the unwashed masses. The “Homer Simpsons“.
The Democrats will rail in reliably demagogic fashion about the evil insurance fat cats boosting their profits, but consider this: Those losses would be passed on to health-care consumers in the form of higher premiums and reduced benefits, meaning that the mandate to cover those with pre-existing conditions will function as a tax on other insurance consumers, and those who were responsible enough to buy insurance before they got sick will be punished to bail out those who were not similarly responsible.
I bought health insurance long before I ever had any health issues. It’s just common sense. You know the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Well, that’s quite true. You may never need it, but it’s a REAL good idea to have it, just in case. I’ve already seen my premiums go up, as have most folks. I don’t have one of those ‘pay for everything’ type policies. I have a catastrophic policy. Which means, in case you don’t know, I actually PAY for my doctor’s visits. In full. Did you know that most doctors will charge LESS for a visit if they don’t have to file an insurance claim? Sometimes, it’s up to 50% less. If you’re old enough to remember, EVERYONE use to pay for their own doctor’s visits, and shots, and blood tests, etc. It was a WHOLE lot cheaper. Yes, the cost of everything has gone up over the years, but can you imagine if we didn’t have to pay for everyone else’s doctor visits too? How much would the cost come down? We also had something called Hospitalization. For anything that required a hospital stay, the insurance company paid 80%, you paid 20%. Along came HMOs. Another one of those Democrat ‘bright ideas’. Costs went up dramatically!
Democrats of late have spent a lot of time engaged in televised scoffing at the idea that regulatory uncertainty is a major cause of our current economic malaise. They would do well to consult the insurers whose businesses they are attempting to micromanage. WellPoint had this to say about its decision to discontinue child-only policies: “Unfortunately, there remains a great deal of uncertainty as to how the rules will be implemented and what the impacts might be on participating insurers.”
Once again, the socialists in Congress prove they have NO clue what they are doing. Or, perhaps, they know exactly what the consequence will be on the public, including the companies that take all the risks, and their intent is to destroy the economy, thinking they will step in as the “white knight” and save the day. Create chaos, step in and claim it’s the other guy’s fault, and propose solutions to ‘fix” the problem, steal money from hard working families, and say “You have to give it more time!” sigh….
Dozens of new taxes, regulatory beasties, and unlovely business outcomes have cropped up since the bill was passed. Meanwhile, the Democrats have declared war on financial reality, blasting insurance actuaries for the crime of consulting the actuarial tables when it comes to pre-existing conditions. And who can forget Rep. Henry Waxman’s fit of rage inspired by the fact that corporate accountants were following the rules of corporate accounting, inflicting massive writedowns on scores of struggling American companies forced to adjust their balance sheets to reflect the new costs and liabilities Obamacare inflicted on them?
The Democrats created a dependent society. They are obviously so incompetent it makes ones head spin. When those who can actually add and subtract numbers call them out, what is their reaction? Sputtering blame. I wonder….have any of those who pushed this massive tax/health bill down America’s throat ever balanced a check book? I’ll put it in real simple terms: You have X amount of dollars coming in on a monthly basis. You have X amount of bills. You subtract the bills from the income, and hopefully, you’ll have some left over for food. If you can’t afford steak and lobster with the left over funds (AFTER socking away some for a ‘rainy day’), you buy beans. You don’t go to the grocery store and fill your basket with a lot of high end items, write a check, and expect the next guy two places back in line to pay for the overdraft fees.
You wouldn’t think this was so complicated, would you.
