Smallville: Absolute Justice Review Part 2

The Justice Society of America is being stalked by a killer.  Will they survive or will they bring down the younger heroes with them?

Continued from Part 1.

 

Absolute Justice, Episode 2

Part two begins with Clark Kent awakening to find himself back in the museum owned by Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.  Alone, he removes the sheets from the cases and discovers exhibits of the gear belonging to the mystery group.  In the cases are items that thrilled the old comic book fan in me.  There was the Flash’s winged Mercury helmet,  Hourman’s hourglass, Dr. Midnite’s doctor bag, and Green Lantern’s ring with the railroad lantern shaped power battery. 

But the one relic of the old team that stood out was when Clark uncovered the case with Hawkgirl’s helmet in it. The lingering shot revealed that a horrific wound had been inflicted across one eye socket – the kind of wound someone couldn’t survive.  A pervasive sense of loss is further conveyed when the round table is uncovered that has the very patriotic logo of the Justice Society of America emblazoned on the marble.  Drawn to the painting on the wall, Clark uncovers it and surveys the team.  As he does, we see longer flashes from the archival film, this time in color serving as a recap from the first episode.

What follows is an argument filled gathering of the old and new heroes with Green Arrow once again being on the losing end of a fight with Hawkman.  Comic book fans are used to this as the characters traditionally don’t get along. A reluctant Hawkman agrees to an alliance but is vocal about his unhappiness with the incompetent newer heroes.

So now we have our lineup to face off against the Icicle:  The Blur aka Clark Kent, Green Arrow, the depowered Martian Manhunter, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and Stargirl. That seems like a lot of firepower, but the killer is a professional and is hunting them.  One thing is certain, he is no joke like Mr. Freeze.

But the plot is about to get a great deal more complicated as Lois Lane (Erica Durance) enters the picture.  Someone sends her a package filled with information on how a group of vigilantes were framed for crimes they didn’t commit.  Her boss, Lex Luthor’s former protégé, Tess Mercer seems to recognize the checkerboard pattern on the package and acts strangely.

From there the episode moves to some strong character scenes including Chloe and Stargirl talking about the differences in the teams, Green Arrow and Hawkman insulting each other (the actors were having too much fun and it showed),  and Dr. Fate telling Clark about his destiny.  Fate can see everyone’s future but his own and his dialogue with the future Superman is positively mythic.

Oddly enough, that gets topped with a marvelous scene between Fate and Lois.  Every scene with Dr. Fate is magic, no pun intended and what could have been the hokiest character is instead the most appealing.  Not bad considering you can’t see his face.

The motivations of the Icicle and his affiliation to a secret government organization is revealed and this has repercussions still being explored in the series.  Amanda Waller (Pam Grier!) is playing both the killer and Lois in a dangerous game.  I said things were getting more complicated, but you haven’t seen anything yet.

Having gotten an idea of where they can find the killer, Dr. Fate and the Martian Manhunter bond while looking for the cryogenic hitman.  Both have tragedies scarring their lives and feel apart from the others.  What promises to be a budding friendship ends in tragedy.

In the aftermath, Carter and Ollie have a very blunt conversation and we finally find out Hawkman’s back story.  Once again, tragedy is at the core of one of the characters.  The heroes gather one more time to prepare for the final battle which is one of Smallville’s better efforts.

 

After the densely packed previous episode, the star of the show, Tom Welling, stepped in to direct the second with very little preparation time.  There is a definite change of approach; though the atmosphere is still dark there is a warmth to this episode that embodies what the JSA is all about. In the current version of the Justice Society of America the theme is one of family and of generations mixing so that the older hands can teach the younger rookies. Those themes are touched on repeatedly as the episode progressed and the hopeful endings really caught the essence of the JSA.  The younger heroes get the message that it is all about family at the end of the story.

Usually a special episode or story doesn’t carry over into later episodes, but Absolute Justice influenced the rest of the season and from what has leaked the last season to air starting September 24th.  The secret organization is still active and their motivations seem to cross many lines.  In fact a line at the end of Absolute Justice has turned out to be the setup for the big villain of the final season.

But did it live up to expectations?

For me, it exceeded them.  Somehow everyone involved managed to pack in an immense amount of comic book history, action, and actual character development into a good story.  No small achievement, that. I loved the episode and marvel at how emotional some of the scenes are, especially the ones with Dr. Fate. 

When iTunes put both episodes up as one download at the regular price for one, I jumped on it and purchased the HD version.  The screen captures are downsized from that and I have to say the show looks great. The effects were very good and it did have the feeling of a movie rather than a television show. 

I recommend renting the Season 9 DVDs from Netflix or your local video store/Redbox.  Smallville turned into a good show the final few seasons and the increased ratings show it.  Be aware there is some mild gore and one death in particular is rather nasty.

Some more shots from the museum featuring JSA member gear:

Wildcat’s gloves and tape.

Hourman’s hourglass.

Mr. Terrific’s belt.

Green Lantern’s ring and power battery.

Smallville: Absolute Justice Review Part 1

The Justice Society of America makes its live action debut. So how does the small screen treat the Golden Age heroes?

As a child in the 1970’s, I became a fan of the Justice Society of America (JSA) when they were revived for a run by DC Comics.  Back then, they hailed from an alternate Earth and there would be crossovers between the heroes created in the 1940’s and their modern counterparts in the Justice League of America. There was something about these old fashioned character that I immediately took too and over the years wondered why others didn’t. 

That all changed with the new century, as a revived and revised JSA became a top title in comic books.  Still, I never imagined I’d see a live action version of these heroes.  They came from an era of bright primary colors and spandex costumes.  But with the success of comic book writer Geoff Johns episode featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes in season 8 of Smallville, the producers of the show wanted him to come back.  His treatment of the JSA was so well received they expanded it from one episode into two, then ran them back to back as a special “movie” event.

Expectations ran high and I was eagerly awaiting the episode… And dreading it.

Absolute Justice: Episode 1

Things begin with resident super hero coordinator Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) on her cell phone leaving a message for Clark about tracking down the Kandorians (Kryptonian refugees and the main storyline of the season) while walking down a dark street.  Something begins interfering with the cell and all the lights in the street flicker before extinguishing.  Being an old pro at the whole danger thing, Chloe doesn’t hesitate to run when she spies a man holding a glowing staff on a fire escape watching her.  As she runs, a bright light follows her and then corners her in an alley.

The light dims and a scruffy man wearing a star spangled blue shirt is revealed.  He introduces himself as Sylvester Pemberton and that he shares something in common with her – they both are trying to put a team together.  Still uneasy, Chloe listens to the strange man as he explains that he knows her code name is “Watchtower” and how easy it is with modern technology to find out about people and that she is lucky that it was a friend who found out.  Not relaxing, Chloe makes a retort and notices that it is suddenly very cold.

With one hand, Pemberton picks her up like she weighs nothing and deposits her in a dumpster.  With the cover down, Chloe tries to watch through the mesh vents but only sees blinding flashes of light and sounds of violent fighting.  An icicle rams through the steel side of the dumpster as the chaotic sequence continues and eventually a scream of pain is heard.  The battle has ended.

Emerging from the iced over dumpster, the young woman finds a mortally wounded Pemberon on the ground.  With his dying words he warns her the people who came for “us” are coming for you next.  “Check…” he gasps and expires.  “Check what?!” an upset Chloe exclaims.

Cue “Save Me” by Remy Zero and the opening credits for Smallville.

You are probably wondering why I went into so much detail.  This two episode event is filled with everything but the kitchen sink and I might have seen one momentarily for that matter. Suffice it to say that watching Absolute Justice precludes doing your favorite hobby or chatting on the side.  For an old comic book fan, the references are nirvana.  But for new comers they will seem to be an organic part of the story and I really enjoyed how well that was executed.

The rollercoaster ride continues after the credits end and picks up with Chloe and Clark Kent (Tom Welling) talking in the emergency room of the local hospital.  As they discuss what happened, a blonde teenage girl shows up in tears trying to find out about Pemberton’s death.  In a moment that is very typical of Clark on the series, he tries to comfort the distraught girl.  The Daily Planet press badge catches her eye and tears turn to anger as the girl storms away.  Meanwhile, Chloe’s hacking skills are used to copy all the data from the deceased man’s cell phone.  The last call made was to a Wesley Dodds.

Cut to the apartment of Dodds.  It is cluttered with clocks of all types ticking away and Wesley is revealed sleeping in a chair.  He is dreaming the battle where his friend was killed and awakes with a weary look on his face.  Donning a strange gasmask, trenchcoat, and gun he looks in the mirror when the killer enters his apartment.  That is the last time we see The Sandman alive.

We’ve hardly begun and two members of the Golden Age JSA are dead!  While there are momentary flashes of humor in Absolute Justice, the tone is very dark.  As the story progresses, the themes of loss, regret, and sacrifice become more pronounced along with another theme that I will mention later.

Clark and Chloe separate to make investigations into what is going on with Miss Sullivan being assisted by Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow, an archery based super hero.  They find out Pemberton had a long criminal record and the teenage girl is a sophomore named Courtney Whitmore.  With Clark’s finding of Dodds’ body two further clues are discovered.  One was written by Wesley with his own blood, the letters “JSA.”  The other is found in the wounds of the victims – the melting ice has human DNA mixed in it.

We then get a clear look at our killer.  For some reason I immediately thought of Dieter on Sprockets, but I digress.  This is the typical serial killer going through the photos of his victims scene but well executed due to an interesting choice of lighting and sound calculated to put the viewer on edge.  Oh and a major clue is shown at the end of it.

Meanwhile, Clark and Chloe reunite in the archives of The Daily Planet where our intrepid reporter has unearthed more information about the victims.  It turns out they were part of a group of people arrested for embezzlement, extortion, and a host of other crimes but refused to testify against each other.  As they watch an old film reel (in B&W to evoke the 40’s feel though it looks to be the 70s or early 80s), Clark begins to suspect there is something fishy going on. These weren’t garden variety hoods, they were made up of CEO’s, professors, a heavyweight champion, and a woman who fed the homeless.  [That last one is Ma Hunkel, the original Red Tornado in a really obscure nod to the comics.]

Almost all the core members of the Golden Age JSA are named in their civilian identities and there is a palpable feeling of history conveyed through the use of the archaic projector.  That feeling of the past hangs over the rest of the story, adding depth to what would be just another super hero team up.  It also shows Clark demonstrating more maturity than Chloe as he evaluates what is happening.  His statement about the group’s loyalty, “This goes beyond honor” and growing suspicion shows how much the future Superman has progressed this season.

With information from Pemberton’s cell and the archives, Clark goes to the residence of Carter Hall (Michael Shanks), one of the surviving members of the group. It turns out to be a mothballed museum and Hall gives the reporter a very chilly reception. Also present is someone else from the film, Kent Nelson.  Present in body, at least, for he is shown to be a randomly muttering wreck talking to his bowling ball bag. Curious, Clark uses his x-ray vision to check the bag out.  A strange helmet is inside and to his surprise it turns in the bag to look back at him.

 

Hall gets rid of Mr. Kent and a discussion with Nelson follows. Shortly after that, Ollie has tracked down the glowing staff from the beginning and finds out that the cheerleader has stolen it.  Confronting her on the street doesn’t go well and Ollie is left empty handed and astounded by what just happened.  Rejoining Chloe, they find and search the car owned by Sylvester Pemberton, The Star Rocket Racer.  Old school comic books at their most charming.

It turns out he knew everything about them and the upcoming generation of heroes.  Not a good sign.  Back at the museum, Courtney has shown up and is arguing with Carter over avenging their friends’ deaths.  When guilt doesn’t work, the girl asks “What would Shayera have done?”  That stops him in his tracks.

A terrified Nelson is told by Carter that "We need him.” For a moment, he is lucid and remembers that he had a wife and a family once.  That being Dr. Fate took all that away.  Still frightened, he pulls the helmet out of the bag and it wraps itself around his head painfully.  Energy flows from the glowing helm and Nelson is transformed into Dr. Fate!

The costume is very close to the original comic book one and is surprisingly effective.  Hall approaches a wall that opens up to reveal the armor,weapons, and wings of Hawkman. “It has been a long time since I made someone bleed,” states the archeologist.

This costume isn’t quite as effective but does remain faithful to the look of the comic book if a great deal more practical. Some may knock the small wings but they went for practical effects rather than CGI and there is a limit that a man can carry while remaining on his feet!  It also hides the wire flying harness nicely.

All of this leads to a series of confrontations.  The first is between Clark and Dr. Fate in the hospital room of the father of the killer.

The second is between the now costumed Courtney (calling herself Stargirl) and Icicle.  This fight was very kinetic and one of the best in the nine years the show has been on the air.

The final confrontation is between Hawkman and Green Arrow that ends badly for Ollie.

With Clark missing and the JSA being far more capable than they realized, Chloe and Ollie decide they need reinforcements in a great little scene between the two. A phone call is made to Detective John Jones, the depowered Martian Manhunter!

So ends Episode 1 of Absolute Justice.  It was fast moving and never relented for a minute.  A sense of menace was ever present and the younger heroes seemed to be in over their heads.  So now we have the set up, will the story deliver in Part 2?

A few more goodies from this episode:

 

Ma Hunkel, The Red Tornado was a truly comic comic book character who wore a pot with eyeholes cut out, red longjohns, and a blue blanket for a cape while fighting crime.

Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash.

Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern.

Nine Years But It Feels Like Yesterday

Today is the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.  For me, the memories are still fresh – especially watching the second airliner hit while the chattering heads weren’t paying attention.  Their slow reaction embodied the disbelief many had about the nature of what was happening.  But the moment I saw that plane hit, I knew it was Osama bin Laden behind it and we were at war.

There is a price to be paid for being well informed and that is to watch many train wrecks move in slow motion and being unable to do anything about them. I felt that way then and I feel that way now watching the Cordoba House controversy near “Ground Zero.”  For the record, one of the landing gear from the violent intersection of airliner and tower landed on that building, which makes it in the crash radius in my opinion.

While I believe the government has no say in whether or not a mosque disguised as a “cultural center” should be built there and should butt out of it, I also believe people should understand the heavy handed symbolism of placing a mosque in a place of Islamic terrorism.  Traditionally, Muslim conquerors build mosques over churches, temples, and mandirs of newly occupied lands.  This symbolizes that the land is now and forever Muslim no matter what happens.  Naming the “cultural center” the Cordoba House is a reference to the Muslim capitol of occupied Spain centuries ago.  That’s very pointed and symbolic; something that will resonate with Islamic radicals world wide.  It is a victory monument.

Imam Rauf is the man behind it and extolled as a shining example of moderate Islam.  However, he is on record as not just supporting sharia (Islamic law) in the United States but also has blamed the U.S. for 9/11.   Rauf was also a backer of the Iranian Revolution back in 1978. that put the mullahs in power.  Dig around and you find he is another example of a “moderate Muslim” who says one thing here in the West and opposing things to his Arab audiences. 

It is a great pity the ignorance of the masses and willful wishes of the political class allows such people to operate without showing their true faces.  A lack of understanding that cultures can and often are completely different in goals and attitudes compounds this.

The mosque should be opposed using our 1st Amendment rights of free speech, but I reiterate the government should keep out of this.  Don’t get me started on the idiots wanting to burn the Koran for publicity purposes masquerading as free speech statements. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

The simple truth is that nine years ago I knew we were in a war that would last decades if not generations. That war still continues today and goes well beyond the shooting in Afghanistan.  It is a clash of incompatible cultures and those clashes never end prettily. Sometimes they never end; we have the examples of the Middle East and South Asia to illustrate that.  I don’t see an end in sight or even possible.

A Tense World

I’m going to preface this post with a bit of whining.  It is annoying that I’ve had multiple grim postings on this blog and I’d rather be writing about more positive things.  It is time for me to do another review just to break the monotony, so my next post will be a long delayed review on a Smallville episode from last season.

On to the dark and dreary…

A Latter-day Saints bishop in Fresno was murdered yesterday after services by a stranger asking to see anyone in charge at the Visalia 2nd Ward.  My prayers go out to his family and congregation.  With all the Mormon bashing ramping up because of Prop 8 and Glenn Beck’s growing popularity, I wouldn’t be surprised if this doesn’t get classified as a hate crime.  But it could easily be a suicide by police situation given the gloomy economic times.

Speaking of Glenn Beck, I’m not a fan of his.  But I thought his “Restoring Honor” rally was a very good thing and am glad it wasn’t a political rally like the left made it out to be.  It was an old fashioned revival and correctly made the point that the people of America need to get their act together if anything good is to be done.  We certainly can’t rely on governments to be moral authorities.  Predictably, the political left have savaged the event and tried to paint it as racist.  They completely missed the point and that is very sad indeed.

Meanwhile, the West continues to be clueless as to how the Middle East actually operates.  While all cultures have difficulty understanding each other, the governments of the West perpetually assume that everyone else wants the same things we do.  Foolish is a word that barely begins to describe that assumption. Watching the jockeying in the Middle East with Iran and Turkey making a bid for dominant influence in the area is fascinating and underscores the fractured divisions weakening the Arab states.  With little Arab unity they are unable to resist their rivals influence.  Syria’s falling into Tehran's sphere of influence would have been unthinkable decades ago.  This interview of Jonathan Spyer by Michael Totten illustrates some of the problems with America and Europe’s view of the Middle East.  It is lengthy and worth every minute spent reading it.

Ever wondered what the United States looked like during the lead up to the Civil War?  A panorama of Cincinnati, Ohio’s waterfront has been scanned in from daguerreotype photos made in 1848 and put out for the public to see.  That type of photographic process is an amazing thing in itself and the detail that can be pulled from the old plates is incredible.  It makes me wonder what modern lenses combined with the old technology could do.

It Has to Stop Raining Eventually

It has been quite some time since I last posted and that mostly has to do with my health being in a very bad down cycle. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome tends to run in cycles and this has been the worst one since I first succumbed to the illness over twenty years ago.  This was surprising because I’d thought I’d gotten good at handling the illness and had established a new bottom floor in the cycles.

But much like the large amounts of rain we’ve gotten this summer, it hasn’t shown any sign of letting up.  Locally, we are on a pace to break the seasonal rain totals set in 2007 when flooding devastated the area.  At least the last couple of days have been sunny, if humid, and the forecast only has a chance of rain tomorrow night.

Due to wearing myself out doing things on two days this past week, I ended up not getting out to church again.   I look forward to Sunday more than any other day of the week and this is aggravating.  Oh well, at least it looks like I’ll be getting out with the missionaries again later this week.

This downturn in my health has been so extended that I had to ask to be released from my calling as Ward Mission Leader.  I still insist it is the best calling a man can have as a Latter-day Saint and didn’t want to give it up.  But the Holy Ghost made it clear it needed to be thus and so at the end of June I was released.  Still a ward missionary though and that’s a relief.

So I keep hoping my health and other circumstances will improve.  My intentions are to post here more often and will probably do more movie reviews just to keep me motivated.

And at some point post about the cat who walked in the cat door and won’t leave.

A Society That Can’t Protect Itself…

… Is a society that will collapse.  That appears to be the case in the United Kingdom as the disarmed populace and police officers were in no position to stop their latest spree killer. 

At some point this unwillingness to defend their people has to be considered madness, one would think.  Bird was armed with a .22 rifle and a shotgun, but was able to kill as many people as the Fort Hood shooter who had a semi-automatic pistol.  With a mostly unarmed police force, the Brits failed to stop a murderer when they couldn’t shoot back.  Governments exist to protect their people from harm and instill order of some kind; that is the most basic tenet of governance. 

This makes me grateful to life in a country that has the right to bear arms and hasn’t forgotten that deadly force is needed to stop such murderers.  Well, at least for the moment.

A bill has been proposed in New York state to limit police officer to shooting to wound arms and legs.  Anyone who has fired a pistol knows it isn’t like the movies and that they aren’t that precise.  Police officers aren’t going to be in range conditions being able to take their shots slowly and methodically without any incoming lead.  Simply put, there is no way “shoot to wound” can be done!

We are living in an era of dangerous stupidity.

A Grim Memorial Day Weekend

It’s been awhile since I posted and a lot has happened.  While I’ve been fighting my health problems, my father had hernia surgery on relatively short notice to begin the month of May.  An older friend I home taught for years died a very prolonged death this past Monday.  Then yesterday, two people from a family we know were killed in Memorial Day traffic when a trailer came loose from a pickup into their lane.  It has been a very rough month.

Started getting sick Friday night and thought I might be over it by this morning, but I’m worse again.  Some virus going around, I expect.  So no church today.  Absolutely trivial compared to what has happened and I don’t know if I can say enough prayers for the Cox family… So I’m asking everyone who reads this to pray for them.

Odds and Ends

Will be working on a post about the Tea Party in Winona last week and about the Republican Congressional District 1 endorsement convention this past Saturday to put up this week.

In the meantime, a few items that caught my eye the last two weeks:

A follow up on the couple beaten in New Orleans last week by leftwing protesters.  The Palin pin part of it has been debunked, but it is very clear this was a politically motivated attack. The mainstream media shows that they are well beyond simple bias by ignoring this one.  If conservative protesters had done this to a pair of Democrats it would be the overkill story for weeks.

Dr. Helen aka the Instawife has an interesting piece up about how psychologists are moving to social activism in their therapy.  This is damning stuff and worth checking out. The desire to control other’s lives is getting to be the hallmark of the left.

Speaking of controlling people, the FDA is going to start regulating salt in prepared foods.  This serves two goals:  controlling the population even in the most miniscule way and to inflate the number of government employees (they’ll need to hire more to administrate this, of course). Idiocy. Look for more of this under the guise of lowering the government’s cost of providing healthcare.

There is no way ObamaCare can be funded, it is simply impossible.  But the Democrats will keep trying and one way they want to raise taxes is by adding a VAT (Value Added Tax). That hasn’t worked out so well for the Europeans and is yet another way to retard the growth of an economy.  In our case, it would kill it dead. Best quote:

In 2008, the average resident of West Virginia, one of the poorest American states, had an income $2,000 a year higher than the average resident of the European Union, according to economist Mark Perry of the University of Michigan, Flint.

Oh yeah, we really need to emulate those Europeans.

Denial of reality seems to be a big part of leftwing big government.  Over in California they are doing their best to be like Europe and ignore the financial catastrophe they are in.  Entertainment comes first but the piper will have to be paid eventually.

Meanwhile, that unpronounceable volcano in Iceland is still hampering flying and a bigger eruption is possible.  But just how unsafe was it to fly?  Turns out that the grounding was based exclusively on computer models and nary a single weather balloon was sent up to get real data. The religion of computer models has already given us the fraud of man made global warming and now this is going on. Once again reality is being ignored in favor of theory.  I’m afraid science is dead.

The relationship between Israel and the United States is on life support as well.  The hostility of Obama and his cronies toward the Israelis  has been palpable of late and has generated a great deal of concern. I’ve been warning people he is slowly building a case for armed conflict with Israel and been greeted with dismissal.  Better look again, as this refusal by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to rule out shooting down Israeli planes crossing Iraqi airspace to hit Iran. The ghost of Jeremiah Wright is alive and well in the Obama administration.

A Must Read

Read it and weep for the future.

Beware the False Flags at the Tea Parties

UPDATED

One of the most dangerous things that can happen to someone involved in a cause is succumbing to the belief that “the end justifies the means.”  The cause then justifies any kind of dishonest behavior and falsehood.  Having wandered the political spectrum I can say all political persuasions have people vulnerable to the philosophy.  However, the percentages are far higher in those who tilt to the political left.

Case in point is the slander directed at Tea Partiers.  The media can’t resist going profoundly negative in an effort to protect their secular messiah, Obama. But interestingly enough, it isn’t working with 40% of the people having a positive view of the Tea Party movement. Attempts to paint authentic grassroots protesters as racist/white supremacist have failed miserably as polling has shown the cultural breakdown of the groups to be nearly identical to the general population.

So what to do when the lies don’t get traction?  Start a false flag operation to frame Tea Partiers as extremists.

As reprehensible as this is, I suspect it is only the beginning.  So keep an eye out at the Tea Parties for troublemakers.  They aren’t going to be the real deal.

UPDATE

Further evidence of how the left is moving toward extreme behavior including violence.

Over at Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft has two posts up today worth reading.  The first is on the AP lying about racist comments being made by Obamacare protesters.  They’ve escalated to lying about the videos (plural) out there that don’t show any evidence of epithets being flung.  The AP is aiding and abetting the lies being told by the Congressional Black Caucus by claiming it was one video that was presented by conservative and libertarian bloggers.

That’s not the worst of it though.

Violence has always been an inherent aspect of left wing politics, from the bombings in the early 1970’s to the fringe anarchists (their calls for anarchy are just a cover for hating capitalism) attacking Republicans on a bus at the 2008 National Convention. The beating of Kenneth Gladney by SEIU thugs last year got faint media attention.  Now we have this savage beating of a young couple for wearing Sarah Palin pins.

Once again you can hear crickets chirping with the media being silent.  I expect more of this as the public turns against the Democrats.

Happy Easter + Thoughts on General Conference

I hope everyone has a happy Easter and use the time to reflect on all the good things they have in life - no matter how big or small. It is a time of gratitude for me.

We celebrate Easter to remember the Lord rising and conquering death.  That glorious feat made it possible for all of us to be saved from death and be able to come back to our Heavenly Father.  There is no greater gift giver than the Savior and we should be very grateful to Him.

Life has been very difficult of late, but there are always small things to be grateful for no matter how dark the storm clouds.  These are trying times for most people, so I don’t exactly feel alone in this.

Is also has been time for General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is always interesting to pick out the main themes being taught in the sessions, for they are to be guidance for half the year (if not beyond).  So far, the one that seems to dominate is guiding the children of the Church correctly. A great deal of concern is being shown toward children going astray and what parents should be teaching to prevent that.

With our popular culture in a freefall of depravity and hedonism this is one of the biggest challenges facing us today.  It takes more effort to be righteous with each generation it seems and I think part of the unrest in the political sphere represents more than just economic worries.  A feeling of things slipping away is pervasive in the conversations I have with people. 

Another theme in the conference talks is about how happiness doesn’t come from the material world, but from the spiritual. I’m hoping to hear more on that today.

UPDATED

Another General Conference has ended and it will be six months until the next one.

Again the main theme was about teaching and raising the “rising generation” in righteousness.  Over and over the responsibility of parents and youth leaders in guiding the children in the Church was stressed.  Dealing with adversity was the secondary theme with the Atonement by Jesus Christ given equal emphasis.

My favorite talk was by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf from the Sunday morning session. “Let us love at all times,” is something I try to live by; following in the Saviors footsteps.  Counseling the members not to look down upon others due to their appearance or circumstances in life stood out to me. That instruction is something more members of the Church should listen to. It also spoke to me more than the talks on parenting – not surprising as I have no children and very little prospect of ever marrying.

I look forward to reading the talks and seeing which ones will work the best for missionary work!

Odds and Ends

The Large Hadron Collider finally did something noteworthy by colliding two protons together.  Shockingly, a black hole did not develop. I’m just glad to see the thing finally running!

Closer to home, there has been no snow in March for the first time on record.  While I’m enjoying the warmer than usual daytime temps, the lack of precipitation has me concerned.  We can only coast off the water from the snow melts for so long before it becomes an issue. 

Things are tenser than usual between North Korea and South Korea after the sinking of a Southern navy vessel.  With 46 crew unaccounted for, the emotions are running high. Probably a mine, but I doubt it was an old one.  More than likely the Norks are testing what they can get away with.  With a weak U.S. president, the little dictators are running wild.

On the home front, I’m needing to get more ammo for my Savage .17HM2 to zero it in.  We want to plant a garden and there are large amount of rabbits around here.  Never have dressed and cooked a critter before, so I plan to kill two lepus with one stone by protecting the garden. 

The .17HM2 is a necked down .22LR round with high velocity and frangibility.  Shooting flat to 100 yards it disintegrates when it hits something which makes it a safer round to use than the venerable .22LR.   It is a scope only kind of round and I need to get experience with scopes (being an iron sight kind of guy).

The Great Divider

For some time I have considered Obama to be “The Great Divider,” especially in regard to racial issues.  The Democrats have been inflaming things by making false accusations of racism and violence by Tea Partiers.  Be sure to read all the links in those posts.

These accusations are flat out lies designed to smear average Americans who don’t want to see the country turn into a socialist state or dictatorship.  Claiming a rock was thrown through a Democrat office window when the said office is on the 30th floor of a building is probably the most ludicrous of the lies.

The end result of this is that there can be no coming together, no bipartisanship, and no reconciliation (not the Senate maneuver) between the right and left in America.  It simply isn’t possible when the left plays these games and if you think things are polarized know you have no clue.  Unless Republicans take back Congress and repeal ObamaCare, I predict a civil war by no later than 2015.   We now have irreconcilable differences and a president who has no interest in building bridges or listening to the people. 

The irony of the smear tactics being used by Obama and his enablers in Congress is that they may breed that which they are lying about.  Not only are they genuinely angering conservatives and libertarians with their lies, those lies are believed by people on the left who have no clue what is really going on.  With the real tendency toward violence on the left, I will not be surprised if we start seeing violent acts against Tea Partiers.  Oh wait, we’ve already seen that with the SEIU thugs.

I think the Democrats have forgotten the important fact that every government must be afraid of the people because that’s where the real power lies.  Instead, they insist on imposing their elitist socialist views on an unhappy populace.  By fomenting anger with lies the leftists think they can control things. They will reap the whirlwind if they keep on this path and I had hoped I wouldn’t be around to see the day when the country was torn apart. Sadly, that is looking very unlikely now.

This is why it will be critical to throw the Democrats out of office in November.  If the House and Senate aren’t taken away from them, ObamaCare will be the least of our worries.  A civil war is not something to want or desire.  It makes me think of Theoden’s speech to Gandalf in the movie LoTR: The Two Towers:

“Simbelmyne. Ever has it grown on the tombs of my forebearers.  Now it shall cover the grave of my son. Alas that these evil days should be mine. The young perish and the old linger. That I should live......to see the last days of my house.”

We need to take action now to undue the damage being done. The voters need to send a clear message in November.

Odds and Ends

So much for posting the other night!  It has been another strange week and I’m trying to recover from a trip to the Minnesota State Capitol yesterday.  My father and a mutual friend went up to visit our State Representitive Greg Davids and watch the House in action.  Having floor passes, we witnessed first hand the very messy process of law making.  I suspect that the general public would have an interesting reaction if they saw how things actually function.

Sitting in on the House Republican Caucus before hand was just as fascinating.  All of it was reminiscent of the activity in a beehive with constituents, politicians, lobbyists, pages, activists, and visiting students bussing around the hallways. I would have liked to stay longer and visit with the pols I’ve gotten to know over the few years I’ve been in politics.  But it was taking it out of me and we needed to get going on the long trip home.  There were also sliders to get at White Castle.  All in all, a good time.

Now for a few links to things that caught my interest around the world:

The Russian Bear has been stirring for awhile and the Brits have been intercepting their bombers quite a bit in the past year.  The Norwegians have been busy doing the same and I get the feeling that Obama’s weak behavior in dealing with foreign countries is getting tested.

The economic and totalitarian fiasco that is ObamaCare will soon reap destructive results in the bond markets. Scratch that, it is already happening. Once again it is a problem magnified by Obama’s incompetence in handling foreign affairs – of course he isn’t any better at handling domestic affairs either.

Locally, we had an endorsing convention last Saturday.  Both candidates for the Republican endorsement ran good campaigns and I think Jeremy Miller will win in November.  The results weren’t a surprise but the margin of victory was.  It bodes well that all three counties went for Miller. Congratulations to Jeremy and I look forward to helping his campaign out.

Lack of Posting

I’ve been AWOL on posting here for some time now.  At the moment, I am in the midst of making changes to my life and reprioritizing to try to improve my health. As a result, some things dropped in priority and this blog is one of those things.

Starting in February, I’ve been going to pain therapy at Gunderson Clinic to learn coping techniques and relaxation meditation methods to reduce the constant pain I’m in.  The sessions are wrapping up next week and the results have been promising. I’ll be keeping up the meditation techniques on a permanent basis.

Between that, moving back into my room/cleaning house, starting weight training/walks again, and the political convention season there hasn’t been much energy to go around. 

Hopefully, I will get a post or two in later today.

The Smell of Astroturf

Or the fumes Wafting from the Coffee Party.

Astroturfing in politics is the process of creating a a fake grassroots effort to sway public opinion or sitting politicians. David Axelrod of the Obama administration is a living legend at doing this and it is what has made him politically powerful. Much of it is centered around unions and isn’t anything close to being grassroots.

So it was interesting to see accusations against the Tea Party movement that they were astroturfed and controlled by sinister Republican interests.  Except when they were controlled by the sinister insurance companies. Or when they were controlled by Fox News.  Sorry, the conspiracy theorists/spin doctors never could make up their mind who really controlled the Tea Party rallies.

Sadly, the left are so far divorced from the people of the land that they are incapable of recognizing a true grassroots movement born of frustration with out of control government growth.  Character assassination and ranting about astroturfing have failed to dent the movement simply because it isn’t astroturfed.  That should scare them as big populist movements tend to change things.

So a change in tactics has happened and the left have formed something called the “coffee party.”  Interestingly, instead of having multiple movements with much in common springing up independently (and fighting with each other a good amount) there is one person behind the formation of this group, Annabel Park.

Ms. Park and her new group instantly received a lot of attention from The Washington Post and The New York Times.  To be expected as they are not fans of the Tea Partiers.  She has stated that they are not the opposite of the Tea Party and may have common ground. But wait, what is that smell in the air?  Smells like artificial grass to me.

Turns out that Ms. Park has a history with The New York Times and also was a big organizer for Obama’s presidential campaign. Over at Legal Insurrection, William Jacobson has presented the details on her activities including Twitter messages that are extremely hostile towards the Tea Party.  I agree with his summation that this is just a continuation of “the perpetual Obama campaign.”  I’d add that it is clear the media want something, anything to derail the Tea Party movement.

I wonder if Axelrod is involved?

 

 

del.icio.us Tags: Coffee Party,Annabel Park,Tea Party,astroturf,politics

If You Think U.S. Politics Are Bad…

 

Coming off the rather lame healthcare summit that was done for political cover, most of the coverage has dealt with the testy exchange between President Obama and Senator McCain. That was nothing compared to what goes on in other countries.  Check out this withering verbal assault on the President of the European Union.

 

At first it seems like a Monty Python skit, but then the tempers really begin to flare. It makes our politicians look good by comparison doesn’t it?

Back to the summit – I think that was a clear win for the Republicans as the Democrats only had pity inducing stories for ammunition.  The GOP came ready and had their A gamers at the top of their form. Obama did not help things as he gave the Democrats twice as much time to speak than the Republicans.  Then he gave himself more time that either!  If they think this will swing the public over to supporting reconciliation they are sorely mistaken.

 

del.icio.us Tags: Obamacare,summit,Nigel Farage,Obama,McCain,politics

Can’t Trust Machines Thanks to Humans

 

We live in uncertain and what is starting to be unstable times, which makes us look for stability and something to believe in.  High reliance on technology and gadgets to make our lives easier requires quite a bit of faith in machines.  We even trust them with our money – notice all the ATM’s out there.

Well that trust is starting to be broken.  One of the latest forms of theft is putting card “skimmers” over the ones on ATM’s.  Over at Krebs on Security, a couple of posts reveal the trickery involved in stealing debit card information.  The first shows one skimmer in detail that was found on a Citibank ATM in California. Hard to tell that it wasn’t supposed to be part of the machine.

The follow up post shows a variety of devices that have been found on ATM’s.  To successfully capture the data needed to commit debit card fraud, two things are needed: first, the data on the magnetic strip which contains the card numbers, user name, and bank info; the second is some way of recording the PIN number.  Tiny pinhole camera’s and fake button pads are the key to the latter and sometimes the info is passed on by a cell phone.

It is an impressive show of old school hardware hacking and with about a billion dollars of ATM fraud a year we’ll be seeing more of it.  Check out the professional quality of this gear and think if you would spot it.  Most of us are too much in a hurry and I know I haven’t been looking for this kind of thing.

It isn’t just ATM’s that are being rigged this way; gas pumps in Utah have been tampered with as well. Anything that takes a debit card or credit card will be suspect at this rate.

Maybe it is time to go back to carrying cash.

 

del.icio.us Tags: ATM fraud,card skimmer,gas pumps,faith in machines

Ceding Sovereignty

AKA Joining the EU or the Greek Regret

For some time I’ve been collecting links to articles for a large post on the American economy.  Sadly, there are simply too many pieces of bad news to write a reasonably sized post. Still don’t know what to do with all those links, but in the meantime a financial crisis in Europe may be an indicator of what will happen to the USA.

Greece’s deficit percentage of their GDP has ballooned to unmanageable proportions and it has caused the money markets to be shaky.  For awhile, it looked like Germany would bail them out since that is what people in Europe expect.  That is looking highly unlikely and the economically better off EU nations have little sympathy for the Greeks despite the threat insolvency would have on the Euro.

The Greek government shows no signs of taking any real measures to deal with their debt and the Greek people have threatened strikes and riots over austerity plans.  Total paralysis of the always unstable government is where they are at. With reform opposed by people on the dole, nothing can be done. This is the sad place turning a nation into a welfare state will take you.

Thing is, they joined the European Union. That means they ceded sovereignty under certain economic conditions according to the Lisbon Treaty. So now the Greeks have been informed that they have to take drastic measures or the EU will do it for them. While I have my doubts about the ability to force the Greeks to comply; it has to be noted that there has been talk of throwing them out of the EU.

I’ll be blunt.  I have no sympathy for the Greeks as they are a socialist state that can’t keep a coherent government in place for any extended amount of time. They also foolishly voted away their ability to be an independent nation out of greed, with visions of wealth rolling in from the union.

But this crisis bears watching for it may be a predictor of what will happen in the near future for the United States.  We are currently running an insane deficit in a moronic attempt to spend ourselves out of debt. While we aren’t part of an economic union that can step in to take over our finances, we have a problem in how much of our securities are held by China, our number one creditor.

Oh wait, they sold off a huge amount of our bonds in December and Japan is now #1.   China is showing signs of getting out of our bonds. But hey, we can find plenty of buyers because of how safe our bonds are, right? Ummmmm….

Yeah, we are in trouble.  Just three years out from when the Democrats took over Congress and we are considered riskier than Kazakhstan.  At some point the debts are going to be called due, especially if economic woes get worse in China and Asia. Our creditors will be in a place to dictate to us.

Our founding fathers looked to ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration in setting up our government.  I posted earlier about Victor Davis Hanson’s argument that we have made the same economic mistakes as the Romans.  Now I have to wonder if we are also following the path of the modern Greeks. 

 

 

del.icio.us Tags: Greece,financial crisis,economy,debt,EU,China,US bonds

There Is No “River Serial Killer” in La Crosse

One of the things that puzzles me about humanity is the tendency to believe in ridiculous conspiracies or imaginary things such as bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, Oswald being a patsy, and that Lady Gaga has talent.  When I was a kid, they appealed to me.  But age teaches you many things and one  was that if it was too ridiculous to be true – it probably wasn’t.

So it is with the theories that a serial killer lurks at the riverside in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  For years, drunk kids have been falling in the Mississippi and drowning.  Pretty straight forward stuff, but an urban legend has been created that states somebody must be shoving these young, healthy men into the water. Even the FBI has become involved.

Perish the thought that drunks are stupid and do stupid things in their inebriation.  No, there has to be some malicious person out there murdering the young idiots. I feel sorry for their friends and family, but come on!

Denial is a part of the grieving process, but I suspect it has more to do with justification of the bar culture than grief in La Crosse. The predominant culture of the town is college age binge drinking that economically fuels the downtown area.  Once upon a time, you could find La Crosse in the Guinness Book of Records for having the most bars on one street.  While that dubious honor was lost to Eau Claire awhile back, the culture remains.

Partying college students (and others their age) aren’t going to look at the headline about another drowning  and suddenly become introspective about their own behaviors.  The immature always blame somebody else and so they have created a bogey man out there preying on helpless drunks.  Personal responsibility must be avoided at all costs, after all.

The simple and obvious truth is that when someone gets drunk they lose the ability to think clearly.  One of the hallmarks is an inability to make good judgments. Another is being unable to walk in a straight line.  Combine the two and you have idiots falling into the river. Guess what is also impaired by alcohol?  Reflexes and motor skills.  You need those two to swim. 

There you have the perfect cocktail to accidently end one’s life. All of it is avoidable and makes these deaths senseless tragedies.  I would love to say that we’ll never see another one of these drownings, but I don’t think the bar culture in La Crosse is going to change any time soon. Young people aren’t encouraged to grow up in our society, so increased responsibility is unlikely as well.

Instead we’ll be hearing about a serial killer stalking the riverside for years to come.  The only killer out there is stupidity.

 

 

del.icio.us Tags: La Crosse,serial killer,river,Mississippi,drownings,drunk

The Fall of Roman America

Is America repeating Western history? Victor Davis Hanson has an interesting piece up comparing the Roman Empire to the United States.

It isn’t uncommon to hear people talk about how America is going the same way Rome did.  I’ve muttered about ‘bread and circuses” and have heard others make similar statements. Obviously, it is easy to make comparisons based on military, economic, and political parallels with the phrase “pax Americana” having been bandied about in the past. Rome was a republic, had the best military of its time, and were an economic powerhouse; all things that the United States was in the 20th Century.

It is the latter comparison that is the crux of Hanson’s article.  After giving an overview of how Rome succeeded economically and then was emulated by conquered provinces and neighbors who eventually outstripped them, he points out how rising countries such as China and India are doing the same to us.  Romans became rich and sedate by farming out the work to the outer provinces; losing their innovation and fire in the process.

Quote of the piece:

But as in the case of Rome, there is a price for all these sudden riches. Just as the Iberians, and Libyans, and Thracians were hungrier and more enterprising than Italians back in the bay of Naples, so too we, the beneficiaries of this wealth, lost the values that were at its heart, in a way that the Indians, Chinese, and others have not — yet.

Of late, I’ve had that horrible feeling of living history from within a failing culture.  Always wondered what it would be like to witness such a thing firsthand and I’m not too pleased at realizing I’m living it now. Like VDH, I think it is caused by psychological decisions and was preventable – maybe even reversible if we just had the will to take action.  But he puts it better than I can:

We could do this all right — but too many feel such medicine is worse than the malady, and so we probably won’t and can’t. An enjoyable slow decline is apparently  preferable to a short, but painful rethinking and rebirth.

That stubborn refusal to bite the bullet and do what is uncomfortable is normal for humans.  In our spoiled and entitled culture there is no desire to make personal sacrifices. Oh, we are good at making other people make sacrifices; usually through expanding government. Alas, being unselfish is a lost virtue.

Read the whole thing.

 

 

del.icio.us Tags: Rome,fall,America,Victor Davis Hanson,history repeats

Manmade Global Warming Scandal Fallout

Over at Honolulu Magazine, A. Kim Napier faces the growing evidence of corruption and fraud involving AGW scientists and writes:

I feel I’ve been had.

Right now, I think a lot of supporters of Green policies are in denial or afraid to admit they were wrong.  It is nice to see somebody come forward who had been pushing AGW and admit there is a scandal. 

Sadly, science has lost its ethics in the pursuit of grant money, with the IPCC scandal being the most obvious example.  That will be damaging for those who have invested great faith in scientists and research.  Like Napier, I feel that disappointment – though I realized the problem a long time ago.  Too often studies get big attention then within a decade are completely rebutted well after most people have accepted theory as fact.

Just another sign of the times, I suppose.

Science needs to purify itself, go back to observation leading to theory, not theory leading to falsified observation.

del.icio.us Tags: science,global warming,AGW,scandal

Is Iowa Trying to Take Over the World?

del.icio.us Tags: Iowahawk,Iowa,conspiracy,Korea

 

Iowa long has had a disproportionate influence on American politics from having early primaries to hosting a giant straw poll at Ames.  Being a Minnesotan, I’ve long held suspicions about the sinister nature of our neighbors to the south, compounded by my 1st and 2nd grade experiences when we briefly lived there.  It

simply isn’t right for school buses to move with synchronized precision right down to the second at the school I attended.  It was all vaguely Stepford Wives’ish.

So when Iowahawk started wondering what was going on with Korea and the University of Iowa football team it became pretty clear what is happening.  He’s possibly stumbled on to a vast conspiracy that has global ramifications.  There is too much going on to be just a coincidence and Iowa’s political ambitions of political dominance are on record.

It is obvious the shadowy powers running the state have taken the next step toward realizing a dream of global empire not seen since the British colonial era.  The use of a Korean all girl pop group is the most insidious of weapons that can be deployed and should be stopped by international treaties.  Korea is only the start and I wouldn’t be surprised it Iowa tries to undermine New Zealand next.

But I must issue a word of caution:  Iowahawk himself might be in on Iowa’s nefarious plans.  Look at his online alias containing the words ‘Iowa’ and ‘hawk’ together, implying that he is a fanatical patriot of the state.  This could be a disinformation ploy to hid Iowa’s true agenda…

Caucus Time in Minnesota

Next Tuesday night we have the political caucuses for the Republican and Democrat-Farmer Labor parties.  Not many states have this system, so it is something different than most voters expect.  Instead of going someplace to vote in a primary for predetermined candidates, the local voter goes to a caucus where they can choose to run for a delegate seat in the county convention.  Resolutions are also submitted and voted upon to be considered at the previously mentioned convention.

In other words, it is an opportunity for the little guy to be heard and have some effect on local politics beyond just voting. Locally, the county chairs for both parties sat down with reporter Ryan Henry at The Houston County News for an informative article.

Government is best run if the people are fully involved and I recommend that every Minnesotan with a political opinion put their time and energy where their mouths are by attending their local caucus.

I’ll be doing my part as a convener for the Republican Party caucus location in Houston.  Should be interesting if the Tea Parties are any indication!

State of Disunion Speech

Well, that was a dismal performance last night.  Watching the talking heads on PBS try to spin the State of the Union speech being a great performance was to view an exercise in futility, as even Mark Shields admitted the speech wasn’t one that would be remembered in history.  I didn’t catch the entire thing but what I saw was a vintage Obama campaign speech.  That means it was devoid of substance, filled with lies, and highly partisan.

The AP put out a fact check that took the President to task on multiple statements and promises he made during the speech last night.  All are valid points and I’d like to add the one that managed to really anger me:  the claim to have supported the protesters in Iran.  Those of us who have followed the protests there have been frustrated with Obama’s refusal to support them and weak criticisms of the ruling dictatorship he wants to negotiate with so badly.

Despite the voters in Massachusetts rejecting Obamacare in shocking fashion earlier this month, the President showed himself to be no Bill Clinton.  There was no attempt to triangulate, or at least no intelligent one, by moving away from health care “reform.” Instead, Obama showed himself to be utterly committed to passing that corrupt bill no matter the cost.  Nobody is buying that it will lower costs, Champ.

Of course, he whined constantly about inheriting all the problems and this shows the Democrats inability to do anything other than “blame Bush.” That isn’t going to work anymore and will be completely without effect by the elections in November.

Another thing jumped out at me was when he announced the spending freeze and that it wouldn’t hurt people today because it would be implemented next year when the economy was better.  No applause when he made his typical “stop for the adulation pause” and scattered laughter followed.  Mr. Cool lost his cool and glared at Congress and ended up evoking more laughter.

Empty promises are the medium politician work with, but this one was such a whopper that even a chamber full of pols couldn’t believe it.  Obama believes everyone is so stupid that they’ll buy into the ridiculous concept of making an emergency cut in funding after it is no longer needed!  That way it won’t hurt!

Oh, please.

More people are waking up to the fact that President Obama is a con man who doesn’t really care about the people of this country.  If he keeps throwing out farcical pronouncements like the spending freeze, his only supporters will be the diehards in the Democratic Party.  It is already getting dangerously close to that as recent special elections have shown. By the time November rolls around, the Democrats in Congress will be in dire shape.

But we are stuck with this fraud in the White House for another three years and he will do a great deal of damage through the bureaucracy.  Barack Obama is simply the wrong man at the worst possible time to helm America.

 

ADDENDUM

I forgot to mention the direct attack on the Supreme Court that was made to their faces.  That was not a Presidential action and showed just what a demagogue Obama really is. Trying to cajole Congress into writing what would be another unconstitutional law to override the SCOTUS decision freedom of speech shows what disdain the so-called Constitutional scholar has for the Bill of Rights.  It also made clear how little value he has for the separation of powers across the three branches of government.

Barack is not a class act.

First Amendment Upheld

Bye, Bye McCain-Feingold!

Today the Supreme Court has ruled that prohibitions against corporations and non-profits from running political ads violated the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.  About time, a lot of little people got stepped on by McCain-Feingold as quite a few organizations and lobbyists represent people banded together from across the nation, not just the wealthy. The 5-4 ruling will set a precedent and very well may end up being a landmark case (the media loves to throw that label around for everything) affecting judicial rulings for years to come.

Powerline is all over this and has further links.

This is very good news to those who believe in the Bill of Rights and our Constitution.  No form of censorship should be allowed in politics.

UPDATED:

Over at Big Government, Robert Frommer has a great post that explains why this was important for the people of our country and why this is only the beginning of the fight.

A Radical Looking Warship

On January 16th, The U.S.S. Independence LCS-2 entered the fleet.  Built for speed and fighting off of coasts, this new class of littoral warships may be just what we need to deal with the rising number of pirates plaguing the shipping lanes in Africa and Asia.

The stealthy tri-maran design can do over 40 knots and cruises at half that speed.  Besides being fast, she carries one helicopter and can carry UAV drones.  An assortment of guns rounds out the capabilities of America’s newest warship.  Her sister ship, the Coronado, had her keel laying ceremony in December.

More pictures can be found at the ship’s website and at the USN’s official page.

After watching this video, I think the Independence wouldn’t look out of place in a Star Wars flick:

Brown Wins Senate Race in Massachusetts

All the networks are calling it for Brown with 70% of the precincts reported in.  He won convincingly, 53% to 46% for Coakley and it will be interesting to see if the percentage holds up.  Given the voter fraud that gives Democrats around 5% extra in the race, this was a very solid win.

Good news for now and we’ll have to wait and see if this kills Obamacare.  I suspect it will as Democrats up for re-election this year will be very scared after this debacle.  The last minute campaigning by President Obama did nothing to stem the populist tide and may have hurt things.

November is looking good for the Republican Party.

Is Mexico Becoming a Failed State?

One of the things that struck me about visiting Mexico last year was the feeling of being in an unstable environment.  Military road blocks were common as were people carrying concealed pistols in their vehicles.  You could feel the tension once you got away from the tourist areas and into the poorer ones.

That was Southern Mexico and things are far worse in the North. This sobering article in The Atlantic captures the growing instability that narcotics traffickers have generated in our Southern neighbor.  Corruption is endemic in Mexican society and it quickly becomes hard to tell the white hats from the black hats or even if there are any white hats.  If things escalate this year and they appear to already, we are going to have a huge problem on our border.  What would happen if we suddenly had a big refugee influx crossing into the States?

That is a contingency we have to plan for but I doubt our government will.  The lack of interest in foreign affairs that the Obama administration suffers from will mean if this happens it will be a complete surprise to them.

Good News in the MN Governor’s Race

Norm Coleman isn’t going to run after all.  I, for one, am very relieved to read this as I think it would have been a disaster. There would have been a revolt amongst the activists and Tea Partiers which would have dragged down other races.

Odds are that Marty Seifert will get the endorsement but things could change by convention time.  It will be interesting to gauge the mood at the precinct caucuses on February 2 and that may give a clearer picture.  Depending on who the new delegates and alternates are there could be a big shakeup in what direction the state GOP will go.

I think anyone who isn’t a fiscal conservative will be dead meat.

Odds and Ends for the Weekend

Haven’t been feeling very well and it has killed my writing the last few weeks.  Adding insult to injury, I broke a tooth 5 minutes before the local dentist closed for the weekend and have to wait until Monday to get something done.

Anyway, I ran into quite a few interesting things on the Net during all this and will put them in this post while I plot out a rather large one on the very bad economic news this month.

First up is a low budget docudrama aimed at educating kids about the Battle of Bunker Hill.  Since we live in a very visual age, I think the idea for the whole series has a great deal of merit.

Next is a fascinating find of the earliest known Hebrew writing. It dates 400 years earlier than the previously oldest Hebrew discovered and suggests the Old Testament is well, older than thought.  The content is very much like the scriptures and contains commandments on how to treat orphans, the poor, and slaves.

Ever buy expensive running shoes?  That may be making a fundamental mistake about running if this article is correct.  All I can say is that is my natural way of walking when barefoot so I wouldn’t be surprised if the theory pans out. No matter what, the prices commanded by these shoes is ludicrous.

Finally, a cautionary story about how success can corrupt the creative process to the point of destroying a project.  Duke Nukem 3D was a hugely successful videogame released in 1996 and the sequel was promised almost immediately.  Last year it was cancelled after an insanely prolonged development that showed no sign of completion. At least it no longer is the king of vaporware!

Horrific Disaster in Haiti

The reports coming in from Haiti indicate that a true catastrophe has happened that may be as bad (or worse) than the tsunami that hit Indonesia.  Estimates of over 100,000 dead are on the low end and the human suffering is great.  The U.N. peace keeping HQ was completely leveled with no survivors.

Once again, please pray for the survivors and their rescuers.

Massive Earthquake in Haiti

Initial reports are that it was a magnitude 7.0 that collapsed a hospital in Port-au-Prince and damaged many buildings.  Communications are cut and I expect there will be a large death toll since the epicenter was inland. 

Pray for those affected, it is going to be bad.

Reality Is Stranger than Fiction

Global warming has gotten so bad that iguanas are falling out of trees from the heat in Florida. Oh wait, they are freezing from the record cold there.  My mistake.

The next link may not be reality, since it is only theory, but it qualifies as stranger than fiction.  The theory postulates that 8 percent of our DNA was inserted by animal viruses and furthermore they may cause schizophrenia!

I always though insanity was hereditary, but I thought you caught it from your kids, not your pets.

On a Lighter Note

Over at Dark Roasted Blend there is a nifty tribute to birds titled “Praise to a Common Duck.”

I can attest to the amazing acrobatic agility of barn swallows and the blazing speed of hummingbirds since we get both out here on the farm.  Also seen around here are Canada geese, bald eagles, hawks, turkey vultures, many a songbird and occasionally a blue heron.

So far none of the cats have brought in a large bird, but they do enjoy the sparrows a lot.

Mayo Clinic Testing Dumping Medicare

The world famous Mayo Clinic is piloting a program of refusing Medicare patients at their Scottsdale, Arizona clinic.  While technically not rejecting the patients, there are few on Medicare who can afford to pay their own way.  In other words, if you have Medicare as your only means of health insurance you are screwed.

This is something that has been coming for some time.  In a desperate effort to contain spiraling expenditures on an already overstressed social programs, the government has been underpaying fees and services.  Medicare, like Social Security, is in very bad financial shape and rationing is starting to happen.

The quote of the article for me is this:

Mayo’s move to drop Medicare patients may be copied by family doctors, some of whom have stopped accepting new patients from the program, said Lori Heim, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, in a telephone interview yesterday.

“Many physicians have said, ‘I simply cannot afford to keep taking care of Medicare patients,’” said Heim, a family doctor who practices in Laurinburg, North Carolina. “If you truly know your business costs and you are losing money, it doesn’t make sense to do more of it.”

Basic economics, that.

Medicare is for the elderly and disabled. It is already getting difficult to find doctors that accept it in some areas and that is going to get worse if the above quote is any indication.

Funny how every federally run welfare program is mismanaged.  Knowing that, what sense is there in either expanding Medicare or adding yet another program as Obamacare? 

Being on both Social Security Disability and Medicare, I’ve been sensitive to the growing problems with both.  In fact, I’m planning for the day when I can’t get medical care due to being on Medicare.  I can’t afford to save or go on another plan, so I’ll simply stop going to the doctor when that happens.

I won’t be the only one and things will get very dire in America as the quality of living plummets for many.  We are a graying nation and don’t have enough young people to sustain the system.

Oh yes, we are living in interesting times.

Andre “The Hawk” Dawson now Hall of Famer

 

Amidst all the gloomy weather and economic predictions, one ray of light for today.  Andre Dawson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today.  Ever since Ryne Sandberg got in I’d hoped “The Hawk” would be the next Cub MVP to get in.  Watching him play was always a delight and there are vivid memories from then.   The one that stands out is when Eric Show beaned him and knocked him out for a few horrific moments. Winning the National League MVP for a losing team was another highlight as it showed just how dominant he was that year.

But the best memory was seeing him at baseball card convention in La Crosse.  Dawson was always such a serious player and it was very rare to see him smile.  My mother took a hand sewn Cubs flag she’d made to get his autograph and when he saw it a huge smile broke out.  One of these days I’ll get the photo of that smile while he signed the flag scanned into the PC. 

Congratulations to one of baseball’s class acts!