Letter to our "Pro-Life" Gubbinah

Beastly Intelligence

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

What I am Thankful For

Lies, Damn Lies,......and Democrats

Democratic New York Congressman and newly appointed House Ways and Means Chair Charles Rangel has apparently contracted the scourge of his party, foot-in-mouth disease. In this case, it looks like his Weejuns have reached well past his molars, and are cutting off the supply of oxygen to his (alleged) brain.

This past weekend, the dimwitted Dem opined "If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career, or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq," on "Fox News Sunday. "If there's anyone who believes these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No bright young individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment," the congressman continued.

The Army, which was falling short of recruitment goals, has admitted that in 2005, it began accepting more high school dropouts and more recruits with lower scores on intelligence tests. This lowering of standards, however, has gained attention far out of proportion to its actual impact, as the actual effect on the population of the active duty force amounts only to a percentage point or two. In fact, a recent Heritage Foundation Study found that 97% of military enlistees were high school graduates, as compared with about 80% of Americans in general, and that the average reading level of military personnel is a full grade level higher than that of the general populace.

Rangel, a long standing advocate or reinstating a military draft, tossed aside the reports of the Heritage Foundation, instead apparently relying on his own experiences. “…everyone will see what they already know, and that is that those who have the least opportunities at this age find themselves in the military, as I did when I was 18 years old." Congressman Rangel served in the U.S. Army from 1948-52, during which time he fought in Korea and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Apparently spring-loaded in the “affirmative action” position, Rep. Rangel has authored several pieces of legislation to benefit minority and women veterans, including a successful bill that established the Office of Minority Affairs Within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Obviously, Rangel believes that a disproportionate amount of the fighting is borne by minorities. In fact, the contrary is true—while the population of minorities, especially blacks is higher in the armed forces:

White: 63% (compared to 60% of the U.S. population)
Black: 20% Hispanic: 11%
Other minorities: 6%

The cross section of the force currently deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other danger spots reflects the opposite:

70% White (compared to 60% of the U.S. population)
16% Black (compared to 13% of the U.S. population)
12% Hispanic
2% Other minorities

(DOD Armed Forces Overview)

Rangel gets it wrong again when he refers to the target recruitment group as being areas of low income and low opportunity. In fact, since 1999, and most obviously since 9/11; it has been young men and women of ALL races from increasingly affluent neighborhoods, with increasingly promising futures who have come to know the cost of freedom, and shouldered personally the responsibility to defend the cause of liberty—here and abroad.

Maybe what Rangel is failing to take into consideration is that many of those in low income areas aren’t motivated to expend the effort to raise themselves up. Maybe what he fails to factor into his equation is that it isn’t opportunity that is lacking in the regions he is concerned for, but rather a sense of personal responsibility for one’s own success.

Says it all....

These Guys are Celebrating the Democrat's Victories...

What more do you need to know....?

Donkey...or Jackass?

Earlier this week, Sen. John Kerry noticed that old familiar taste in his mouth.

At a campaign rally on Monday, Kerry stated, "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

There goes that foot-in-mouth disease again, Senator.

While Kerry has spent much of the following days first sidestepping, and then apologizing for his poor choice of words, calling it a “botched joke,” the unspoken fact of the matter is that he said out loud what the vast majority of the Democratic leadership believes. And, once again, they are not only wrong, but far out of touch with what Mr. and Mrs. Citizen believe.

Generally speaking, soldiers are the best people I know. They have more drive, ambition, concern for their countrymen and world citizens, and embrace the concept of that a successful team has more value than a successful individual. Generation after generation have referred to our young soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines as the “best and brightest.” Fact is, it takes a heck of a lot more gumption to enlist, complete training, and serve than it does to languish in community college for six years.

Personally, I enlisted with two years of college, and completed my Bachelor of Science degree within six years—while serving. I served in a variety of positions and units, and left each one better off than when I joined it—better trained, more efficient, more cohesive. After 22 years in office, can Senator Kerry say the same?

Daddy(ies) Warbucks

Fortunately, for the last couple of weeks anyhow, gas prices have been on a downhill slide lately. When they were at their peak a short time ago, however, one of the favorite stories in the papers and on the airwaves was the tremendous profit margins of the oil companies, and exorbitant salaries and bonuses being earned by oil company CEO’s. A much less publicized, but likely far more tragic parallel to those stories are the obscenely generous salaries currently garnered by Defense Industry CEO’s.

Here is a brief sampling: United Technologies ($200 million), General Dynamics ($65 million), Lockheed Martin ($50 million), and Halliburton ($49 million). Other firms in which CEO compensation over the last four years totaled $25 million to $45 million were Textron, Engineered Support Systems, Computer Sciences, Alliant Techsystems, Armor Holding, Boeing, Health Net, ITT Industries, Northrop Grumman, Oshkosh Truck, URS, and Raytheon.

Meanwhile, the average soldier putting his life on the line in the Global War on Terrorism in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and other garden spots around the globe grosses around $25,000 a year.

Please don’t misunderstand. I believe in capitalism and support those pursuing the American dream of financial success. However, I just don’t cotton to folks making obscenely high incomes on the backs of both the soldiers using the equipment being produced, and the taxpayers footing the bill. Clearly, the DOD is not looking for, nor getting any bargains. Wouldn’t a mere million or two dollars a year be adequate compensation for the executives honchoing these companies?

I’d sure feel a lot better about the whole situation if that additional cash was put back into R&D on that equipment, or its replacement. I know from first hand experience that a good bit of the equipment that GI’s count on is neither foolproof nor 100% reliable. We have all read about soldiers’ body armor that didn’t perform up to spec, yet David Brooks, the former CEO of body-armor maker DHB, made $192 million in stock sales in 2004.

Just how big of a house, or how fancy of a car, does a CEO need to feel gratified?

Rings True

The latest event the MSM is piling on appears to be remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI during a speech last week at the University of Regensburg in Bavaria, Germany, in which the Holy Father quoted from a medieval text linking Islam with violence. "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," the pope quoted Byzantine Emporer Manuel II Palaeologus as saying.

Immediately, Muslims everywhere got their turbans in a knot, offended that anyone would ascribe violent connotations to the “religion of peace.” How did they respond? In incidents ostensibly resulting from Muslim anger, an Italian nun was shot dead in Somalia and armed Palestinians attacked Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Anglican churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In sharp contrast, Pope Benedict XVI’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was shot May 13, 1981 at Saint Peter's square by a Muslim extremist, Mehmet Ali Agca. In 1983, the Pope asked for, and was granted a meeting his would-be assassin in Rome's Rebibbia prison. The purpose? Not for revenge, not to harangue his attacker. Instead, John Paul the Great forgave Agca, and asked Catholics around the world to "pray for my brother (Agca), whom I have sincerely forgiven."

Which truly is the religion of peace? The principal prayer of Christians everywhere is the Lord’s Prayer, which asserts forgiveness of “those who trespass against us,” in order that we in turn might be granted forgiveness for our own shortcomings. Rather than calling for vengeful response to affronts, Jesus himself urged:

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:38-40).

What I haven’t heard on the nightly news, or read in the local paper, is that maybe the quotation the Holy Father cited to was spot-on. Which is pretty amazing, since everytime there is an accusation of misbehavior on the part of a Catholic priest, or a Christian minister, reporters are tripping over each other to get the story on the broadcast, or in the headlines.

We Miss You, Johnny

No Plan B for Salvation

One of the items seemingly buried amongst the more sensational news items this past week was the FDA’s approval of the over the counter sale of “Plan B,” also known on some fronts as ‘the morning after pill.” While I am certain that this is seen as a victory and cause for joy among women’s’ rights groups and others, it signals two very significant, and very tragic milestones for our country.

First, and clearly the most tragically, abortion is now available over the counter, simply for the asking, (no doctor’s endorsement necessary) to anyone over the age of 17. Certainly some groups, such as Planned Parenthood and others who consider themselves “reproductive rights” organizations, will provide “Plan B” at no cost at their clinics, to the poorest, and yet most promiscuous, of our population. Proponents of the drug assert that this should comfort Pro-Life groups, obviously ignorant of the fact that termination of a pregnancy—by surgery or by drug—IS a de facto abortion. Surely, too, there will be only the flimsiest of efforts made at preventing access and use of “Plan B” by those under 17. This points to the second tragic misstep our country takes with this development.

Newton’s third law of physics provides that “every Action has an equal and opposite reaction.” Interestingly, the same can be said of human life and experience. For every action, (or inaction) choice, decision, etc., that a person makes, there is a consequence. Sometimes, these consequences are immediate and obvious—if I drop this glass, it will shatter, and milk will splash over the floor.” Other times, the consequences are not so obvious, or so soon noticed. Taking all the “bunny” classes in high school, and then not being accepted at the college of one’s choice, for example. More and more frequently, these consequences either lack sting due to decaying values in our modern society, or such consequences are masked by intervening forces. Plan B is just such an intervening force.

The second impact of this trend is a growing scarcity of personal discipline, and the widespread, easy availability of Plan B will only further spur the momentum of this downward spiral towards loss of personal accountability and restraint. Every instance of sexual intercourse has consequences, in some cases, obvious: loss of innocence, enhanced, marital bonding, and commission of a crime when such union is unwanted. Other times, again, these consequences are slower, and perhaps more subtle in their appearance: transmission of an STD, pregnancy, and loss of self-respect. No matter how vocal the arguments of Plan B’s proponents may be to the contrary, this milestone will lead to more widespread promiscuity and subsequently, even more irresponsible behavior. Those who have postponed sexual activity for fear of pregnancy will have one more barrier removed. Those who have decided against unplanned or unprotected intercourse will be one step closer to irresponsible and potentially unsafe behavior. But what is left to mask the emotional impact of realizing that you have killed your own baby, or given your most intimate gift to a total stranger on a momentary impulse?

I have seen firsthand the impact of the diminishment of personal accountability of discipline. People who just can’t get themselves to work on time; people who just can’t manage their budget and pay their bills; people who just can’t remain faithful to their spouse; people who just can’t resist the temptations of drugs and alcohol abuse. Soon these same people are relying on government handouts and welfare for their income, filing bankruptcy to account for their financial misbehavior, and killing both their bodies and their souls, slowly or quickly, by substance abuse, to further avoid the consequences of their misspent lives.

Liberals and media pundits are quick to refer to the “slippery slope” when any potential invasions of privacy or controls on the press are on the table. Yet, every step we take that allows the further masking of consequences of one’s actions is a very slippery slope, indeed—one that slopes towards loss of self-respect, loss of the precious value of life, and towards the ruin of souls.

Please wipe off your feet before you climb up my back...

I haven’t seen an endangered species list lately, but I’d be willing to bet lunch at the steakhouse that fairness is on it.

You’ll still see the term thrown around a bit, but almost exclusively in “affirmative action” contexts. Mostly, though, you’ll only hear the concept of fairness at issue on elementary school playgrounds and peewee league sports. I reckon most adults are just too self-involved to have any time for such an outmoded idea.

As I have detailed here before, fairness in the workplace (sometimes known as “equity”) is extinct, replaced by the “buddy” network. Fairness in business has gone the way of the horse and buggy—insider trading, raiding employee retirement accounts, and paying exorbitant bonuses to executives while the corporation flounders—all are as common as credit card offers in the mail. Fairness in the courts has been replaced by “bought and paid for ‘justice,’” judicial agendas, and “innocence by technicality.”

Politeness, consideration for others, doing what is right, and the “Golden Rule” have all apparently been replaced by the maxims of “get away with as much as you can,” and “climb on, and over, as many as you can on your way up.”

So, I suppose the last bastion of fairness remains the elementary school classroom. I saw this on a website providing ideas for K-5 teachers:

HOW TO BE A FAIR PERSON

Treat people the way you want to be treated.

Take Turns.

Tell the truth.

Play by the rules.

Think about how your actions will affect others.

Listen to people with an open mind.

Don't blame others for your mistakes.

Don't take advantage of other people.

Don't play favorites.

Imagine how much better this world would be if more of us held ourselves accountable to these simple principles?

St. Michael, Defend Us

My blood is hot today. I woke this morning to the news that some 21 young Asian (the MSM is oh-so-cautious about identifying middle-easterners as Muslims) men were arrested, foiling their plans to destroy as many as 10 US commercial aircraft operating transatlantic UK-to-US service from London Heathrow and at airports throughout the UK. It seems the terrorists planned to use liquid explosives disguised as beverages and other common products and detonators disguised as electronic devices. The deputy commissioner at Scotland Yard, Paul Stephenson, noted that the plans amounted to "mass murder on an unimaginable scale."

This coincides with, and could, ostensibly, be connected to, the story breaking yesterday that two men were arrested in Ohio on charges of money laundering on behalf of Hezbollah. The two men, Ali Houssaiky and Osama Abulhassan, were also charged with obstructing justice for lying to police about their purchases of large numbers of cellular phones, mostly untraceable Tracfones. Tracfones and similar devices are considered suspicious items as they might be used by terrorists to detonate explosive devices.

Can any Muslim be trusted? Have to say, my take at this moment is no. Fact is, I wouldn’t want to be the rag-headed camel jockey that crosses my path today. There is a part of me, deep down, that wants to collect all of them here in the U.S., and put them in an internment camp, as we did the Japanese during WWII. There is a part of me that wants to see Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and anywhere else these hate-mongering practitioners of the “religion of peace” happen to populate ‘turned into glass’ (GI talk for what happens when a mostly sand-covered region is subjected to nuclear explosions).

Fortunately, there is a stronger part of me that knows that the only way to beat the Muslim is to temper the war against Islamist terrorism with Christian love and prayer for their conversion. This will take a unique kind of warrior, not known in large quantity since the end of the Crusades. One who is a fearless warrior with a pure heart, totally dedicated, and ruthless on behalf of the faith. Are there enough good men left in the world to accomplish this task?

I know one such man.

Poo-Flinging Monkeys (or "I'm Glad I Quit Journalism School When I Did")

Despite all you may have read, heard, or seen in the MSM, Mel Gibson is very likely guilty of only two things:

1. Negligence and reckless disregard for the safety of others in operating his automobile while intoxicated; and
2. Poor judgment.

Based on the coverage, however, one would certainly think that the anti-Semitic remarks made by Gibson were the real crime, and the drunk-driving charges merely minor coincidental mischief. Last I knew, this was still the United States of America, in which freedom of speech is a long-acknowledged, God-given right shared by both citizens and non-citizens alike. Gibson can certainly hold, and even publicly express, unpopular and “politically incorrect” opinions. Truly, there is abundant recent precedent for just such behavior—Michael Jackson’s crude lyrics "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me / Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me," from “They Don't Care About Us;” Jesse “Rhymin’ Simon” Jackson’s “Hymietown” comments, and perhaps most notably Al “Valvoline Pompadour” Sharpton’s incitement of anti-Jewish violence in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in 1991 and in Harlem in 1995. In the latter incident he encouraged the explicitly anti-Semitic boycott and picketing of a Jewish-owned store in which eight store employees were killed in a fire started by a Sharpton follower. Where was the righteous outrage in the media over these obviously bigoted remarks? Unlike the latter two, Gibson generally stays out of politic and policy issues.

Generally, I like Gibson’s movies. Braveheart, The Patriot, and We Were Soldiers are among my favorites. I am very disappointed that he would show such poor judgment and self-discipline that he would both drive while drunk and make such obviously reckless remarks; but in no way would I equate the gravity of the two actions. The Los Angeles County District Court will determine Gibson’s punishment, if any, as to the DUI charges, and moviegoers’ dollars will serve as the judge and jury for the impact of his drunken jabberings. As to the media, why don’t ya’ll go see what Cynthia McKinney, William Jefferson, or Ted "Chappaquidick" Kennedy have been up to lately?

Addendum (8/3/06 @ 1251 MST): Take everything Gibson said, and replace "Jew" with American. Whaddya got? A new Dixie Chicks song. Replace "Jew" with "Frenchman" (a.k.a. cheese-eating surrender monkeys)--what have you got? A comedy routine. Replace "Jew" with "Whitey," and you've got the Rainbow Coalition's platform. Replace "Jew" with "Catholic" and you have the bottom-line position of just about every newspaper in the country.

I reckon some people's sensitivities are more, uh, sensitive than others.

The Best Part of My Daughter's Wedding

My new step-granddaughter, Alexis. That's me on the left, in case you were wondering...

"Nuff Said