Friday, December 28, 2007

So-Called Scientific Polling

This pic is an example of just why current methods of polling is about worthless.


Its all over the place. On the extreme end of things, Huckabee is at 23% in one and 36% in the next and Paul is at 10% and then 1%. How can this possibly be? Can a persons support jump 13% practically overnight? I would posit that it isn't possible without some fairly major event taking place, perhaps a disaster or attack or a candidate dropping out of the race. Therefor so-called "scientific" polling is dead or dying. It is no longer a reliable method of gauging public opinion and will need to be reworked in short order to remain valid.

Graphic is from RealClearPolitics.com specifically from the Iowa Republican race.

Friday, December 21, 2007

A Party Divided

Taken from Phyllis Schlafly's WND Column
A book of political history from 2003 called "Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield" (Carroll & Graf) might provide the model. Kenneth D. Ackerman tells the fascinating story of how the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago deadlocked, with three sets of delegates unwilling to abandon their first choice, and a totally unexpected non-candidate dark horse named James A. Garfield was nominated on the 36th ballot and then elected president.

Sen. James G. Blaine of Maine was the first major name placed in nomination, soon followed by New York powerhouse Sen. Roscoe Conkling's nomination of war hero Gen. U.S. Grant for a third term. The third major contender was Treasury Secretary John Sherman, nominated by his friend and campaign manager, Sen.-elect James A. Garfield.

The first ballot on Monday, June 7, produced Grant, 304; Blaine, 284; Sherman, 93; and a handful of votes for minor candidates. All were well short of the 379 votes needed to win.

It took two days and 36 ballots to make Garfield, who wasn't even running, the Republican Presidential candidate. This election is perhaps shaping up to have another floor fight over the nomination which hasn't happened in 50 years. The reason of course is that despite the media's much ballyhooed "top tier" and "front-runner" candidates, no one is taking a lead. The field is very crowded and the candidates are so close on issues (with the obvious exception of the good Dr. Paul) that no group or segment of the population has attached themselves to a particular candidate. and as noted in the cited article some 76% of Republicans are open to changing their mind as to whom they support. I think it is safe to say that there is no more than 5% of Ron Paul supporters who are so willing to change their support.

For those who care to keep an eye on the polls check out RealClearPolitics.com for the latest polling data compiled, averaged put into easy to read graphs. They even do the same for the polls of the early states.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Ann Coulter

Writes:
Hey! How about adults privately smoking cigarettes in their homes? Nope, Huckabee wants a federal law banning smoking but thinks state laws banning sodomy are "probably" unconstitutional.
I love how consistent his reasoning is. One consensual destructive behavior should be banned while the other should be allowed.

Know what I would love to see? I would love to see Coulter endorse Ron Paul. Yeah it would be a big boost and all but that isn't the reason I want it. The day that Coulter endorses Paul will be the day Bane's head explodes! I don't know if he could handle his "goddess" supporting someone he dislikes so much. The question is, would he then like Paul? or hate Coulter?

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Holiday Pay

Or lack there of.

I'm a contractor working for one company that goes thru another that works for the place I'm at. Make sense? Basically the hiring company uses a contracting agency to fill positions and that agency will also use other agencies to fill positions it can't fill. So there are two middlemen between me and my check.

My agency doesn't give holiday pay, but the main one does. With that in mind I have been trying to get on with this other agency for the past month, especially considering there is not one, but two holidays upcoming. Well, I found out today the conversion isn't going to happen till next month which I am sure is entirely due to the delay in management asking about the conversion.

Also today I found out that it isn't 2 paid holidays, but 4. And as I will be working each of those days I will be missing out on 60 72 hours worth of pay. It isn't like this benefit hasn't been accruing, it's just been getting absorbed by the two layers of middlemen.

Lovely.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Tea Party is ON!

I previously posted that I was predicting that the amount brought in would be approx 200 times the number of pledges. 2 days ago the pledges were at 31,000, when I checked at 3AM Eastern they are now at 35,539.

So my prediction is for $7,107,800 (+/- $177,695)

You can keep track of the progress on the RonPaulGraph or on the campaign website, RonPaul2008.com

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Duty

I am NOT crazy
I am NOT psycho
I AM responsible.

Three seemingly random shooting in the past week. One at a busy shopping mall in Omaha killing eight. Two in the past 24 hours here in Colorado killing two, injuring two at a YWAM base (Christian Missionary organization) and here at a church I used to attend and still have family and friends at. Injuries but no deaths as yet from the church attack.

I go to the mall on a regular basis when it is too cold to play outside so my boy has somewhere to run around. Sometimes I even go up to that church still. There are even less famous shootings at Walmart. Do I feel vulnerable? Do I feel afraid? HELL NO. I carry everywhere I go. I do it to protect my family, I do it to protect YOU.

Any scumbag who has already taken a life in a shooting like this has already made the decision to forfeit his right to life, and in the taking of an innocent life has finalized it. He will have made my decision for me. He will be shot. And while I am not going to say I am going to shoot to kill, if my shots end up killing him there would be no sorrow. I will take two center of mass shots and if that fails I will take a head shot.

Oh the bright spot to this story is that it appears that the gunman at the church was fatally shot, which means that someone at the church fired back. There is a possibility that it was an officer as New Life is a megachurch and has one there during the service. I will post more if I hear about it.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Sugarland - Stay



Damn, this song speaks to me!
I can't take it any longer
But my will is getting stronger
And I think I know just what I have to do
I can't waste another minute
After all that I've put in it
I've given you my best
Why does she get the best of you
So next time you find you wanna leave her bed for mine

Why don't you stay
I'm up off my knees
I'm so tired of being lonely
You can't give me what I need

When she begs you not to go
There is one thing you should know
I don't have to live this way

Baby, why don't you stay, yeah
This has got to be one of the best music videos ever. I don't believe I have ever seen real emotion in a video before, but its pretty powerful, especially with the subject.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Mitt Romney's Speech

I didn't catch the full Romney faith speech. Honestly wouldn't have even if I had the time. But I did catch a small snippet on the evening news. In it Romney states that he believes that Jesus is the son of God and that Jesus is the savior.

Well that sounds really good and Christian even. But Romney isn't a Christian, he is a Mormon. And Mormons copy Christian terms and give them a different meaning. So when a Mormon says that they believe that Jesus is the son of God, remember that they also believe that Satan is the son of God and that Jesus and Satan are brothers.

So what does the statement that Jesus is the savior mean? Ask a Mormon and they will tell you that Jesus died to give us eternal life, or everlasting life, or perhaps to save us from death or sin. Sounds good, but again it doesn't mean what the average Christian believes it to mean. The Mormons believed that Jesus died so that we could all be reborn. Not just Mormons or Christians, but EVERYONE. And that rebirth isn't salvation, not is it entrance into heaven or atonement for our sins. Its simply rebirth or resurrection.

Please keep this in mind when talking with a Mormon. They ARE NOT Christians despite the fact that they will tell you that they are or that they use all the right sounding words. Their doctrine is not sound and is indeed heresy.

2Tim 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Music

Today my Lil' Bear got to see his first live music. Not once, but twice. The first was at a local mall where we happened upon a group of Air Force Academy cadets who were setting up for their performance. We were there well early of when they were to start so I showed Lil Bear the different instruments. Flutes, trombones, violins, cellos, drums, xylophones, a trumpet, a tuba, a french horn, and an oboe. He was fairly interested but I wasn't sure how he would do with the music (plus the long wait) Well as it turns out he adored it! He spent a good 30 minutes dancing and running in circles (mainly around me) and spinning and occasionally running too close to eh orchestra prompting daddy to make a quick dash to grab him.

The second time was at the Annual Parade of Lights, which showcases the marching bands of the various high schools and at least one middle school. There were floats and horses and a lot of lights. There was also a Snow Cat which my boy liked quite a bit. On the way back to the car we were talking about what we saw and when the drums came up he would say boom boom and then laugh. I was already planning on making music a standard thing around the house and was thinking of getting something along those lines this month. Now I know I am going to.

Today was a lot of fun. I wish every day could be.

I forgot to add that my boy got both a hug and a kiss from a little girl. Not even two and he is already mackin'!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

An Addition

I have decided to add a link to my blog, which you will find on the left, to the WorldNetDaily list of female sexual predators in the schools. They update this regularly so the page should continue to be valid and relevant.

If you have a husband, wife, spouse, significant other, who doesn't see the need or the importance of homeschooling, this may be an article to give them to help them understand that our schools are not safe places.

But MY KID'S School Is A Good School!

Yeah, keep telling yourself that! No matter what facts come up, your school is a good one, and this was only an isolated incident.

Here is an article about a 9 y/o boy being entrapped to say "brown people" and then being suspended for it after having to apologize to his entire class. This conversation was actually recorded! Its on tape. But what are the comments?
ALTS is a great school. My children love going there

The quality of Abraham Lincoln Traditional School is outstanding. I've got three children who attend there, and I really hope that [offending principal] stays.

I wish the author of the article would dive into more information as to how that recording was obtained. Chances are it was not lawful, and therefore it would be highly unethical for anyone to write an article based on such a recording

The principal is an outstanding leader and will be missed, it is unfortunate that her last few weeks are tarnished by a parent that can't take responsibility for her child's actions.
Morons! If the above didnt prove it, perhaps this next section from the article will show them the arrogance of unaccountable government employees
Neve (the boy's mom) said school officials didn’t advise her of the incident until several days after they questioned her son. When Neve objected to the suspension during the conference, Voinovich told her that she didn't have any rights; that parents give up their rights to discipline when they send a child to school, the tape shows.

The incident? The "brown" boys mom questioning the presumably white child (oops, is that a hate crime too?), without his parents or his parent's knowledge. The questioning parent also just so happens to work at the school.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Ron Paul

Truly, the imaginations of the Paulites NEVER CEASES! There are the Granny Warriors with their motorhome and monkey, there are money bombs, there are people willing to stand on street corners, make signs, videos galore, at least 14 different bands have written songs about him, there was a banner flown over a NASCAR race, and most recently a man who spent $100,000 of his own money to purchase a full page ad in USA today.

Now, there is the Ron Paul BLIMP!

Yes thats right, a blimp.

You know, that big football-shaped balloon usually seen over football games?!

YES, that thing!

Absolutely unbelievable the lengths that the Paul supporters will go to to get our man, our GQ man, in office.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

South Carolina: A New Hope?

South Carolina is known as a huge republican battleground as it is the "first in the south" primary and since 1980 no Republican has won the Primaries without also winning this state. South Carolina is also known for extremely dirty politics. Examples are airing rumors of Hillary being a lesbian and mass mailings about how Mormonism is a "politically dangerous religion." See this article for more details.

It should be noted that the man, Warren Tompkins, who derailed McCain in 2000 has been hired by Romney. This man is also known as "God of Hell" An interesting choice eh?

But what does this have to do with Ron Paul you are all no doubt wondering? Well, it starts with the fact that Paul is still seen as a nobody by the other campaigns. Because of this they will focus on tearing down the "serious" candidates and airing their laundry. And ALL of the "serious" candidates have a LOT of laundry to air so we will see some interesting things come to light and whether true or not some will stick. But Paul has no laundry to air. Paul is as clean as it is possible for a politician to be! Perhaps even cleaner.

What this means is that while the others are playing dirty and throwing mud, Paul will be airing his positives. the "serious" candidates will be hurt and Paul will get a de facto boost. This state could turn out quite well for us Paulites.

P.S. do you think Hillary will take a queue from her husband and wag her finger at us and say "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"? Cuz that would be just too great! Someone should piece together a YouTube video of her saying that.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Reading Tea Leaves

Well, not really. Actually more of a prediction on Tea Party 07 fundraising. The fundraising total of Nov 5th was about 230 times the level of the people who had signed up on the site. I am going to predict a total income from the next bit Ron Paul money bomb to be 200 (+/- 5) times the amount of signed participants. This should take into account a slightly lower amount of available cash due to the holiday season, those who have already maxed out as well as all of those who don't sign up for whatever reason.

Currently there are 10,727 people who have made the pledge which would bring in $2.1 million. Still a fantastic day but there is still a month left yet for pledges to come in. If we could double the 5th and take in 8.5 million or so it would completely blow out all claims from both parties and the amount of free publicity would exceed that which we have already gotten from the 5th. To reach this number I imagine we will need some 42-43,000 pledges.

For the November 5th money bomb I didn't want to get my hopes up and thought that if we could hit 2.4 mil it would be a fantastic day. For Tea Party 2007 I realistically expect 6+ million but wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if the drive tops 8 or even 9 million dollars. The support for Dr. Paul really IS there and as someone recently noted, supporters of various politicians will swing between one candidate and another but once someone becomes a Paul supporter they don't switch to another candidate. They see that Paul is the only choice for freedom and liberty, sound money and a sound economy, and a return to good relations with other countries as well as secured borders.

If you are not yet familiar with Dr. Ron Paul please visit the affectionately nicknamed "Dr. No" at www.RonPaul2008.com
Then go visit the www.TeaParty07.com website and sign the pledge to give one hundred dollars to the only non-evil choice available to us. Besides, that $100 is quickly losing in value due to the "Inflation Tax" so you might as well invest it now while it still has some purchasing power.

A letter to Pajamas Media Editors

I have been following your weekly poll since early February keep tabs on all of the ups and downs and all of the various excuses and attempts to keep certain individuals off of your poll. You blamed the declining numbers upon "many readers have been complaining to us about the increasing inutility(sic) of the poll because of vote-swarming by second tier candidates." This despite the obvious quickly dropping interest of the "front runners." (If you doubt this, view your data from February and March. It shows a steady decline which had nothing to do with "Ron Paul Spammers."

So you decided to go to only the top 5 Republican candidates and kept there for quite some time. However, now that you are essentially forced by the traditional polls to include Dr. Paul you suddenly expand it to 6 to make sure that none of your darling mainstream (read that liberal) candidates are taken off of your poll. Why not, instead, report what your readers have been clamoring for, and that is an actual choice. There is no doubt that your IT group can determine that these votes for Paul (currently at over 400) are coming from unique IP Addresses, that they aren't simply "spammers" and that means that there is a large demand and grassroots support for Dr. Paul and his policy of Constitutionalsim.(sic)

You have been wrong on this in the past, please do not continue to be wrong for the sake of saving face. Your readers, like it or not, support Paul, support limited government, and most importantly support the Constitution.

Sincerely,

Erik X
http://emunda.blogspot.com

For previous posts click here

Monday, November 12, 2007

Illegal Aliens

We have all heard many news stories about illegal aliens committing crimes. Some are horrendous, some have hit a little too close to home and all to often they involve drunken drivers. Well there are some sites that are keeping tabs on this and I wanted to share them with you.

Victims Of Illegal Alien Crime (http://ww.voiac.org)is a registry and database for those victimized by illegal Aliens. Per the website they "have discovered that crimes committed by foreign nationals, including illegal aliens, on American soil are not tracked, recorded, or reported by the FBI or the Justice Department as being committed by foreign nationals. This includes all crimes, including those committed by illegal alien terrorists to illegal alien criminals who are currently molesting, raping, killing, and murdering Americans in shocking numbers.

In essence, not only are the victims of illegal alien crime ignored and forgotten, they are not even given the dignity of being a statistic. They just disappear.
"

Immigration Watch Dog is more of a blog which posts recent news articles relating to illegal immigration such as a news article that 12 states are considering bills that are very similar to Oklahoma's House Bill 1804.

The crimes that these Illegal commit affect us all in many ways including the expense of jails and additional police forces. But to add to that the fact that there are so many illegals in this country means that we are educating them, filling our schools with children who have to be taught English before they can even begin to learn, and they are receiving free health care in our emergency rooms because the Federal Government has seen fit to force the local states into passing laws to that affect.

Personally I'm betting that those 60,000 troops we have in Germany would be enough to decrease illegal immigration to almost nothing. But only one candidate will bring our troops to defend our border. You know who he is. His name is Ron Paul.

Random Pics

I thought I would try to make up for that pic of Rosie. So here is an eclectic collection only two of which are mine.






Saturday, November 10, 2007

National Tea Party

C O M I N G S O O N ! ! !



This December 16th, the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Disturbing

I came across some disturbing pics. This first one is a mug shot of Rosie after a night of drinking and beating her lesbian lover. The second is of Hillary and well, its just not a pretty sight.


Monday, November 05, 2007

Throwing in the towel

Looks like Roci has thrown in the towel. I am sure that your prayers would be appreciated.

Damn women!

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Photography

I just finished reading Anthony C LoBaido's most recent article in which he covers the topic of photography.

One of the things that he notes is that sunrise and sunset are some of the best times to take photos. Now I haven't had much experience taking at dusk and anyways the mountains block the direct sunset sunlight from striking the exact opposite is true in the morning here. On a clear morning the Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak are bathed in a reddish light that is truly striking.

On a good morning you will see Pikes Peak look more like the rocks in Garden Of The Gods than its more standard brown. Also the shadows cast by the various features and foothills are unique to that time of day only and continuously shift until it is the same thing that everyone sees everyday which makes later photos less dramatic. Dawn is also good due to moisture in the air. You may find residues of fog left over from the night and being able to photograph a pocket of fog, perhaps from an overlooking hill or as the fog moves on past your position also makes for a good pic. Now if there is no fog you will also end up with the clearest photos as there is no, or less, atmospheric moisture to create a haze. I imagine that places that suffer from a daily brown cloud might also benefit from early morning as less pollution is put into the air overnight and has had a chance to clear out.

As Anthony points out you have to be in a position to take good photos and it isn't always the pleasant and easy to get to places that make for good photos. It means you have to get up early, hike into the mountains or to a deserted remote location to see things the average person will not see but wants to be able to see or imagine every time they glance at their wall.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Racist: The Definition

We have long suspected it but finally a quasi-govermental institution has finally given us the official definition of a racist:
"A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. 'The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality. By this definition, people of color cannot be racists, because as peoples within the U.S. system, they do not have the power to back up their prejudices, hostilities, or acts of discrimination.'"
Emphasis added.

A special thanks to the University of Delaware for clearing up this confusion.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Inflation

Quoth the Mogambo:
What Mr. Rosenblum [the executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas] actually admitted was, as un-freaking-believable as it sounds, that "The FOMC seeks to foster an economic environment characterized by low and steady inflation"!

This, of course, brings up the quote of the famous economist John Maynard Keynes, who correctly said, "By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."


Officially inflation is about 2%, but this is due to hedonistically adjusting the measurements and conveniently leaving out things like energy (oil hit $90 a barrel) food (7%+ inflation) and housing.
I mischievously ask, "What would happen if the Fed didn't create more money and credit?"

[Peter Schiff] easily replies, "If the money supply were held constant, increases in some prices would be offset by decreases in others. The result would be no overall inflation."

No inflation! To make sure that nobody misses this important point, I grab the microphone right out of his hand and I scream, "No inflation in prices! No inflation in prices! It's a paradise! No inflation!"

Mr. Schiff, taken aback by my sudden outburst, gingerly takes the microphone back and says that, "In fact, without government created expansions of the money supply, the natural tendency of prices would be to decline as technology allowed for more efficient production of goods and services."
A valid question might be just what is the rate at which prices fall in a non-inflationary economy. The answer is approx. 2.5% per year. This does not affect every industry but it is a historic number. This is due to increases in efficiency such as shifting to an assembly line, or advances in techniques or machinery to do a specific job. It could also be due to economies of scale in that smaller operations are consolidated, as with power plants.

Imagine if you will that you made $500 a week and that you make that for the rest of your life. If there was no inflation that weekly earning would have a purchasing power of $820 after just 20 years. This would mean an increased standard of living with NO change in what you are doing.

Conversely let's look at what is currently happening. Since inflation is closer to 10% and the official 2% we will look at both numbers with the same scenario as before. 2% inflation over 20 years leaves you with the purchasing power of just $334. 10% inflation leaves you with a paltry $61. Or to look at it another way, to maintain the same standard of living as you have today you would have to increase your earnings to $743 or $3,364 respectively. This is what the Fed's "low and steady inflation" will do and IS doing to you.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Medication: Side Affects

According to Pilz-e

"Some of the side affects to medication I take I get nightmares, sometimes diseases, sometimes diarrhea, constipation, bleeding from the eyes, my ears ache, sometimes I get headaches, migraines, death!

But I got pills to cure the death, so I take those and it offsets the death effects."

If you haven't yet checked out Foamy, it is a very funny comic. It is, however, not for the kiddos.

IllWillPress.com

Friday, October 26, 2007

Ron Paul Info

Remember Remember the 5th of November!
Sign up, donate this Nov 5th!
If everyone donates $100 it will be the biggest single day fundraising ever in politics and would in itself be worth millions in publicity.

Also, the owner of RonPaulDVD.com has made DVD's available for purchase OR download. The best way to download is by using Torrent so as to distribute the bandwidth necessary over numerous connections. You can either go to the website to place an order or find the download or you can just click here for the torrent.

This IS a DVD so the file is enormous. 4.2 Gig. It will take time and tremendous bandwidth which is why the torrent is preferred. A 2nd DVD with different videos has been produced but it is not yet available for download. I will post again when I see it.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Pentagon Oil Consumption

Came across an interesting tidbit and I thought I would share it with you.
It can be difficult to obtain precise details on the DoD's daily oil hit, but an April 2007 report by a defense contractor, LMI Government Consulting, suggests that the Pentagon might consume as much as 340,000 barrels (14 million gallons) every day. This is greater than the total national consumption of Sweden or Switzerland.


Per NationMaster.com that puts the Pentagon just above Kuwait and just behind the Philippines in daily oil usage.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The Mighty Mogambo

"And the inflation news just keeps getting worse, as we had a 4.4% y-o-y increase in the Producer Price Index in September. And yet people wonder why I am in here puking into the toilet and cursing the Federal Reserve while I do it. Ugh."

Click here for more

The Sonflowerz

Listen To The Sonflowerz!


This local chick band combines worship and a bit of rock. If you like Third Day you will probably like these young ladies. I know them and know they are grounded enough that they are not likely to water down their music which is fantastic as so many "christian" groups are indistinguishable from any other artists singing pop music.

As an added bonus, Elissa is a hottie!

Go listen!
Go now!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

SnowFall!

If you headed over to Astro's today you know that it snowed here in Colorado. This just happens to be the first snow that my boy remembers or knows anything about so I got some pictures of us playing.






This last pic is my fav of the bunch. He is completely airborne in this one.

Well This Just

Pisses me off!

According to the Federal Gov, nearly 1 in 10 school children will suffer some form of sexual abuse by 12th grade! 1 in 10! Ten percent! Un-frickin-believable! And what is worse, this quite well written AP piece documents how "educators" are often just passed along to another district where no one knows of the problems, rather than prosecuting these scumbags and ending their careers.

I don't even know how to finish this post. I am at a loss for words.

1 in 10! AUGH

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Alien Defense

Astro brought up an important point in the race for the Presidency. Giuliani is the only one who has a plan to defeat alien invaders (the space kind, not the mexican kind) Well, I thought I would post on the various ways to kill aliens as given by those who have dedicated their lives to fighting, and killing, space aliens.

DGU's at School

As we all are aware school's are Gun-Free Zones, also known as a great place to shoot people. So much so that there is a market for bulletproof backpacks as mentioned on Wes' blog.

Larry Elder has written an article on DGU's, or Defensive Gun Uses, at schools. A good reference and an even better idea. Let's get some people inside the schools that are both willing AND able to defend the kids from psychos.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Friday, October 12, 2007

An Inconvenient Truth

Actually, several inconvenient truths would be more accurate. Seems that the showing to school children of Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth, for which he just won a Nobel, was challenged in court. The ruling was rather unfavorable to Al Gore.

The following are 11 claims made in the movie that were specifically found to be false.
1. The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The Government's expert was forced to concede that this is not correct.

2. The film suggests that evidence from ice cores proves that rising CO2 causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The court found that the film was misleading: Over that period the rises in CO2 lagged behind the temperature rises by 800-2000 years.

3. The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests that this has been caused by global warming. The Government's expert had to accept that it was "not possible" to attribute one-off events to global warming.

4. The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims that this was caused by global warming. The Government's expert had to accept that this was not the case.

5. The film claims that a study showed that polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out that Mr. Gore had misread the study: In fact four polar bears drowned, and this was because of a particularly violent storm.

6. The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream, throwing Europe into an ice age: The Claimant's evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility.

7. The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The Government could not find any evidence to support this claim.

8. The film suggests that the Greenland ice covering could melt, causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The evidence is that Greenland will not melt for millennia.

9. The film suggests that the Antarctic ice covering is melting; the evidence was that it is in fact increasing.

10. The film suggests that sea levels could rise by seven meters, causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact, the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40 centimeters over the next hundred years and that there is no such threat of massive migration.

11. The film claims that rising sea levels has caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The Government are unable to substantiate this and the Court observed that this appears to be a false claim.
One really has to wonder why a group that is so convinced of the veracity of their claims has to continually resort to lies to get their point across. Truth speaks for itself and easily wins out over false claims if the truth is just allowed to be spoken of. Sadly, the Enviros control the media on this issue and no dissenting opinion is ever allowed to be aired lest people wake up and learn the truth. And the truth is that Global Warming is pure bunk.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Free?

Well, it is official, I am free now. The divorce was finalized this (wed) morning.

I suppose I am supposed to feel good about that but I can't really say that I do.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Lil' Bear

I felt the need to post on my Lil Bear to keep you all updated on the cutest little one ever!

We have been learning animals and he has quite a few of them down, from his favorite of zebras and giraffes (which he still sometimes calls zebra) to deer elk and fox (that last comes out more like a 4 letter word) to all your standard farm animals as well as pets and many birds.

More recently we have started on what sounds they make. The little meow that he makes is just adorable. Last night I found out he had learned another sound, tho I know not from whom he learned it. We were going over a poster that has colors and has a blue bird. I asked him what color the bird was and he said "tweet tweet" in the cutest little voice imaginable. He is learning at a tremendous pace and often makes sure I stop at the alphabet poster to go over that or picks up a book where we can go over shapes or animals or various words like for clothing.

Today while talking with a friend I was swinging him and he counted out the number to 3 which is of course when I swing him up into my arms. I had NO idea he was learning that as we really hadn't gone over numbers all that much. Also this past week I learned some of what he dreams about. While out running errands he fell asleep in the car seat and when I woke him up he immediately started looking around for "trac-turs"

Lil' Bear loves everything that moves! Airplanes (airpees), trucks, buses, tractors, bikes and especially motorcycles (CYcle.) I was only ever able to show him one train up close but I think he enjoyed that one quite a bit as well.

He is growing up fast but well. He is well behaved and just the cutest child ever. I could just eat him up (o=

Friday, October 05, 2007

Photos

The local paper, The Gazette, maintains several blogs for additional info that doesn't fit in the paper or just doesn't really have a place in the paper like some of the outdoors activities you can find on their Out There blog. The other blog of theirs that I frequent is the Photos blog. Some of the pics they take are just incredible like the recent Balloon Classic. And needless to say their pics are better quality than mine seeing as they have better equipment and they do photography for a living. Kinda gives them the advantage.

Anyways, some of my pics from Mueller are over on the Gazette's Photo Blog. Three of the same ones as I posted below but I had a chance to touch them up whereas I did not with the ones I posted here which means they look better.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

All too true

I came across this personal ad, and while I realize it is a parody it has so much truth in it.
Woman seeks man stud, provider, and stuff - 33

I am fat, desperate and generally a man hater; I take pride in looking like crap. You guys don't stereotype me! I don't want a man who is skinny, fat or anything; just a man like I see on TV.

You will treat me like an angel, even though I am not and am to fat to fly even if I was. I can have high expectations for you, but will not tolerate bad comments about me.

I watch Oprah, have two kids and go to college. I am in no way taking classes which will provide myself a future, and rely on my baby Daddys' to provide their child support for my party ways.

I am 33 now, sleeped with hundreds of men in my twenties. Now I am looking for someone I can call soul mate.

I know my expectations are high, I am fat and fill my tummy with twinkies; I am still better than any man I ever met.

Hopefully you will respond, so I can play head games with you and not respond back. Remember, I am woman.....hear me (cough{on left over bacon}) ROAR!!!
This is the essence of SO many personals that I have seen that it is funny until you realize that it is more truth than not.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

New Hampshire Primary

As we are all aware, the New Hampshire Primary is the essential first step in winning the party nomination. History shows us that while you don't have to be first, you must have a good showing if other State Primaries are to be won.

New Hampshire rules are different than most States in that party members can vote for anyone, not just their own party which means that a popular candidate can receive a much needed boost from the other party. We are likely to see some of this as we have in the past, and perhaps a little more of this than in elections past due to the slate of candidates. Guiliani, of course, is seen as strong on terrorism and Clinton is the first serious female candidate and as such both of these are likely to see some crossover voting.

Due to this being an open election we can expect 200,000 to 250,000 votes on either side of the aisle, but also to include independents. And considering that the field is exceptionally crowded especially on the Republican side it is likely to be a rather close election. Currently Giuliani and Romney are polling at about 22% with McCain, having made a comeback of sorts, following at 17%. Fred "Bulldog" Thompson trails at 12%.

So what is needed for a winner of this poll? Perhaps only 30% I would say that 35% will likely be a rather handy win over the others. But one should never overlook the 2nd place. GW took 2nd in 2000 as did Bob Dole in 1996 and Bill Clinton in 1992. Remember Howard Dean? He also took second and because of that was given a huge boost which he ultimately destroyed in a single outburst.

Looking at the history of this primary it seems to me that to be taken seriously a candidate will need to take at least 25%, even in this crowded field. This translates to 59,000 votes minimum or 83,000 for a win. This will be the challenge for us Ron Paul supporters. We need this. We are very active, we are very vocal and as evidenced by the post below we are willing to put our money where our mouths are.

To the Paul supporters in the North East: Get out there! Put in your time in getting the word out about Dr. Paul. His message of freedom IS quite popular and gets people energized to go out and fight for it. Don't just target Republicans, work the Democrats as well. Many of those Democrats are anti-war but do not realize that Hillary, Edwards and Obama are all on record saying they will keep the troops there.

We CAN do this but it is going to be hard work on our part in making this happen. We cannot sit back and let the advertising dollars take over because we all know we cannot compete money-wise with the media darling Rudy McRompson. What we can do is share our love of Liberty and let it infect others as it has us.

Damn Spammers!

Looks like those Ron Paul spammers are at it again! Not only did they spam the New Jersey Straw Poll giving the good Dr. a win with 73%, they have also raised 1 million dollars in less than a weeks time.

We all know this is just the work of 10 or 15 spammers sitting in their mama's basements spamming over and over again.

So, as of 10:31 Eastern the Ron Paul thermometer is over 1 Mil. Congrats Ron Paul!

I'm In Love!

I am in love with Doda Elektroda
I don't care what you think of the music, or that you cannot understand the lyrics... I don't understand them either. Love transcends all and international language of love and all that junk.

Caution: This video is not for those who don't care for risque pics or who have a heart condition. Thank you and have a good day.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Ron Paul Campaign

On Monday the 24th Ron Paul asked us to donate $500,000 by the end of the quarter. Well, we passed that goal quite handily. The goal was raised to $1,000,000. Lets make it happen people! I donated for the first time last week and will do so again tomorrow if I can swing it.
**Update**
I removed the flash file for several reasons chief amongst them is the 3rd quarter is over. Over 5 million raised! Woohoo Way to go Paulites! But the work isn't done. Head over to RonPaul2008.com and donate and then go join ronpaul.meetup.com and be an activist in your area.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Mueller

So you know, I haven't died or given up blogging. I have been quite busy lately with work and with hiking and just trying to live life.

This morning (yesterday now I suppose) I took my boy to Mueller State Park in hopes of seeing some elk. During the hike we did hear some bugling and as we made our way closer we finally found the source! A man. He had come from Kentucky to see the aspens and to hopefully see some elk. Well that of course was the bummer. But we did see a ton of evidence of the elk, from tracks to their eating of the aspen bark. Other tracks we saw include deer, horse, mountain lion (one of them was big), and coyote. We also got to see some deer, a bunny and a bunch of wild turkey and we were able to get fairly close to them.

My hiking buddy! All bundled up against the cold. It was about 30 degrees this morning, possibly colder.


That shadow of the hunchback is me (technically, us)


Towering aspens


View to the east, north of Pikes Peak


This is just how striking the colors of the aspens are. They stand out beautifully against the pines.


Saved the best for last. I think this is my fav picture of all. It just seems to speak of the innocence of childhood. (Well, that is what I get from it anyways)

Saturday, September 15, 2007

California To Poison Lake

California is going to poison* Lake Davis, not once, but twice in an effort to rid the lake of pike. "Since [the mid 90s], millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours have been spent trying to spike the pike." Efforts have included a previous poisoning, electrocution and even explosives (which killed a whopping 5 fish.) So the States grand total of fish dead over the past decade is 65,000 fish.

The article goes on to almost give the solution to the problem and then immediately gives us the reason as to why their efforts have failed so badly. "While not a flashy menu topper like tilapia or trout, pike is edible, even glorified by some palates, though its bones make for challenging chewing. But in California, it is illegal to possess, dead or alive."

So close, yet so far. The simplest answer would be to not only allow fishing pike in this lake, but to completely remove all limits on it. There should be no restrictions as to the limit, size, time of day or season or to the method of catch. While this may not completely eliminate the pike it will severely drop their numbers to a point where they could be managed. Perhaps at that point a poisoning of the lake might make sense to off the rest of them but doing it before hand just seems to be a waste of time, money and resources (including natural ones)

* I should point out that the poisoning is really more specific to fish than to all animals. It is absorbed through the gills and blocks the ability to process oxygen. And tho it is considered safe adding chemicals to water is a hazardous thing at best.

Friday, September 14, 2007

CIA Says No Al Qaeda-Saddam Link

Wow, all this time later and we find that there was indeed no link between the two. More damning is the fact that the census among the CIA is that the two were rivals, not allies. This does make sense seeing as Saddam was a secular ruler and Al Qaeda is a loose collection of religious people.

Now if you will remember a large part of the leadup to the war was the "fact" that Saddam was connected to Al Qaeda and was training, supporting and harboring them. This was put out in a report by a high ranking CIA official and was the justification used to drum up support for this war. But surprisingly this turned out to be just another lie. Inspector General Thomas Gimble says that the reports author Feith's actions were "inappropriate" and that he came to "A hugely different conclusion than what the consensus of the Intelligence Community was."

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Now is the time

I must make [an] honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the [nation]. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that [our] great stumbling block in this stride toward freedom is not the [Democrats] or the [Left Wing], but the [Republican], who is more devoted to "order" than to [freedom]; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of [liberty]; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises [us] to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had also hoped that the [Republicans] would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a brother in Texas. He writes: "[We] know that [you] will receive [liberty] eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a hurry." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of [socialism]. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of [liberty] and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of [freedom]. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of [authoritarianism] to the solid rock of human dignity [and freedom].

[T]hough I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ..." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremist for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of [liberty]? Perhaps the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Water As Fuel?

A cool video and one that I truly hope pans out

Congressional War Powers

Astro states as his main objection to Ron Paul is the good doctor's stance on the war. One of Ron Paul's biggest issues with the war is that it is unconstitutional. Let's look at that issue.

The Constitution defines the Congressional War Powers thusly:
United States Constitution Article 1 Section 8. The Congress shall have power to ... To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
Now that we know that it is within the power of Congress to declare war, and not that of the President lets see how this declaration of war has been made in the past:

WWII:
Whereas the Government of Germany has formally declared war against the Government and the people of the United States of America:

Therefore be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Government of Germany which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Government of Germany; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.

Approved, December 11, 1941, 3:05 p.m., E. S. T.
WWI gives us this Declaration of War:
WHEREAS, The Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America; therefore, be it

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial German Government, which has thus been thrust upon the United States, is hereby formally declared; and

That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial German Government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.
One thing to point out is that these are very simple Declarations. No justification was really needed. In contrast the current ‘‘Authorization for
Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002’’
is 6 pages long. The resolution starts at the bottom of page four and I am cutting this down for brevity. Please see the cull document here (PDF)
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
The Congress of the United States supports the efforts by
the President to—
(1) strictly enforce through the United Nations Security
Council all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq
and encourages him in those efforts; and
(2) obtain prompt and decisive action by the Security
Council to ensure that Iraq abandons its strategy of delay,
evasion and noncompliance and promptly and strictly complies
with all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The President is authorized to use the
Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary
and appropriate in order to—
(1) defend the national security of the United States against
the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council
resolutions regarding Iraq.

SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
(a) REPORTS.—The President shall, at least once every 60 days,
submit to the Congress a report on matters relevant to this joint
resolution, including actions taken pursuant to the exercise of
authority granted in section 3 and the status of planning for efforts
that are expected to be required after such actions are completed,
including those actions described in section 7 of the Iraq Liberation
Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–338).
These are very different and the latest clearly is not a Declaration of War as a simple reading of the Constitution would seem to require. Obviously we new this in the past but in today's world our politician's choose expediency to Constitutionality.

Now I kept up Section 4 because I wanted to point out where this current "war" came from. It started back in 98 under Clinton. And this is where Dr Paul's opposition started. Paul knew that this would lead to an aggressive war and indeed it has. Paul pushed his colleagues to reconsider their support for the Iraq Liberation Act and tried to keep the bill from passing. Despite Paul's efforts we have become an aggressive nation, a danger to smaller countries and mark my words, this WILL come back to bite us. A few more such aggressive wars and the moment we start rattling sabers at a small country they will know that the end for them is near and there is nothing they can do to stop it so they will attack us anyways in the attitude that it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

I do not have a problem with war itself. I do think that war should be legal in our own country and should be covered under the just war doctrine. In other words, start nothing, finish everything. Currently it looks like we are starting everything and finishing nothing. We are still in Afghanistan and on our third premise for being there. We are in Iraq and have completed only one of our objectives, even though getting Saddam was the only objective at the start. And then we failed to even have a proper trial for him. What he received was a politically motivated kangaroo court. One would think that with all the crimes that could be put against Saddam that a proper trial could have been held, but no, we failed on that count as well.

I will post more on the Iraq "war" and Ron Paul soon, as this post covers but one aspect (legality.)

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Why I Support Ron Paul For President 2008

Dr No. An odd nickname and seemingly a negative one at that. But just who is Ron Paul, and why are so many people saying Yes to Dr. No. A good question and one that deserves an answer. I will endeavor to answer that fully so that you might know why I support him and why you should support him as well.

Background:
Ron Paul is indeed a doctor. An OB/GYN to be precise and he has delivered over 4,000 babies in Brazoria County, Texas. Paul served in the military as a flight surgeon in the Air Force. Dr. Paul first became a Representative in the 1970's and even then made a name for himself as a Constitutionalist. Dr Paul was one of just 4 Republican congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan in 1976.

(This post is long and this is me blathering, skip to the first pic if you just want to read of Ron Paul)
Now this is where I start to join the story. I still remember the second election of Reagan. I remember wholeheartedly supporting him and being glued to the TV watching my hero win as the results were coming in. I think I should point out that I was 7 at the time. I grew up a Republican. I watched a betrayal by Bush the Senior when he betrayed his promise to the nation of "No new taxes." When I was 14 or 15 I became a full fledged Ditto Head. I watched, supported and was even excited about the Contract With America. But then I noticed something. Once in office, the Republicans just had a quick vote on those things and they didn't pass so they just brushed it all under the table and hoped we forgot about it. But I didn't forget about it. I realized that they kept increasing the size of the government. Nothing went away. Not the National Endowment for the Arts, not the Dept. of Education. Nothing. The Republicans moved away from their rhetoric of small limited government and took the positions that had been abandoned by the Democrats who moved left for a more liberal/socialist stance. Each time the Democrats became more liberal it is as if they redefined the Republicans to move them to the left as well.

My ideals and beliefs had changed very little but my party had moved out from under me. This is when I decided that my party was the Libertarian party. But not completely. In 2000 I made a conscious decision to vote against Al Gore. My only option in doing so was to vote for Bush the Younger, whom I didn't particularly like but at the time the "Lesser of Two Evils" argument seemed very persuasive to me. Needless to say, I have learned my lesson and will no longer, in fact ever again, vote for the LoTE. I will abstain from voting if evil is my only choice. This is both a religious reason as I believe I will be held responsible for supporting evil, as well as a practical one. The practical reason is that lending my vote adds legitamacy to the evil.

Ron Paul has very much earned the nickname of Dr. No. He has done this by steadfastly supporting the Constitution and it's requirement of a limited federal government. The No comes from being a lone voice voting no against unconstitutional spending and bills despite the rest of the group voting for it. You may see a vote of 434 to 1 and you can almost be assured that the no belongs to Ron Paul. He doesn't do this to spite anyone or to simply be contrarian, but because he believes that what the Founding Fathers wrote is indeed what they intended. So if they wrote Congress shall make no law, Paul believes that what they REALLY meant is that Congress shall make no law. It really IS revolutionary, hence the banner shown below which was designed by the very first Ron Paul meetup group.

Dr. Paul has never voted for a tax increase, never voted for a congressional pay raise, has never voted for federal gun control, and never voted for an unbalanced budget. He has never taken a government paid junket, and significantly, he has refused the Congressional Pension which is a MUCH sweeter deal than is available to us peasants.

Ron Paul spoke against the Iraq war starting in 1998. Yes this long predates the current war but its beginnings are there. He also spoke against the war before we went into this current "war," urging a vote of Congress which is what the Constitution demands. Ron Paul voted against the poorly named USA PATRIOT ACT. He did so out of a respect for Liberty. His colleagues should have done so because no one even had the bill in front of them to read it. (It was made available just 4 hours before the vote)

So those are some of the things Dr Ron Paul is against. What is he for? Dr. No has submitted legislation to abolish the Federal Reserve. He has submitted legislation to allow the farming of hemp (we are the only industrialized nation that doesn't allow it) Paul wants to abolish the IRS, the Dept of Homeland Security, and the Dept of Education among others. Interestingly Paul notes that abolishing the IRS and the income tax would mean rolling back spending... to 1997 levels. Just 10 years ago. And for those who don't know, that wouldn't make SS go away. Those taxes are, somewhat, different than the income tax.

Paul intends to bring home the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He did support the action in Afghanistan as it seemed that chasing Bin Laden was in our national interest. We have failed in that however and it is time to bring our boys home. And not just from there, but from across the world. Now I don't know the extent that he would pull our troops from other countries. I doubt he would remove them all, but nations like Germany really don't need what amounts to a monetary handout, and he has stated as much.

Those troops would then be available to defend OUR borders. Currently it is insanely easy to get across our borders and with all this talk about terrorism we still leave our borders, particularly the southern border completely open. If a terrorist wanted to get in all he has to do is walk or maybe hire a coyote to smuggle him in. Not so under Paul. We would have defended borders. This is needed for security, economic and even health reasons. Further, the savings provided from having out troops home could be used to shore up social entitlements until we wean the public off of those entitlements, and this is Paul's plan.

Paul is very pro free-trade. By this he means allowing trade with all nations and removing the entangling alliances we find ourselves in. He holds that we do not need things like Most Favored Nation status for countries like China, rather we need to simply allow the market place to decide who wants what goods, and where they will get them from.

Paul wants to return us to a commodity based currency. Doing so will remove the ability to continually dilute the currency which is THE cause of inflation (by its very definition.) This would remove the inflation which steals away the savings of every individual which leaves them with nothing at retirement and therefore dependent upon the government for assistance. This move would also ease the bubbles we have been seeing a lot of lately.

I could go on for quite some time on Dr Ron Paul, but I have probably lost most of you by now. So in closing... Paul is a staunch defender of Liberty. He upholds the Constitution, he is very well read which is evident in his responses to questions. And he actually answers questions posed to him rather than evade them. His ideas are not open to being bought, they are based upon the concepts of Liberty and Freedom and as those ideas do not change, neither do his positions. I think I can boil all this down to calling him a Statesman.

Ron Paul serves US, he has defended US repeatedly. It is time that we stand up for Ron Paul. To that end, I am actually going to make my very first financial contribution ever to a political candidate. It won't be much as I don't have much. But I can be assured that Dr. Paul's campaign will use it wisely and far more prudently than the others running for President.

Links:
RonPaul2008
DailyPaul.com

Friday, September 07, 2007

Grassfire Poll

Grassfire.org conducted a poll of 39,000 conservatives and found support for Fred Thompson at 28%, double the #2 Mitt Romney at 14%. Fred's support will obviously vary in the coming 2 months or so due to his getting into the fray. Now of course, I feel compelled to point out Ron Paul's ranking in this poll. He actually did quite well, moving from 6% in may to 13%. And yes, that does place him in third place in a very large poll.

Other very interesting tidbits from this poll. In a Giuliani-Clinton race, 29% said they would abstain or vote 3rd party. 25% said this of a Romney-Clinton race. I think this is rather telling of the love that conservatives have for these two liberals even if it doesn't say quite whom they support. I suppose that one could say that 10-13% of those numbers could well come from the Dr. Paul supporters and therefore may not fully reflect the party at large but rather those conservatives that are rather fed up with the fascist wing of the party, A.K.A Big Government Conservatives, A.K.A. Compassionate Conservatives.

Grassfire is a network of over one million conservatives out of which 39,440 participated in this poll. Paul gained 13% of this somewhat self selected group's favor and I think it must be remembered that Dr. Paul's support comes from both sides of the aisle. He is a candidate that could actually pull votes away from HRC as opposed to causing conservative "defectors" like Rudy McRomney. He is certainly a more viable and "electable" candidate than this trio. I think at this point Rudy needs to be finished off and then Fred needs to be faced. With luck Rudy Ghouliani will destroy his chances much like Senator McCain did.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Colorado Balloon Classic

The Colorado Springs Balloon Classic takes place every labor day and is three days full of fun for lovers of hot air balloons. This was the 31st year and we have a total of 79 registered balloons. They launched at 7AM on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and there were balloon glows Sat & Sun night.Lil Bear and I were able to get to the Glow on Sunday and the launch on Monday.

The Classic takes place in Memorial Park which is where all of the big events happen in Colorado Springs. It is a huge, fully manicured park with a small lake. The balloons setup on the north side of the park, launch and float over the trees to the south and immediately dip into the lake. The lake is where you want to be. From here you can watch them come over the hill, just over the top of the trees and into the lake. Sometimes they actually hit branches as they are trying to cut it very close. It isn't a big lake and of course you don't want to be coming down too hard. But it makes a GREAT show, especially for the little ones.

I thought I would share just a few of the nearly 200 pics I took.







I hope you enjoyed 'em! We sure enjoyed getting them.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Texas Straw Poll results

Saturday, 4 p.m.: The votes are in . . .
And the winner of the first-ever Rebpublican(sic) Straw Poll in Texas is: California Congressman Duncan Hunter, who claimed 534 votes, or 41.1 percent of the ballots cast this afternoon. Finishing second is candidate-in-waiting Fred Thompson, who formally launches his candidacy next week, with 266 votes, or 20.5 percent.

Third was Texas' own Ron Paul, a GOP congressman and one-time Libertarian presidential nominee, who got 217 votes, or 16.7 percent. Paul was far and away the most aggressive campaigner at the two-day Straw Poll event in downtown Fort Worth.
Not bad considering the total lack of MSM coverage. Also something to consider is just who these voters were. The Texas Straw poll placed the following limitation upon voters
Must have been a Delegate or Alternate Delegate to at least one of the last 4 Republican State Conventions (2000, 2002, 2004 or 2006) or one of the last 2 Republican National Conventions (2000 or 2004). This of course means that these were likely longtime Bush supporters.

Duncan Hunter was introduced as "a guy who won’t only protect our borders, he’ll close our borders." This position no doubt gained him much support from Texans. And it is also a position that I think he believes in. We could certainly do worse than Hunter.

The Salton Sea

For those of you not familiar with the Salton Sea, it is an inland sea in California which is fed by the Colorado River. The sea's surface is currently 227 feet below sea level and as such has no outlet. Because of this it is one of the saltiest bodies of water in North America and is actually saltier than the Pacific Ocean. But the Salton Sea isn't old, not by any means. In fact, one could say it is celebrating it's 100th anniversary.

In 1901 the area where the sea is now was called the King's Basin. It was being reclaimed by settlers farming the basin and water was being diverted to water their crops. In 1904 the canal had become clogged so a cut was made elsewhere to allow water to come through. This proved to be the downfall of the entire settlement.
The daily reports from the gauge at Rubio City showed an increase in the river's volume of twenty thousand second feet; then thirty thousand more; and on top of that came another twenty thousand. The assistants of the new chief engineer tried to tell him what it meant, but the assistants were subordinates and friends ofWillard Holmes. The man from New York, who was privileged to write several letters after his name, was supposed to know his business.

Then the assembled forces of the river reached the intake, and the trembling wooden structures that stood between the pioneers and ruin, besieged by the rising flood, battered by the swirling currents, bombarded by drift, gave way under the strain and the charging waters plunged through the breach.

Too late the Company's forces were rushed to the scene. Before their very eyes the roaring waters, as if mad with destructive power, wrenched and tore at the Company's property, twisting, ripping, smashing, until not a trestle, plank or stick was left in place and the terrific current, rushing with ever increasing volume and power through the opening, plowed into the soft, alluvial soil of the embankment, undermining and carrying it away until nearly the entire river was admitted.

As quickly as men and material could be assembled, the Company's chief engineer began the battle to regain control of the mighty stream. The warfare thus begun meant life or death to the greatest reclamation project in the world. Millions already invested by the settlers in farms and towns and homes and business enterprises were at stake. Many more millions that were yet to be realized from the reclaimed lands depended upon the issue of the fight.

Against the efforts of the engineers and the army of laborers the river massed from its tributaries in the regions of heavy rains and melting snows the greatest strength it had assembled in many years. Five times, with piling and trestles and jettie sand embankments, the men who defended The King's Basin were in sight of victory. Five times the river summoned fresh strength-twisted out the piling, wrecked the trestles, undermined the jetties and embankments and swept the nearly completed structures, smashing, grinding, crashing, away--a twisted, tangled ruin.
This is from the writings of Harold Bell Wright in his historical novel The Winning of Barbara Worth. Read the entire account here

From 1905 until the breach was dammed in 1907 nearly the entire Colorado River flowed into this basin. What is left is a salty, nutrient loaded (and can become oxygen poor) sea that is none the less habitat for many species of birds and a huge number of fish. Click here for more info on the Salton Sea