A Rookie President

Thomas Sowell nails it perfectly in his post today on Townhall. A must read.

We Need a Netanyahu

Per Breibart, "Israel used unmanned drones to attack clandestine Iranian convoys in Sudan that were attempting to smuggle rockets into Gaza, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported." Apparently, "the convoys were carrying Fajr-3 rockets, which have a range of more than 40 miles (65 kilometres), and were split into sections to be smuggled through tunnels into Gaza from Egypt."

What a terrific leader Israel has in Netanyahu. That we could only be so blessed.

Somehow I doubt our fearless leader would use such effective tactics to prevent any type of attack on our borders.

Does this make sense?

Breitbart reports that the National Intelligence (?) Director, Dennis Blair testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that "some Guantanamo inmates may be released on US soil and receive assistance to return to society."

At the same time, Janet Napolitano, Head of Homeland Security, "turned down an offer for more money to fight crime along the U.S.'s southern border, saying she'll pay for it with the funds she has."

Now, here's my question. If the powers that be in D.C. are going to release known terrorists (which means: people who want to kill us simply because we exist) into the general population AND on the dime of the American taxpayer (welfare, food stamps, etc.), why worry about the border?

The Liberals Were Right!?!?!?

After reading the Drudge Report this morning, there was just so much fodder for blogging that I didn't even know where to begin. I learned, not at all to my surprise that our beloved Secy of State has blamed the United States for Mexico's problems with the drug cartels. Not to worry, though, because the equally patriotic and brilliant Janet Napolitano, the head of Homeland Security (that should be enough to scare the heck out of you) is confident "she" has enough money for the border wars. Ya know, building that fence would have been a lot easier, but hey! Let's just do this the hard and bloody way.

Anyway, suddenly I remembered an email I received a few days ago, and it seems appropriate to post it here. Enjoy!
---------------------------------------------

I have to admit it. My liberal friends were right. They told me if I
voted for McCain, the nation's Hope would deteriorate, and sure enough
there has been a 20 point drop in the Consumer Confidence Index since
the election, reaching a lower point than any time during the Bush
administration.

They told me if I voted for McCain, the US would become more deeply
embroiled in the Middle East, and sure enough tens of thousands of
additional troops are scheduled to be deployed into Afghanistan.

They told me if I voted for McCain, that the economy would get worse and
sure enough unemployment is approaching 8.8% and the new stimulus
packages implemented recently have sent the stock market lower than at
any time since 9-11.

They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more "crooks" in high
ranking positions in Federal government and sure enough, several recent
cabinet nominees and Senate appointments revealed resumes of bribery and
tax fraud.

Well I ignored my Democrat friends in November and voted for McCain. And
they were right... all of their predictions have come true.

Got Chicken? Got Beef? Got Milk? Enjoy It While You Can

In a staff column posted today at Townhall, entitled EPA Targets Cows, Grows Government, it seems that the EPA is proposing to tax greenhouse gases, which are gases that are naturally produced. The article explains that:

... they (the EPA) propose to tax agriculture for greenhouse emissions. For smaller animals like hogs, the tax would be $20 per year. For the largest animals, the tax would be over $100 per year.

It goes on to say that:

The Department of Agriculture, to its credit, came out with a statement that taxing family farms would cause undue hardship leading to failure; few family farms have financial room for additional taxes.

OK. As a small farmer/rancher, beef producer and occasional pork producer, let me ask you a few questions.

1. Do you like pork (the 4 legged variety not the D.C. type)?

2. Do you enjoy a glass of milk, a bit of butter, cream, or ice cream?

3. Do you eat beef?

4. Do you eat chicken?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then you better start raising cain with you elected representatives.

Pork is the most expensive meat to raise. It is labor intensive. There is a reason why the phrase "eats like a pig" came into being. Pigs eat. A lot. Now when a person raises pigs naturally like I do, it really becomes labor intensive. Here's why. Now remember, I raise a quality product. When raising pigs, first I must have a milk goat, which I hand-milk twice a day. I also must have chopped corn, because I feed the little buggers goat milk and chopped corn, twice a day, for the first 4 months of their lives. It gets them off to a healthy start. Afterwards, they are fed chopped corn twice a day and run around the pastures and woodlots eating nuts, worms, and whatever else pigs eat naturally. Since the brilliant powers that be seem to think that using corn to run cars is the greatest idea since jelly beans, the price of corn has skyrocketed. Oh, there is a lot, and I mean A LOT more corn being produced, but it is neither used nor priced as feed corn. That is why the price of pork is already outrageous. You add another $20 per animal in taxes (plus whatever the tax is on the goat), and there won't be many producers who can afford to raise pork and there won't be many people who will be able to afford to buy it.

Our main business is producing grass-fed beef. Most years this is no big deal. However, the last few years it has been pretty dry and during the winter we must feed hay. When hay was $20 per big round bale, that was fine. During drought conditions, the cost of hay can increase up to $100 per round bale. Then, every now and then you have to call the vet out, because of, well.... it could be anything: a cow got wire wrapped around a leg, stuck in the mud somewhere, or a calving gone dreadfully wrong. Any of those are big vet bills. Even with a quality, in-demand product like chem-free grass-fed beef, we don't make a ton of $$ raising them. Again, you add $100 per year per animal, and it is cost-prohibitive to raise them.

Chickens are not too bad to raise, but they are totally stupid. And chickens die. I've had one that died laying an egg, although, granted, it was really a HUGE egg. The beautiful red-tail hawks, just love chicken too. And don't forget about coyotes and dogs passing through for a little free food and sport. Chicken feed, like all other feed, due to the aforementioned use of corn for fuel, again makes it almost cost prohibitive to raise them, and that's without the proposed EPA taxes.

So, here's my question. Do you like to eat? If so, will you be able to afford to buy food when all of the small, independent producers are out of business, and all food production is controlled by a few huge agribusiness corporations?

It seems to me that we are talking population control here. When food crops are grown but their use is diverted to fuel production, that leads to starvation. Which leads to riots. Which leads to martial law. Which leads to .... well.... you can see where this all leads.

Please, get on the horn, write letters, or send emails to the EPA, your elected representatives, anyone you can think of, and let's try to shut this insane idea down before it takes root.

The US a 3rd World Country?

The following is a cross-post of my comment to Paul Jacob's post entitled From Oz to Obama.

I've traveled the world. The USA is the only non-3rd world country. Yes, there are some countries that are very nice, but there are none to compare with the conveniences and prosperity the majority of Americans have. Even our poor would be considered wealthy if transplanted to just about anywhere else in the world. We do have the best way of life on the planet.

Or we did.

As a Texan, I can see signs in even the small towns, that we are quickly sliding into 3rd world status. Laws seem to apply only to law-abiding American citizens. Illegals, elected officials, and people and entities who support those elected officials, apparently do not have to abide by any of our laws, and all is forgiven, and this goes all the way to the place where "the buck stops".

The violence that most of the media ignores in the so-called country to our south, is spreading across the border at an astounding rate, although it apparently isn't considered newsworthy by our illustrious media. Nor does the current Administration appear to see a problem with drug cartels encroaching into American cities with their own special brand of justice and punishment. To the contrary, it seems that the Speaker of the House is ready to make all the illegals legal and declare Immigration and Customs Enforcement unconstitutional.

Remember when Walmart prided itself on selling American-made goods? Try and find American-made goods at Walmart now. Another treat at Walmart, at least in my area, is that the signs, credit card machines, and even the music playing in the store, are all in Spanish. And I don't live anywhere near the southern border. But, my gosh, what a business their customer service desk is doing wiring money to Mexico. Don't even try to exchange something on a Friday. Please don't get me wrong, I love the convenience of Walmart: one stop shopping. What I hate is poor service, inferior goods, and everything being in Spanish. Last time I checked, English was the language of the USA.

Our country has been sold out by our very own elected officials. They are now trying to totally destroy what is left of our economy. Citizens who have spent their entire lives living frugally to ensure they had funds to support them in retirement, are wishing they had taken that European vacation that they didn't take, so they could put more money towards their retirement. It is doubtful that those of us on the younger end of the Baby Boomers will ever be able to retire. Those Boomers that have already retired, have already lost at least 70% of their net worth, all courtesy of the US government and our elected officials.

So, while clicking our heels together and wishing we could go home isn't an option for us like it was for Dorothy, a nice clean sweep inside the Beltway, along with a thorough scrubbing of nonsensical laws and policies would go a long way in curing the waking nightmare in which we presently find ourselves.