Delftsman

WHY I'M DEPRESSED!!

I'd seen this one before, but it struck home particularly hard this time, as it describes some of my darkest feelings in a nutshell.

I've been fighting a semi-severe depression mood for about six months now, some caused by health problems, and some caused by what I see happening in this great Country of ours that I feel powerless to affect.

Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel ,

"Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, I will lead you to the
Promised Land."

Nearly 75 years ago, (when Welfare was introduced) Roosevelt said,

"Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, light up a Camel, this is the
Promised Land."

Today, Congress has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price
of Camels and mortgaged the Promised Land!

I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the economy,
the wars, lost jobs, savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc . .. ..
I called a Suicide Hotline.
I had to press 1 for English.
I was connected to a call center in Pakistan . I told them I was suicidal.
They got excited and asked if I could drive a truck......

Folks, we're screwed!

H/T Catfish

The new Paradigm

The OBAMA motto:

We've got what it takes, to take what you've got!

Look around you and see what's been going on for the last 2 1/2 years and tell me this isn't true. As RR said in his first presidential campaign, ask yourself

"Are you better off than 4 years ago?"

The 'Nuge strikes Again

As usual, the Motor City Madman Ted Nugent tells it like it is. A must read.

Pentagon to Scrap traditional Retirement?

Seems that a Pentagon budget committee has proposed to scrap the current military retirement plan over the next 50 years or so and replace it with a 401K type plan.

Under the new plan, soldiers would have to contribute up to 16% (with government matching funds) to a government administered 401k type investment plan. Under this scheme, the soldier would not be vested in the plan until after 6 years, and would have to serve the present term of 20 year minimum to collect; if they retired after, say only 10 years, the money would be rolled over into his/her SS account. Another change is that the soldier would not receive any monies until he/she attained the 'normal' retirement age of 65.

IMHO, This plan is shortsightedly boneheaded as to defy belief. They are trying to equate the profession of arms to a corporate career, when the analogy just doesn't exist.

Many military families of the lower ranks are living near or at the poverty level already, yet they want to take up to 16% of a soldiers base pay off the top?!?

Those that choose the military profession know that the pay level stinks when they go into it; they still join because of a great love for their country and that they know they will receive a set retirement and benefits package according to their ability to rise in the ranks in return for their present sacrifices.

Critics will claim that soldiers don't have it that bad; pointing to the fact that many soldiers can get free housing and health care for their families while on active duty, and that's certainly true, but having been a resident of base housing and a participant in military medical care, I can personally vouch that the average citizen would not accept the same conditions without complaint.

The housing units are usually smaller than the average as compared to normal residential housing, and the medical care involves a great deal more bureaucracy than the average citizen experiences in a regular hospital setting.

I do not make these statements as a slur towards the military, the military as a whole does it's best to provide for their own as they can while still necessarily keeping budget costs down. There are always tradeoffs and people in the military recognize the reasons for those tradeoffs and accept them as a fact of military life.

Currently, retirees with at least 20 years service receive benefits from the time of their separation until their death. Critics point to this and declare it as "unfair"; "those in the Corporate world don't start to get drawing retirement benefits until age 65 in most cases."

Well, I say that they are comparing apples to oranges; just how many corporate types are sent to hostile environments for years at a time away from their loved ones ?

How many businessmen put themselves directly in harms way as a part of their normal jobs on a daily basis ?

If a business man makes a mistake, for the most part all he loses is some money, worst case his job; a soldiers makes a mistake and he loses his life, and possibly the lives of those nearest to him.

How many average citizens would consider it "normal" to wait up to two months just to see their PCP for a checkup on a health problem they may be experiencing, or wait in a clinic for 8-10 hours for a potentially serious health problem?

The average citizen would be outraged if forced to live under these conditions, yet the people in the military accept it as a normal fact of life.

I for one do not begrudge a single dime of the pay or benefits that a military retiree may receive; they earned far more than they will ever receive.

I think that if we are serous to reining in the budget, we should look into the pay/retirement package of those bureaucrats proposing these changes; I would wager we would save a lot more if they were changed.

Perry Pros and Cons

Garnet92 over at Pesky Truth has a fantastic post up exploring the pros and cons of Rick Perry as a candidate.

Unlike most blog posts I've seen, Garnet backs up his opinions with non-partisan links to key sources. He's also not afraid to pull any punches on exposing Gov. Perry's warts as well as his strong suits.

He is also adept in explaining Texas politics and how they may affect a Gov.'s abilities to do some things that might otherwise seem to be faults but in reality are not within his purview under Texas law.

Red Skelton at his best

Going through my old files this afternoon I found this "oldie but goodie". This should be shown to our children at the beginning of every semester. If we went back to these simple basic precepts, we wouldn't have the problems we have today.

Voting Amendment?

The owner of Godfather Politics has an interesting proposal; let only those who actually pay taxes be allowed to vote. This would ensure that those who survive only by sucking the Governments teat would have a say in how our country is run. It's a radical idea (and at present certainly unconstitutional), but desperate times do call for desperate measures...

Full disclosure: under such an act, I would be disenfranchised, since I am forced by my health conditions to survive on SSD. (and it is mere survival, not really living the good life by any means!...and I am grateful for EVERY penny I receive)

Having said that, if it is decided that "only those who pay get to decide", it would be all right with me. If SS in ALL it's forms were to put up for a vote tomorrow, I would vote against it, despite the personal hardship it would cause me and my family.

Progressive Projection

Kay in Maine has a post up trying (hopefully tongue in cheek) to equate Michell Bachmann and her husband as being somehow being secretly pornographic and/or homosexual.

Their "tell"?: they were photographed eating a corn dog at the Iowa State Fair.

'Project' much Kay? I bet if they were caught licking an ice creak cone it would be proof positive of your conjecture wouldn't it?

I don't really take her accusations seriously, I think she was just having a little juvenile fun, or, as a certain right wing pundit would say: "demonstrating absurdity by being absurd".

But, If this is what passes as serious political commentary on Kay's side of the aisle, we in the center/center-right should do well in the next election.

I did try to post a comment on this post, but it seems that Kay prefers an echo chamber as opposed to having different views aired. Her choice and that's fine; it's her house and her rules.

I like to think I'm open to ALL views in MY house. I have never as yet banned a commentator here, and never will unless it's because the comment is so obscene as to make a CPO in the Navy blush AND has no point to the discussion at hand whatsoever.

UPDATE: Since Kay seems to think that eating certain items are indicative of a person's proclivities, I'd like her to explain what these two pictures portray:

Playing Kay's game I COULD say that this showed Obama as a man who really enjoys licking the 'creamy center'...

...and in this picture; It seems our Secretary of State likes it rough and nutty. She is sure digging into the problem, isn't she?

OK, enough of the juvenile fun. Sometimes an ice cream cone or a corn dog are just that. Just remember that a good cigar is a good smoke too. ;)

A Question

If you can answer this correctly, you can answer the question on what action to take on raising the Federal debt ceiling.

You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup and you have sewage up to your ceiling.

What do you do……raise the ceiling, or pump out the shit?

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Yes, I know it's an oversimplification, but it is the basic root of the problem.

The only real problem is rampant overspending combined with over-regulation by the Federal Government; and that overspending and over-regulation is basically caused by too many citizens that feel they are entitled to a free ride, expecting the Government to take care of them as if they were children incapable of doing anything for themselves.

H/T to Catfish

Food for Thought

While the benefits of computer technology are self-evident, it might behoove us to ponder on just what we might have lost with 24/7 inter-connectivity, and wether the loss is worth the gain.

Feloniuos Munk

Here's another entry of the awakening American anger against the Socialist policies of the current Administration, coming no less from one who would be a natural Obama supporter.

Be warned the language is graphically obscene

A Beatdown

Here is a business woman who tells the pResident that he should apologize to the American people for his performance as to the American economy.

I thought she had a particularly good response when Neil Cavuto brought up the Progressive mantra that "Obama had inherited a mess"...She said SHE, and every other leader in business inherit a mess EVERY day, and it was their job to solve the problems, not just whine about them.

Circle Flies

A cowboy from Texas attended a social function where Barack Obama was trying to gather support for his Health Plan. When Obama discovered the cowboy was from President Bush's home area, he started to belittle him by talking in a southern drawl and single syllable words.

As he was doing that, he kept swatting at some flies that were buzzing around his head. The cowboy says, "Y'all havin' some problem with them circle flies?"

Obama stopped talking and said, "Well, yes, if that's what they're called, but I've never heard of circle flies."

"Well, sir," the cowboy replies, "Circle flies hang around ranches. They're called circle flies because they're almost always found circling around the back end of a horse."

"Oh," Obama replies as he goes back to rambling.
But, a moment later he stops and bluntly asks, "Are you calling me a horse's ass?"

"No, sir," the cowboy replies, "I have too much respect for the citizens of this country to call their president a horse's ass."

"That's a good thing," Obama responds and begins rambling on once more.

After a long pause, the cowboy, in his best Texas drawl says,

"Hard to fool them flies, though."

The Donkey

Barrack Obama was touring the countryside in his chauffeur-driven limo.
Suddenly, a donkey jumps out onto the road, they hit it full on and
the car comes to a stop.
Obama says to the chauffeur: 'You get out and check, you were driving.'
The chauffeur gets out, checks and reports that the animal is dead.

'You were driving; go and tell the farmer,' says Obama.
Hours later, the chauffeur returns totally plastered, hair ruffled
with a big grin on his face.

'My god, what happened to you?' asks Obama.
The chauffeur replies: 'When I got there, the farmer opened his best
bottle of whiskey, the wife gave me a slap-up meal and the daughter
made love to me.'

'What on earth did you say to them?' asks Obama.
'I knocked on the door, and when it was answered, I said to them, 'I'm
Barrack Obama's chauffeur and I've just killed the jackass.

Catholic Heart Attack

A man suffered a serious heart attack while shopping in a store.

The store clerks called 911, when they saw him collapse to the floor.
The paramedics rushed the man to the nearest hospital where he had emergency open heart bypass surgery.

He awakened from the surgery to find himself in the care of nuns at the Catholic Hospital he was taken to.

A nun was seated next to his bed holding a clip board loaded with several forms, and a pen. She asked him how he was going to pay for his treatment.

"Do you have health insurance?" she asked.

He replied in a raspy voice, "No health insurance."

The nun asked, "Do you have money in the bank?"

He replied, "No money in the bank."

"Do you have a relative who could help you with the payments?" asked the irritated nun.

He said, "I only have a spinster sister, and she is a nun."

The nun became agitated and announced loudly,"Nuns are not spinsters! Nuns are married to God."

The patient replied, "Perfect. Send the bill to my brother-in-law."

H/T Catfish

Conspiracy Theory, or Fact?

Ann Barnhardt has a couple of posts up, dated on Aug 6, proposing that the raid that took Osama Bin Laden out was really Kabuki theater staged to take attention away from some of the 'birther' pressure off of pResident Obama.

I normally dismiss conspiracy theories out of hand as being the work of nut jobs and kooks; but I have to admit, the case that Ann lays out sounds at least worthy of further investigation.

Questions to answer:

1. Could a person with the alleged kidney disease that OBL was supposed to have really been able to exist outside a hospital setting for over ten years?
OBL would have required constant dialysis treatments to survive; yet no dialysis equipment was found in the compound.

2. The body was "positively" identified as OBL within an hour of the end of the op, before it had even reached the USS Carl Vinson...Just HOW was this accomplished? Conclusive DNA testing in a qualified LAB setting usually requires at least a minimum of a week, if not longer, yet they were able to accomplish the test on a Chinook, under field conditions, in less than an hour?!?

3. Within an hour of the ops conclusion, the WH was trumpeting that the SEALs, specifically SEAL 6 were responsible for the Op..SEAL teams work in almost total anonymity, they do this to protect Op-Sec; they know that 99.9% of their actions will never be revealed openly. Up until the time of this raid, the very existence of SEAL Team 6 (also known as DEVGRU) was publicly denied, yet now it was blasted all over the world that this unit not only existed, but it had killed the the most hated man in the Western world. Way to go, Mr. pResident; reveal ultra-classified intell to any enemy who wants to know about it. (after all, it made for some great photo-ops, didn't it?)

Ann goes even further, suggesting that some of those 25 SEALS killed in Afghanistan may have been privy to details, if not actual participants, of the OBL raid and that the tragedy may be a black op to ensure those SEALs silence.
As I noted in the post above, there was something fishy about the whole incident, but if you assume Ann's theory is correct, a lot of things start to fall into place... I don't think there is enough evidence to support either of Ann's theories as fact as of yet, but there is certainly enough smoke to assume that there is a raging fire in the near vicinity.

We have a government that calls newly returned Iraqi and Afghan Vets potential terrorist suspects. We have a segment of government that calls citizens expressing their displeasure with fiscal policy terrorists...in fact the only people this government WON'T call terrorists, are the actual Terrorists themselves!
Is it too far a step to imagine that such a government WOULDN'T stoop to a Kabuki Theater raid and then eliminate any "outsider"that might spill the beans later? Sounds like a grade B conspiracy movie plot....BUT, just remember: "just because you're paranoid, DOES NOT preclude that there may BE someone 'out to get you' ".

UPDATE: Some more speculation on my point #3:WHO leaked the fact that SEAL Team 6 was involved and WHY did they do it?

Something fishy here

I'm sure that you have all heard of the recent tragedy in Afghanistan where our country lost some 30 (25 of them SEALs) of the highest trained and toughest fighters we have during a Specops mission.

Facts have been few and confusing as to the time line and nature of just what took down the helo that contained these brave men. But now a couple of items have come out that just don't make sense.

No. 1 The helo involved was a National Guard CH47 TRANSPORT.

No. 2 The helo had 25 SEALs aboard her. SEALS usually operate in teams of no larger than seven to nine members. They would normally NEVER have more than nine men on any single transport.

No 3 SEALs would normally use a MH-47E/G helo for a mission of this type; in fact , the Army 106 SOAR unit was especially formed to be the SEALs main transport group.

No 4 MH-47E/G Helos of the 106 SOAR unit were sitting idle on the ground at the purported time of the operation.

No 5 The NG group had been In-country for less than two weeks...WHY was a green NG unit flying back-up on a SPEC-OP? All due respect to the NG, but they are NOT trained up to the level that a SPEC-OP mission requires, that is what the Regular Army 106 SOAR group is specially trained for.

No 6 CH47 Transports would never be used on this type of mission, and there would never be so many SF troops on one transport, unless someone high enough in the chain of command ordered it; someone high enough that an underling refusing such an order would be in great peril of ruining their career if they refused the order.

From a tip given by an anonymous aviation soldier in the area:

"Almost immediately, after news of the crash began to spread, we were placed in an internet and phone blackout. This means communication with family, friends and "others" back home, in real time, is prevented until further notice.

However, there are also chinook pilots, crews and mechanics assigned here who were privy to the details of the crash almost immediately. One of confirmed details they have been discussing is that the chinook shot down belonged to a National Guard unit. Which is causing people to whisper in astonishment, "why were some of the most elite of America's military, in such large numbers, tooling around on a National Guard aircraft?"

Also, those around me are wondering why such a large number(extremely unconventional for Seals, Green Berets, etc) of them riding in a single aircraft instead of being spread out into numerous aircraft.

Without question, I mean no disrespect to the pilots and crew of the National Guard aircraft, but the fact is that it's very "strange" that Seals would be conducting an actual mission, with such large numbers, in such a basic aircraft. Especially, given the fact, that there were special operation chinooks easily available, and sitting idle, when this tragedy took place."

The differences between the CH-47 transport and the MH-47E/G helos are like night and day. The latter could be likened to the bank vault at a major bank in terms of survivability, while the former would be a home safe you buy at Wal-Mart for $49.95 in the same terms.

I'm no expert, and I wasn't at the scene, but these are serious questions that must be answered. We ask for great sacrifices from these brave men and women, it is our duty to ensure that they are operating with the best equipment and under the sanest ROE's possible.

CHURCHES VS. POPEYES

The hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast of our nation were devastating.
It did not spare the houses of worship in and around the area.

One of the local television stations in South Louisiana aired an
interview with a woman from New Orleans .

The interviewer was a woman from a Boston affiliate. She asked the woman
how such total and complete devastation of the churches in the area had
affected their lives?

Without hesitation, the woman replied, "I don't know about all those
other people, But we ain't gone to Churches in years. "We gits our
chicken from Popeye's".

The look on the interviewer's face was priceless.

They're out there, they live among us, AND THEY VOTE.

Now you understand how we got our president?

What is Celibacy?

Celibacy can be a choice in life, or a condition imposed by circumstances.

While attending a Marriage Weekend, Frank and his wife Ann listened to the instructor declare, “It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other.”

He then addressed the men.
“Can you name and describe your wife's favorite flower?”

Frank leaned over, touched Ann’s arm gently, and whispered,
“Gold Medal-All-Purpose, Isn't it?”

And thus began Frank's life of celibacy.

Whittle tells it like it is

Bill Whittle has a great video out about the 'poor' in America. I can tell you from personal experience that his theorem that the 'poor' in America have it as good or better than the 'average' citizen in Europe.

Envy of others success is THE great destroyer of societies.

Kandu

It's amazing to me that a dog can demonstrate more joy while existing with a 'handicap' than a lot of people can.

Watch this and I guarantee that it will lift your spirits, and just maybe make you ashamed of yourself when you let the little things get in your way.

Mark Alexander has written a great post on what gives us, the American People, the authority to rebel against our central government.

I agree with Mr. Alexander that:

A. Our founding documents do, indeed, give us the right, nay, the responsibility to rebel against our government if it becomes too intrusive on our liberties.

B. That rebellion should take place with the ballot box, and not the ammo box if at all possible.

We the People are responsible for what type of Government we have....unfortunately WE have been lax in our oversight of government for at least the last sixty to a hundred years, and it is fast approaching the time when the ammo box just may be necessary if we are to remain a free and independent people.

At the moment we should prepare for any eventuality and make sure we can fend for ourselves as free and independent people. That includes storing food, water for self sustenance and arms and ammunition for self defense.

Spy in the Sky

Forget Government intrusion on your privacy in computer and cell phone communications, now it may be possible for hackers to be just as intrusive.

I can't attest as to the validity of this story on how effective this drone is, but just imagine what damage can be done to your privacy from a hacker that has a comparatively small amount of money and a big interest in spying on his neighbors...

H/T to Rurick

Joke for today

The local news station was interviewing an 80-year-old lady
because she had just gotten married for the fourth time. The interviewer
asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be
marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband's occupation. "He's a
funeral director," she answered.

"Interesting," the newsman thought. He then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first three husbands and what they did for a living.

She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years.

After a short time, a smile came to her face and she answered proudly, explaining that she had first married a banker when she was in her early 20's, then a circus ringmaster when in her 40's, and a preacher when in her 60's, and now in her 80's, a funeral director.

The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had
married four men with such diverse careers.

She smiled and explained:

"I married one for the money,

two for the show,

three to get ready,

and four to go."

(Oh, just stop groaning and pass this one along)

Gimme two trillion$ or else!

IowaHawk has contemplated what will happen if there is no debt ceiling deal by midnight tonight....as usual, insight and amusement is skillfully interwoven into the fabric of his post.

Nuff' Said

I believe it was Ronald Reagan that said the ten scariest words in the English language were: "I'm here from the government,and I'm here to help"...

Seems the more they "help", the worse off most of us are..

just rambling

It's another hot sunny day in Indianapolis, emphasis on HOT.

When I opened my front door to go down to the end of the driveway to get the newspaper and the mail; I was greeted by a fiery blast of heat as if I was looking down the throat of a steel blast furnace. I decided I wasn't really that concerned with whatever the latest news on the debt ceiling debate was, and I certainly didn't want to know what new bills I owed anyway, so I just retreated back into the cool of the air conditioning and went back to watching the boob tube.

One of the dogs started doing her "I GOTTA GO NOW" dance by the side door so I opened the door for her; the heat hit her and she looked at me as if to say "you're KIDDING me, right?". I just told her "if you have to do your business, go do it,but I'm not standing here letting all the heat in for more than another few seconds"....she dashed out and immediately "did her business" and dashed back in before I could shut the door on her. Now THAT is a good example of the "Dog Days of Summer"!

It's too hot for me to go riding, for those that know me, that means it's Iraqi dessert hot; I'd rather ride than do just about anything else, including sex, so I guess I'll try to buckle down to some overdue household chores...That's the real reason for this post; even though I don't really have anything to rant and rave about at the moment, it gives me an excuse for not getting started on my chores...

Did I mention that it was really HOT here today?

I'm going to go check the setting on the air conditioner, rant at all y'all later.