Subtle Rantings

“The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.” - DC v. Heller, decided June 26, 2008

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Found this interesting link from another blog.

FDIC Failed Bank List

This is a list of all the failed banks that the FDIC has had to take over assets for. Watch this list over the coming months. It could be interesting to see who starts showing up on it.

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Racism still exists today because of people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson who have taught African-American’s to believe they are entitled to something or owed something. Many liberal Democrats have fallen prey to this teaching as well and developed the guilty conscious. A good example of the effects of this thinking is seen at a recent Dallas County meeting about speeding tickets. Note: Emphasis added.

A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.

County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections “has become a black hole” because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

This is where it gets good.

Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud “Excuse me!” He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a “white hole.”

Is he serious? A white hole? Wow. That’s intelligent. Does any else see the race baiting going on here? Wait there’s more.

That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.

A Judge? Are you serious? Racially insensitive analogy? He thinks a scientific entity that has existed since the beginning of time is racist?! What a moron. Read on.

Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term. A black hole, according to Webster’s, is perhaps “the invisible remains of a collapsed star, with an intense gravitational field from which neither light nor matter can escape.”

At least someone paid attention in Science class. Or maybe this means that science is racist?

Other County officials who were present interceded and got the meeting back on track.

This my friends is why racism is still alive. It’s not white oppression. It’s the the constant walking on egg shells and not wanting offend anyone. It’s the mentality that something is owed to another group of people. And if we’re not careful, soon, we’ll be doing the same thing for Muslim’s.

Original story: Dallas County Meeting Turns Racial

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This is becoming a very disturbing trend.

Over the weekend a Georgia man killed his 25 year old daughter because she wanted a divorce from her arranged marriage husband.

Rather than have his family disgraced, Chaudhry Rashad chose to uphold the “honor” of his family by killing his 25 year old daughter.

Oh and yes, by the way, Rashad is a Muslim who believes in Sharia law which is now starting to be an allowed court of law in the UK, Malaysia and other countries. How long before the US allows Muslim’s to live under different laws? Why is preferential treatment given to them, but no one else? Who do you think will allow this? The same people that are forcing multiculturalism down our throats and at the same time dividing this nation.

Oh, the times they are a changin’.

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After a horrendous experience at Olive Garden tonight, I thought I needed to share some basic concepts for those in the food industry. These concepts evidently escaped our waiter tonight.

• My water glass should never reach below half full. Doesn’t matter if I ask for more or not. Never let it get below half full.
• If I have a beverage that has free refills, don’t ask if I want another one. If my current glass is empty or close to empty, just bring me another glass of my beverage of choice.
• If I have ordered a beverage that does not include free refills and my beverage quantity becomes low, ask if I would like another one.
• If you can’t remember a particular request I have made, write it down please.
• Learn to listen. Don’t assume you know what I want and then proceed to interrupt me. Let me ask questions and listen to what I’m saying. God gave us all 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason.
• If the food is going to take forever, it might be a nice gesture to offer us something complimentary. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. Maybe just a nice appetizer or dessert at the end of the meal.
• Actually charge the right bill to the correct credit card.

If these simple things aren’t done, then don’t be upset when you don’t receive a good tip. I normally tip 18-20%. However, that is EARNED, not given automatically.

The other sad thing is that this appears to be a growing trend at the Olive Garden. Normally, it’s not usually *this* bad, but service has never been a forte’ of this chain.

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“Control the oil and you’ll control the nations; control the food and you’ll control the people.” - Henry Kissinger (1970)

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I’ve copied an email I received from one of my clients today that went out to all their employees. New Orleans could’ve benefited from this type of memo, but I still don’t think it would’ve helped. The people there still wouldn’t care because actual preparing for a disaster might get in the way of collecting their welfare checks which are spent promptly on necessary items like booze and weed. Plus, if anything bad does happen, they can just complain loud enough and receive another handout. But I digress. Here’s the email:

The Disaster Recovery Team would like to remind everyone that Hurricane Season is here.

This year, we are promoting “self sufficiency” as the best tool to survive a crisis. We recommend that each employee develop a plan that includes sustaining their personal needs for the first 72 hours following impact.

Government forecasters expect between six and nine hurricanes to form in the Atlantic this year. Two of the five could be major hurricanes. For those living in hurricane prone areas, it isn’t a matter of “if” we’ll have another event, it’s more a matter of “when.”

Once you ensure the well-being of your family, check on your neighbors. Let’s promote a sense of community and show that we’ll be there for each other!

With growth across the U.S., we must also remember to consider impact from earthquakes, wildfires, floods and tornadoes.

It’s all in the planning, and the time to plan is NOW !

Wow. What a concept. Taking personal responsibility and PLANNING for a disaster. Wouldn’t it be prudent to plan for flooding if you live in an area that is flood prone and is below sea level? And that same area you live was protected only by a man made levy? Maybe, when a hurricane is forecasted for your area, you might also want to consider evacuating.

While Katrina was a devastating hurricane, the “victims” of Katrina were mostly victims due to their lack of common sense or stubbornness to not seek other shelter. Katrina victims became victims because they were naive enough to depend on the government for protection and safety. News flash people, your government can’t protect you from everything. Plus, it’s not their responsibility.

We’re starting to see more CERT teams being established in our local communities. There are message boards dedicated to the discussion of preparedness and survivalism. It’s no longer a topic for just the paranoid or tin foil hat people. People are finally starting to see that survival and preparedness are personal choices and that their well being is not anyone else’s responsibility or duty.

Sure, we should all volunteer and help our fellow man, but unlike the people of New Orleans, we must realize nobody owes us their assistance. America has been dependent for too long on other entities, mainly the federal government, that the people have become like little sheep. It’s time we become self sufficient and self sustaining.

For more information about Disaster Preparedness and Survivalism check out the following links:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/disaster_prevention.shtml
http://www.ready.gov/america/index.html
http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/
http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/ready/prepared.shtml
http://www.survivalblog.com/

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As an update to my previous two postings on Bear Stearns, I found this post from a blog I subscribe to.

Direct quote from mikeshaw.net:

“2 years ago: 13 big dogs get over $20 million each in bonuses.

2 months ago: “hmmm….maybe we don’t deserve bonuses this year. Or maybe we’re gonna take a big hit soon and don’t want to look like an evil corporate goon.”

2 days ago: Don’t worry folks…nothing wrong here….please move along.

Today: Um….can we uh….borrow enormous sums of to stay in existence? Preferably in funds insured by U.S. taxpayers? Or maybe could one of you other banks buy us?

This is a big deal. Lots of yachts, mansions, and exotic cars will end up being paid off with cash from the U.S. taxpayers. What we’re seeing is the final steps of massive, outright theft from our kids and grandkids.

As I’ve mentioned, the minor prophets talked about such things extensively.”

Thanks for the info and sources Mike! His post illustrates why I’m so against government bail-outs. Bear Stearns (and every other financial institution) brought these hardships upon themselves with their greedy lending and investing practices. Yet, we as taxpayers are going to have to pay the penalties for their mistakes.

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About one month ago Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made the following statement:

The Fed chairman also said that major banks and Wall Street firms are likely to report more sub-prime mortgages write-downs, but is not concerned about a string of failures. Banks entered the current downturn with sufficient capital and have been able to raise additional funds.

“Certainly all the banks we supervise remain at strong capital positions and we don’t see any imminent risk of any insolvency.”

Source: MoneyWeek

Bear Stearns was worth about $20B at the end of 2007. They were purchased for $236M.

It’s going to get much worse.

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This letter came to me from another blog I read, The Jeffersonian. A blog that has some great content on current politics and how they relate (or don’t) to the Constitution.

This letter to the editor below is from a resident in Billings, MT. Read and discover why America Will fail.

Letter to the Editor of the Billings Gazette:

Link: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/03/06/opinion/letters/40-ailsus.txt

What a strange lot we Americans are. For instance:

There is a war going on which about 70 percent of us oppose and want our troops brought home. So what do we do? Sit on our butts and do nothing.

We have a Congress which points fingers at those on the other side of the aisle, calls one another names, investigates baseball players of all things, and does nothing. So what do we do? Sit on our butts and do nothing.

We have the worst slate of presidential candidates imaginable. So what do we do? Sit on our butts and do nothing.

Our government is going to take $300, $600, $1,200 or whatever out of one of our pockets and put it in the other, The cost of administering this farce will be staggering no doubt. So what do we do? Sit on our butts and do nothing.

The food industry is gouging us at the grocery store and the oil industry is more than gouging us at the gas pump. So what do we do? Sit on our butts and do nothing.

What can we do? There are millions and millions of us. We can do anything to which we are willing to put our hands and our minds.

Al Bishop
Billings

The sad part is he’s right. The other sad part is most American’s WANT to do nothing. They want to be sheep. They want to live their lives and let someone else take care of their problems and responsibilities. God forbid we actually take some responsibility, it may interrupt our American Idol viewing or MySpace time.

What’s even sadder is we currently have the worst batch of presidential candidates I have ever seen, or could imagine. Both Democratic candidates will turn us into a Socialistic country just like Russia. You’ve heard the road to hell is paved with good intentions right? Then there’s McCain who will take away all civil liberties by use of fear and the “threat” of terrorism. He’ll extend the un-Patriot Act and continue warrantless surveillance programs on the citizens of America. No one will fix immigration.

Sure many will argue that we have it so much better than other countries and that at least we have some form of Democracy and so on. Yes, that may be true, however, some of us that have a little foresight and can look back at history, see exactly where we’re headed. However, there is still hope. Maybe there really can be a revival in the land. Maybe people’s hearts will change and their minds will awaken and say no more of this tyrannical control. While most people believe religion is the problem with our country, I believe religion is both the problem and the solution.

Either way you look at it, 2008 is just the beginning.

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