News of the Oxymoronic

Ok, mostly moronic. The Church of England has announced that it is training its ministers to create “a pagan church where Christianity [is] very much in the centre...”. 

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10133906/Church-of-England-creating-pagan-church-to-recruit-members.html

Wow. The possibilities are almost endless: The Church of the NFL, The Church of Porn, The Stoners' Church, etc., etc., etc. - where Christianity is very much in the centre. Someone please tell me this is a trailer for a Monty Python skit. Please. 

Pork

Here is the first porker in the immigration bill just passed by the Senate - the Alaska Seafood Special! To gain Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski's support, the Gang of 8 stuck a provision in the 1200 page bill allowing Alaska seafood processors to import "guest" workers to work in their factories, Alaskans apparently being too expensive. Unemployment in Alaska incidentally is currently 6%. I can hardly wait to see how many examples of the "other white meat" are squirreled away in this legislation. We may never know since Boehner says it's DOA in the House. We'll see.

www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/27/Sen-Cornyn-Blasts-Alaska-Seafood-Special-In-Immigration-Bill

Ballistic Trajectory

"Please fasten your seat belts in preparation for landing. It could be a helluva jolt." That is the message of Victor Davis Hanson's column today, but let's be a little more specific: Rome.

A recent column by another columnist remarked on the uncanny parallels between the last few chapters of Edward Gibbons' The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and the current state of the United States. Hanson comes at the same theme in a little different way. He basically  says that Washington and Jefferson are only remembered as the names of a few elementary schools and the American people neither know or care what the Founding Fathers were trying to do. In other words, the U.S. is now on a ballistic trajectory. The boost phase has ended and we are now in unguided flight and will land wherever we were last pointed. 

The citizenry seems to be remarkably untroubled - ignorance is bliss. Hanson comments:

"If Rome quieted the people with public spectacles and cheap grain from the provinces, so too Americans of all classes keep glued to favorite video games and reality-TV shows. Fast food is both cheap and tasty. All that for now is preferable to rioting and revolt."

Note the operative words in his last sentence - "for now." But for how long? Perhaps that is why people are purchasing so many firearms and ammunition. They have one eye on DWTS and one watchful eye on the heavily-locked front door. It could be a helluva landing.  

townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2013/06/27/how-will-america-hold-together-n1628162

Kon-Tiki II

On a brighter note, we watched the new version of Kon-Tiki last night. I read the book as a kid and watched the movie and loved both. If you haven't seen either, it is the story of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl sailing from Peru to Polynesia on a balsa wood raft to prove his theory that Polynesia was settled from South America and not Asia, as was commonly believed. The new movie focuses more on friction amongst crew members, but the cinematography is gorgeous and it is still a riveting story. It's currently at Salem Cinema.  

Ship of State

·  The economy still stinks after 5 years of Obama. Now he is using executive orders to kill existing coal power plants which provide 42% of the total power used by the U.S.

·   Democrats will not guard our southern border because they want uneducated, unskilled Hispanic immigrants to enshrine their current majority into a permanent majority. Republicans are saying "Me too!" because they want a cut of these same Latin voters. Both parties want to grease the skids for contributions from Big Business by providing them with an endless supply of cheap labor, regardless of whether it cuts the throats of low-skills Americans to compete for jobs.

·  Obamacare is starting to cripple the economy. This will continue and the majority of Americans will see their health care quality go substantially downhill and at higher cost. Congress is angling again to exclude itself and staffers from having to participate. Union exemptions are being granted wholesale.

·  Congress refuses to read the mega-bills that it passes. Of course it only publishes them at the last minute and then calls the question immediately. The Greatest Deliberative Body in the Word my butt! Whatever.

·  Sexter Anthony Weiner is ahead in the NYC mayoral race.

·  China is rapidly growing its military. Russia is again flexing its military muscle. Both countries openly ignore the U.S. and operate with impunity wherever they choose. 12 U.S.Army brigades are being disbanded. A brigade is roughly 5,000 soldiers. The Navy is at its lowest number of ships since 1915. Equipment worn out in the Middle East is not being replaced. New weapon systems are being canceled and R&D is not being funded.

·  Nancy Pelosi says she is a good Catholic and abortion is a sacrament. Abortion isn't "ending a pregnancy" but killing your baby because he or she is inconvenient. Are your parents inconvenient? Your neighbor? You?

·  You are a bigot if you support traditional marriage.

·  You can worship God but you can't mention Him outside the four walls of your church or synagogue or you are "imposing" your values on others,  who of course are imposing theirs on you.

All in all, things are great, Just great. 

Delta Was Ready When She Was

Every once in a while you see a nice story about the airlines. In this case, the CEO of Delta, Richard Anderson, gave up his seat and rode in the cockpit jump seat so a mother could pick up her diabetic daughter from a special camp that she had been attending. Anderson and Delta declined comment, but the passenger sang their praises. Nice job Mr. Anderson; nice job Delta.

gma.yahoo.com/airline-ceo-gives-seat-mom-camp-pick-195215406.html

One for the Home Team

Bono of U2 fame has unabashedly said that Jesus is the Son of God. It's nice to have company.

www.wnd.com/2013/06/u2s-bono-jesus-is-the-son-of-god/?cat_orig=diversions

Narco Lords Invade Oregon

The Oregonian is running a story series that everyone in Oregon should be reading about the Mexican narco lords sinking their fangs into this state. The story below happened in Salem, right here in River City, and it is frightening. Al Capone had nothing on these guys and it is happening all over the state. Drugs a victimless crime - yeah right.

www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/06/drug_cartels_in_oregon_a_smugg.html#incart_big-photo

The World's View of U.S. Foreign Policy

Last week the Obama Administration announced peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Yesterday, the Taliban attacked government buildings in Kabul. In the last 2 weeks, both China and Russia have told Obama "Go fish!" when the U.S. asked that Edward Snowden be extradited to the U.S. Several weeks ago Putin kept Secretary of State John Kerry cooling his heels for three hours in the foyer while he, well probably practiced putting or something. Does anyone notice a pattern here? Bill Clinton did.

As the conservative rag (not) The Huffington Post reported it:

"Former President Bill Clinton offered a stinging critique of President Barack Obama's inaction in Syria during a closed-press event this week, Politico reported, arguing that Obama's hesitance to get involved in the lengthy conflict could end up making him look like a 'total fool' and a 'wuss.' "

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/13/bill-clinton-obama-syria_n_3434393.html

Clinton always did have a good grasp of political dynamics even if he couldn't keep his zipper up. The problem is not just Syria but the fact that the whole world has tested Obama and found him wanting. They know they can act with impunity and he will not do anything, so they are acting with impunity. It is the diplomatic equivalent of a dog coming up and peeing on his leg - what are you going to do about it? We know the answer, so stand by for lots more of these adventures in the future. 

This approach (the "Ostrich") can be very dangerous if someone finally convinces Obama that he has to reclaim his manhood and he lashes out in some ill-advised reaction to a provocation. Then we are off and running getting a lot of good troops killed for no particularly good or necessary reason. Think Syria. Israel is perfectly capable of cleaning out that snakes' nest. Iran is a different story, though, and they are the ones propping up Syria and stirring up all kinds of trouble throughout the region. We have strategically applied the same Ostrich-policy to them too and it is just about to bite us in the posterior, which is so tantalizingly raised while our head is in the sand. 

Liquid Sunshine Helps Prevent Bad Health

Researchers now believe that vitamin D has a direct role on preventing heart attacks and strokes. Since these claims seem to be on/off about every 6 months or so, I am a little leery of promoting any particular health aid, but taking vitamins is so elementary that I figure that it can't hurt to tell folks to pop their vitamin D capsules, especially in the solar-challenged Pacific Northwest. Take a look at the article and then take a vitamin D tab. To your health!

www.express.co.uk/news/health/406665/Vitamin-D-cuts-blood-pressure-and-slashes-risk-of-stroke-and-heart-attack

Back to Haunt Us

That's right, ethanol - that great pork barrel product from the farm states that fouls and destroys our engines, has badly impacted food for starving countries,  and is subsidized up the wazoo! It has been doing this for years in the form of E10 - 10% ethanol added to gasoline. Now the ethanol folks want the EPA to up the percentage to E15. Oh goody! 

I was fishing this weekend with a guide who said that ethanol caused his Mercury 225 hp engine to burn up. That was a $20,000 item. I have to add an anti-ethanol cocktail to my motorcycle fuel or it burps at me. Ditto for my Volvo if I let it sit for a couple of days and the water starts to separate from the gasoline, which is one of the characteristics of the stuff. Did I mention that it also gives poorer mileage? The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers agrees that E15 should be a no-go, as does AAA. Maybe some day alternative fuels will be ready for prime time, but that time is not now. Bury this junk and keep it there. 

www.kgw.com/news/business/212715861.html

Women for Weiner

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner (aka - oh never mind) is running for mayor of NYC. Weiner you may remember resigned his office in disgrace when he was caught sexting some very young ladies with his - well never mind that too - prominently displayed. He was (and is amazingly enough) married to one of Hillary clinton's top aides. Anyhow, he has now formed a "Women for Weiner" committee and I thought you might like to see their logo. OK, it's actually "Women for Anthony." 

www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/19/Women-for-Anthony-Hosts-Event

And BTW -

Can You Give Me Directions to....?

Culture precedes politics and here is a cultural signpost from England: the Girl Guides (Girl Scouts in the U.S.) have deleted "love God" from the pledge the girls say and replaced it with "myself." Hope it works out for you. 

www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/06/20/Girl-Scouts-and-Brownies-of-Britain-Renounce-God

Stepping Up to the Plate

Jonah Goldberg is funny, but he usually has an important point to make. Like today when he is talking about Obamacare succeeding or failing. Goldberg says that the Millennials are the key and he frames it thusly:

"Whenever curmudgeons like yours truly suggested that young people were getting caught up in a fad or that Obama was simply buying votes at the expense of taxpayers, you'd have a fit. You'd insist that millennials are not only informed, but eager to make sacrifices for the greater good.

Well, here's your chance to prove it: Fork over whatever it costs to buy the best health insurance you can under Obamacare. Just in case you forgot, under Obamacare, healthy young people such as yourself not only need to buy health insurance in order for the whole thing to work, but you have to be overcharged for it. If you don't pay more -- probably a lot more -- than what you could get today on the market in most states, Obamacare will come apart like wet toilet paper."

And did you know that it is far cheaper to pay the fine for not getting coverage than to buy the insurance? Hmm, I wonder how it will all turn out...

townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2013/06/21/a-challenge-to-young-obama-supporters-n1623819

Looking Back

Here's an interesting article for the end of the work week - the top 5 regrets of the dying:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Something to think about as you start the weekend and more importantly - do something 

about!

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying

www.wnd.com/2013/06/top-5-regrets-of-the-dying/?cat_orig=health

A House of Lies

Dostoyevesky observed:

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”

― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

Victor Davis Hanson argues that the entire Obama Administration and the American government has reached this point and that it foretells major trouble for the United States. I fear that he is right watching the recent Congressional testimony of Administration officials and the heads of the IRS, NSA, EPA and others. 

Americans have always been rightly skeptical about politicians but the resigned cynicism that marked the former USSR is rapidly gaining a foothold here because people believe that the government lies at will over everything. As Hanson points out, trust in such a system disappears and it becomes everyone for themselves. Another famous quote reminds us that a house divided cannot stand. Also true. It took the USSR 70 years to fall, but Americans always do things faster. 

It will take a revolution throwing out the lot of politicians and going back to the basics of the Founders to prevent this. Jefferson said a little revolution every now and then is healthy. Every day we wait, it becomes harder and harder. 

townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2013/06/20/when-untruth-undermines-democracy-n1622774

The Probable Cause: Take 2

1996, Long Island, New York. TWA #800, a Boeing 747, is climbing out of JFK on the start of its overnight journey to Paris when something goes suddenly and catastrophically wrong. The airliner plunges into the Atlantic killing all 230 souls aboard. The official NTSB explanation of the probable cause: the explosion of the empty centerline fuel tank. A lot of people never believed it, including me. Now the case is taking a new twist.

Investigators from the original NTSB team and other aviation experts are asking the NTSB to re-open the original investigation on the grounds that the books were cooked the first time around. They are flat out saying that the original conclusion was falsified and that the evidence is that the plane was hit with two explosive ordinance detonations and this was the cause of its demise.

Very credible witnesses saw a Navy cruiser operating close to shore in the Long Island area that day and also saw what appeared to be missile launches that evening. One of the witnesses was a Navy helicopter pilot on another commercial flight in the area who was very familiar with anti-aircraft missile launches and who testified that is what he saw. One scenario that aviation experts believe may have happened is that jihadists were in a small private jet that was going to ram an airliner coming out of Kennedy. U.S. intelligence got wind of the plot and the Pentagon moved the Navy cruiser in shore to deal with it. When it actually transpired, the cruiser shot 2 missiles with one hitting the bad guys and the other inadvertently taking out the TWA 747.

Is that something worthy of a cover-up? You betcha, especially when you may recall that there was a Presidential election in November of that year. Stay tuned - this could get interesting. I hope that the truth finally comes out for the families of all those who perished on the flight.

www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/18/twa-flight-800-investigators-break-silence-in-new-documentary-claim-original/

Give Responsibly

Charitable giving is a good thing and there are lot of good charities to give to out there. But there are some real clinkers too. Here is a list of the 50 worst charities in terms of funds actually delivered to the purported cause. We have been been periodically telephoned by a number of these, so be forewarned and don't let your guilt button be pushed - give where it's really going to count. 

www.tampabay.com/americas-worst-charities/

But Why Can't I Light This Match?

Because it's in a gasoline-filled room, stupid! So says Thomas Sowell and he is right. We're talking about the sex scandal in the American military which was predicted by many military professionals when putting women in combat situations was being discussed in Congress and at the Pentagon. PC Disclaimer: Sexual attacks by men on women are wrong - always - and never justified. Now with that out of the way, let's talk about the subject at hand.

The job of the American military is to break things and for the last several decades they have done their job very well. To do this the military takes young testosterone-fueled men, trains them to a knife's edge and puts the best weapons in the world in their hands. I know what it is like in football locker rooms getting ready for a big game. What we are talking about here is a football locker room on steroids - exponentially more intensity. That's the gasoline. 

The match is introducing young women into this highly explosive mix. It is not the women's fault, it is simply inevitable. Sowell makes a very good point: is our country better served by our combat commanders continuing to train their troops to perform their missions or trying to prevent the inevitable sexual fallout from occurring or picking up the pieces when it does? He argues that It is not in our long term national interest to have our military become a college co-ed dorm in olive drab or desert camo. I agree. 

It's a dangerous world out there. A hollow military will not get the job done when confronted by the military power of a country that doesn't concern itself with misguided social experiments. Are there places in the military where men and women can serve effectively? Sure. But not at the point of the spear. 

townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2013/06/12/sex-and-the-military-n1616932

This Says It All!

The Longest Day - Forgotten

Yesterday was the 69th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944. Huge numbers of Americans, Brits, Canadians and others assaulted Hitler's Atlantic Wall and kicked the door to Europe open again. It was the beginning of the end for Hitler and the Nazi regime. 

Yesterday, President Obama totally ignored this heroic sacrifice. Completely. Zip. Nada. He did remember to issue a statement congratulating Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) as the longest serving member of Congress. As to D-Day, Hillary Clinton might frame it, "What difference could it possibly make?" Apparently Obama agrees. He has not mentioned D-Day since 2010. One difference that comes immediately to mind is that we probably would not have an African-American President and German would be the mother tongue, but hey, whatever!

townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/06/07/obama-fails-to-commemorate-dday-n1615206

A Pinocchio Moment

While we keep getting a steady flow of stories from the Administration and the MSM of how the economy is growing, good times are here again, yada, yada, yada. Then comes reports like this one saying that U.S. manufacturing hit a wall in May and dropped to the lowest level since 2009. I wonder who isn't telling the truth? Hmm?

www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/04/U-S-Manufacturing-Hits-Lowest-Output-In-Four-Years

What's the Picture on the Jig Saw Puzzle Box?

Oh, and did I mention that there will be testimony this week to Congress from a former IRS employee at the Cincinnati Tax-Exempt Division field office that the clearly illegal conservative targeting scandal was micromanaged from D.C. headquarters? Which was then headed by the woman that Obama has now appointed to administer Obamacare? In the agency whose Director, the redoubtable Douglas Shulman, met at the White House 157 times (almost daily) during his tenure? And whose wife was an active supporter and participant in Occupy Wall Street? Let's see - A is connected to B and B is ...

www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/03/IRS-Agent-Was-So-Disturbed-By-Targeting-Sought-Another-Job

Connecting the Dots

Breitbart reports that the wife of former IRS Commissioner (Commissar?) Douglas Shulman was an active supporter and participant in Occupy Wall Street. Hey, it's a free country and perhaps they are a political odd couple like James Carville and Mary Matalin. Perhaps. Or maybe the folks that Obama is appointing to head the IRS and its major programs really are birds of a feather, such as the head of the IRS Tax-Exempt Division that has admitted targeting conservative groups being tapped to head IRS implementation of Obamacare. Think about it.

www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/03/Former-IRS-Chief-s-Wife-Supported-OWS-Movement

The Crash of the Big Units

A while back I did a couple of blogs on the sad fate of Detroit, Michigan. It has gone from the nation's 5th largest city to a gutted and decrepit shadow of its former self. in 1950 Detroit had 1.85 million people but by 2010 only 714,000. There are 78,000 vacant structures and 60,000 vacant parcels of land within city limits. A state-appointed emergency fiscal manager has displaced the mayor and city council and reported that barring a miracle, the city has only 45 days before it will have to file bankruptcy. Michael Barone has an interesting post mortem about what happened and the relevance to the U.S. today, which is captured in the phrase "Big Units."

What Barone means by this term is Big Business, Big Labor, and Big Government. They ran Detroit with a "command control" structure - others jumped and they said how high. It worked in WW II and up until around 1960, but then the sand began to slide out under their feet, imperceptibly at first, then faster and faster. Big Business lost touch with its customers (remember the Japanese invasion starting in the 1970s) and its costs with fat labor contracts that haunt it even today. Big Labor lost sight of the fact that Detroit wasn't the only game in town and lost jobs over time to the Asian car industry and the non-union South in this country. Big Government - well some of the results are listed above. It lost its grip on reality. 

Why this is relevant today is that Obama and much of the so-called Progressive Left think that a Big Unit economy is just what we need. When you hear this, remember Detroit and pay heed to George Santayana - those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.   Then answer with a resounding "NO" at the ballot box and every other way that you can.  

townhall.com/columnists/michaelbarone/2013/06/03/tragedy-of-detroit-shows-big-unit-america-is-out-of-gas-n1610728

Clark Kent He is Not

Mild-mannered Kurt Schrader, our Representative to the U.S. House, likes to portray himself as a centrist pragmatically working with Republicans across the aisle to to do what is best for our country. Bunk. What it really means is that he postures this way and hems and haws and stews before he pushes the voting button for the standard Democratic position on any particular issue. A good example of this is the Keystone Pipeline. 

This pipeline from Canada through the Midwest down to the refineries in Texas and the Southeast U.S. would carry Canadian oil to be refined in American refineries. Energy costs would be lower in both countries as a result and it would be a major economic shot in the arm. A solid majority of Americans and labor unions support its construction, but N-O-O-O! This isn't good enough for the greenies and their loyal allies in the Democratic party. President Obama and his EPA have steadily blocked it and Republican attempts to override have been blocked in Congress several times as well. 

Schrader has voted against the pipeline 5 different times when he had the opportunity to do something to actually help the American economy. His claim is that he supports it but it isn't "right" yet. Right. It will only be right when it is an imaginary pipeline transporting imaginary oil because then there is no possibility of any environmental impact. 

Oregon and the United States need elected representatives need people who will really act in the best interests of the country and not just posture. The time for political game playing is over - we need to get to work. 

www.politifact.com/oregon/statements/2013/jun/01/national-republican-congressional-committee/did-kurt-schrader-vote-against-widely-supported-ke/