Lloyd Marcus on American Thinker

Stop Allowing The Left To Set The Rules

A great piece by Lloyd Marcus on American Thinker. My niece Carla's friend, Melissa, loves Lloyd Marcus; so do I, Melissa.

The Brainy Bunch & The Banana Republic

The Brainy Bunch by Thomas Sowell on
National Review Online

Dr. Thomas Sowell is a national treasure. If, after reading the above article, you want to experience more of the best and most understandable writing on Economics, Education, and related topics, check out his website for a listing of his books, articles, speeches and more. Here's a link:

http://www.tsowell.com/

I Know this Kid!

This is the 5 year old San Antonio Flash riding on the back of that fierce looking sheep deep in the heart of Texas. He came in second with a score of 76.


Here's a photo of this newly minted mutton buster with his mutton bustin medal.

Pravda understands what the NYT and WP refuse to acknowledge

This article appeared in the English edition of Pravda (Russian State Newspaper).

American capitalism gone with a whimper

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American descent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists.

Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters.

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish.

Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world.If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more then ordinary street thugs, in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the shear volumes. Should we congratulate them?

These men, of course, are not an elected panel but made up of appointees picked from the very financial oligarchs and their henchmen who are now gorging themselves on trillions of American dollars, in one bailout after another. They are also usurping the rights, duties and powers of the American congress (parliament). Again, congress has put up little more then a whimper to their masters.

Then came Barack Obama's command that GM's (General Motor) president step down from leadership of his company. That is correct, dear reader, in the land of "pure" free markets, theAmerican president now has the power, the self given power, to fire CEOs and we can assume other employees of private companies, at will. Come hither, go dither, the centurion commands his minions.

So it should be no surprise, that the American president has followed this up with a "bold" move of declaring that he and another group of unelected, chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automobile policies. I am sure that if given the chance, they would happily try and redesign it for the whole of the world, too.Prime Minister Putin, less then two months ago, warned Obama and UK's Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our "wise" Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride.

Again, the American public has taken this with barely a whimper...but a "freeman" whimper.

So, should it be any surprise to discover that the Democratically controlled Congress of America is working on passing a new regulation that would give the American Treasury department the power to set "fair" maximum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private companies give out pay raises and bonuses? Senator Barney Franks, a social pervert and his Marxist enlightenment, has led this effort. He stresses that this only affects companies that receive government monies, but it is retroactive and taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive.

The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at this and the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left.
The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker.

Stanislav Mishin) 1999-2009.. +PRAVDA.Ru;. When reproducing our materials in whole or in part, hyperlink to PRAVDA.Ru should be made. The opinions and views of the authors do not always coincide with the point of view of PRAVDA.Ru 's editors.


Source: Pravda.Ru

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/107459-american_capitalism-0

Why Are We Letting Iran Catch Up?

Why Are We Letting Iran Catch Up? » The Foundry

The Heritage Foundation poses a very good question. One wonders how convinced the Poles and Czechs are that, according to administration officials, "Iran had made more progress than anticipated in building short- and medium-range missiles that could threaten Israel and Europe than it had in developing the intercontinental missiles that the Bush system was more suited to counter."

What comes to mind is a famous quote from former U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and Democratic Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “Intelligence is not to be confused with intelligence.”

Is Obamacare really paid for?

That's Marguerite Higgins, Director of Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, once again speaking truth to rhetoric about Obamacare. As the columnist and author, Ann Coulter, is wont to say: "Dispute the facts."

What did George Shultz really mean?

This is my latest submission to American Thinker.

What did George Shultz really mean?

The American Thinker Blog is linked on the right side of this one under My Blog List.

Sundays are for Beauty - Vivaldi

The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. They were composed in 1723, and published in 1725. The piece is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music.

Anne-Sophie Mutter is a world renown violin virtuoso, born in 1963 in Rheinfelden, Germany. She began playing the piano at age five, and switched to the violin soon after that. In 1980, she made her American debut with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta.

She makes beautiful music, and Sundays are for Beauty.

Tara and Bella

This morning I told my sister-in-law, Margaret, I would not be posting today because I needed a day away from the horrible state of affairs in which we find ourselves. It will take some time to recover from the apology for America and Americans speech delivered at the United Nations by our president this past Wednesday, but maybe this video can help get our minds off it for awhile.

Unilateral - a Definition

President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczyński


President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus

UNILATERAL:
Function: adjective

1 a : done or undertaken by one person or party b : of, relating to, or affecting one side of a subject : one-sided c : constituting or relating to a contract or engagement by which an express obligation to do or forbear is imposed on only one party.

Remember when the previous administration organized a "coalition of the willing" prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003? The administration was accused, daily, of acting unilaterally in the invasion. The coalition, though, consisted of 49 nations. Of those 49, only four besides the United States contributed troops to the invasion force (United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark and POLAND). 33 nations provided troops to support the occupation after the invasion, and six of the 49 original members have no military. Such an operation does not constitute a unilateral action according to the above definition.

What does constitute a unilateral action, according to the definition, was the decision to renege on an agreement with a loyal ally (POLAND) to install a missile defense system in that country. The Czech Republic got the same treatment. As if we were trying to add insult to injury, the decision was announced on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland (September 17, 1939).

Whether this obvious capitulation to Russia, at the expense of two long-time loyal allies, produces any positive results will be interesting to see. The point is that nowhere have I read or heard any charges of unilateralism regarding our decision to unilaterally cancel an agreement that both Polish President Lech Kaczyński and Czech Republic President Václav Klaus thought was final.

A Leader who loves his country and its people

Would that our president had represented our country and us when he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2009 (but it was all abut him). Benjamin Netanyahu is a man of courage who puts his country above himself. He sincerely loves his country and would never disparage it before a gathering of rogue dictators. Shouldn't we expect the same from our president?

It becomes more obvious every day that we have a president who doesn't like America or Americans very much, and I don't think that's the kind of CHANGE people voted for; surely not.

Here's a transcript of President Obama's speech:

http://ironicsurrealism.blogivists.com/2009/09/23/transcript-obama-un-general-assembly-speech-9-23-09/

Ukrainian Patriotism

Kseniya Simonova (born 1985) is a sand animator from Ukraine. She was the 2009 Winner of Ukraine's Got Talent, constructing the above animation that portrayed life during Ukraine's Great Patriotic War against the Germans in World War II.

The following is from internet sources:
In the above video, she recounts Germany conquering Ukraine in the second world war. She brings calm, then conflict. A couple on a bench become a woman’s face; a peaceful walkway becomes a conflagration; a weeping widow morphs into an obelisk for an unknown soldier. Simonova looks like some vengeful Old Testament deity as she destroys then recreates her scenes – with deft strokes, sprinkles and sweeps she keeps the narrative going. She moves the judges to tears as she subtitles the final scene “you are always near”.

More Krauthammer on Afghanistan - and Presidential Perfidy

From the transcript of Fox News Special Report, September 21, 2009 (video not available):

Bret Baier:
What about Afghanistan and the decision that lies ahead for the president? Let's bring in our panel, Fred Barnes, Executive Editor of "The Weekly Standard," Mara Liasson, national political correspondent of National Public Radio, and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer — Charles?

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Well, I think what's really important here are two dates. The first is August 30. That's when the McChrystal report was sent to Washington. That is three weeks ago. Obama has not had single meeting since then.
He says he hasn't reached a conclusion, I suppose because he is spending all his time preparing for Letterman and speeches to schoolchildren to focus on a war in which our soldiers are in the field getting shot at and, as the president himself is saying, without a strategy.

Now, the other date is the 27th of March, when Obama gave a speech in the White House flanked by his Secretaries of Defense and State, in which he said, and I will read you this, because it is as if it never happened, "Today I'm announcing a comprehensive new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan."
So we for six months have been living under the new Obama strategy, of which he says today we have none. And his next sentence is, again in March, "This marks the conclusion of a careful policy review," not the beginning, the end of the policy review.
So it has been his policy, and now he tells us we don't have a cart and we don't have a horse.
What's happening here is he announced the strategy of counterinsurgency in March. He said at the time that we cannot afford an Afghanistan that slides into chaos. He said "My message to the terrorists who oppose us, we will defeat you," And now he's not sure he wants to defeat them.

Send in the Clown.

It now appears that President Obama is on the verge of ignoring the recommendations of General Stanley McChrystal and his boss, General David Petraeus, joined finally by the until now reluctant Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullin, to send additional troops to Afghanistan lest that “foreign contingency operation” end in failure. Instead of listening to mere generals, Obama appears ready to accept the recommendation of that internationally recognized military and foreign policy expert, Joe Biden.

Such speculation, which came to light yesterday, occasioned two immediate reactions in my thought processes:

First, I heard echoes of John McEnroe’s now famous line from his tennis playing days: “You cannot be serious!”

Second, it brought to mind the many times in Shakespeare’s plays when the King would accept the advice of his Fool over advice proffered by his advisors - except some of those Fools offered good advice.

What if Iran follows Honduras?

Unless you've been living in a cave in Afghanistan, you must be aware that the Obama administration, with the strong backing of our secretary of state, has thrown Honduras under the bus for legally, under their constitution, expelling their now former president, Jose Manuel ZELAYA Rosales from their country. He was trying to make himself president for life in emulation of his good friend Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, by calling for an illegal referendum. The rest of the story is all over the web if you're interested. Suffice to say, that we are on the wrong side of the issue, and have even gone so far as revoking the visa of Acting President Roberto Micheletti, and the nine members of that nation's Supreme Court. So, the Acting president of an ally of the United States cannot come to this country for the ongoing meeting at the United Nations, but Hugo Chávez will speak at the meeting. This is a scandal.

You also must know of the still ongoing demonstrations against the "president" of Iran by the Iranian people; it's been ongoing since the uprising caused by the phony election that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims to have won. The Obama administration seems to have lost its voice, and, if it is doing anything to assist the new revolution, it is doing it extremely covertly. Ahmadinejad, by the way, will also address the United Nations General Assembly at its meeting tonight.

Now a question: Should the Iranian people succeed in ousting Ahmadinejad, would we recognize the new government or be guided by the recent precedent set by our shoddy treatment of Honduras? Just a question.

On Timely Treatment

If anyone (including the president) tells you that the health care reform legislation being proposed in Congress will not lead to delays in needed treatment being administered, tell them you know better.

Follow-Up Questions Never Asked (2).

During last Sunday's blitz on the talk shows (excluding Fox News), President Obama was asked, during his CBS interview with Bob Schieffer, about a leaked report that General Stanley McChrystal was asking for 45,000 additional troops in Afghanistan, warning that the failure to provide the troops would result in failure. The following is from the transcript:

Schieffer: Well if he asked you for that many troops, you're going to have a hard time saying no, are you not?

Obama: Let's be clear, my central focus is, what are we doing to protect the American people and the American homeland? Afghanistan and Pakistan are critical elements in that process but the only reason I send a single young man or woman in uniform anywhere in the world is because I think it's necessary to keep us safe. And so whatever decisions I make are going to be based first on a strategy to keep us safe, then we'll figure out how to resource it. We're not gonna put the cart before the horse and just think by sending more troops we're automatically going to make Americans safe.

Follow-Up Not Asked: Mr. president, you are obviously aware of your overwhelming responsibility when sending a "single man or woman in uniform anywhere in the world," but wouldn't that also make you responsible for keeping those young men and women already sent as safe as possible and as well equipped as possible? How would you explain to the parents of a young man or woman who does not return from Afghanistan that you had not acted on the professional (rather than political) advice of your top generals and sent the additional troops who could have been watching the back of their son or daughter?
______________________________
In his interview the same day with George Stephanopoulos of ABC, Obama got into a debate over the definition of the word "tax." Stephanopoulos finally read the official definition of "tax" from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, and Obama's reply was reminiscent of the famous presidential retort: "It depends on what the meaning of the word "is," "is." Stephanopoulos had called the mandate to purchase insurance a tax increase, and Obama replied in his usual way. The following is from the transcript:

OBAMA: No, but… but, George, you… you can't just make up that language and decide that that's called a tax increase.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I… I don't think I'm making it up. Merriam Webster's Dictionary: Tax…"a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes."

OBAMA: George, the fact that you looked up Merriam's Dictionary, the… definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you're stretching a little bit right now. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone to the… dictionary to check on the definition. I mean what...

Follow-Up Not Asked: OK, Mr. president, since you do not agree with the definition provided by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, what exactly is your definition of the word "tax."

General Petraeus for President

Our nation has never been so bereft of leadership: That virtue does not exist presently in the Congress or in the White House. We are losing our way because of this lack of leadership, and there is only one man who can stop our decline, but he says he's not interested in politics - all the better!

We need to rally behind this American hero, and appeal to his love for our country - another virtue in short supply in Congress and non-existent in the White House. Should the general change his mind and agree to run, it might be a good idea for him to run as an Independent so as not to be beholden to either of two parties that have failed us so miserably, while spending their time and energy fighting each other at our expense.

For now, just consider the proposition. A proven leader in the White House who is more interested in preserving the republic than in his own self-aggrandisement sounds like a great idea to me.

Krauthammer on Afghanistan

If you don't watch Fox News Special Report at 6:00 PM ET, you really should. The show features, and ends with, The Panel, with members such as Steve Hayes and Charles Krauthammer - the most astute political commentator on television. Krauthammer's comments last night on the same topic are not yet available, but will be posted here as soon as they are.

Madeleine Albright - A Sovietphile, Who Knew?

Remember Madeleine Albright? She was our 64th secretary of state, appointed by President Bill Clinton. In 2000, she presented Kim Jung IL ("Dear Leader" of North Korea) with a basketball autographed by Michael Jordan, which was arguably the most memorable accomplishment in her career at State. We spoke earlier of politicians who don't really like America too much, but she gets a special award in that category. Turns out, Albright is a hopeless Sovietphile, and doesn't even like our form of government very much. She is an obvious globalist, and I can't think of a harsher pejorative to level at her. She, like her friend Al Gore, would interpret E Pluribus Unum as one of many rather than as: out of many - One. Neither she nor Al believe in American exceptionalism: We're just another country in the new world order.

She recently spoke at a forum in Omsk, Siberia, and Powerline reports that, according to Pravda (a Russian news source), her speech surprised the audience. (The emphasis in the below excerpt is mine.)

Madeleine Albright said during the meeting that America no longer had the intention of being the first nation of the world.

Ms. Albright started her speech in Russian. "Hello and thank you! It's a pleasure for me to be here," she said in Russian. Albright wrote in her autobiography that she was trying to learn some Russian during the 1960s.

The former US Secretary of State surprised the audience with her speech. She particularly said that democracy was not the perfect system. "It can be contradictory, corrupt and may have security problems," Albright said.

America has been having hard times recently, Albright said.

"We have been talking about our exceptionalism during the recent eight years. Now, an average American wants to stay at home - they do not need any overseas adventures. We do not need new enemies," Albright said adding that Beijing, London and Delhi became a serious competition for Washington and New York.

"My generation has made many mistakes. We give the future into the hands of the young. Your prime goal is to overcome the gap between the poor and the rich,' the former head of the US foreign political department said.

Powerline added this:

By the way, since "overcoming the gap between the poor and the rich" is the world's number one priority, do you suppose Albright waived her speaker's fee, which is listed coyly as more than $40,000? No, I don't think so, either.

A prediction from popblogger: Hillary Clinton will not go down in history as our worst secretary of state.