Journal

Texas Woman Told to Remove 'Offensive' American Flag From Office

JDickson — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:27:30 +0000

At first glance, I thought this was just another case of political correctness run amok, (read the story here) but the second read, and the third made me realize that this goes beyond the scope of the normal, run of the mill silliness and garbage we hear about in the press almost on a daily basis. America in many ways has become a charicature of its former self. When an employee, and a foreign one at that, and please don't start on me about my "xenophobic paranoia", who has the timerity to complain about the presence of an AMERICAN flag in AMERICA and effect the removal of it from an office, even temporarily, then we are heading, as a nation down a road where we lose our identity. And although there are those who say, But this is an isolated incident"....and it well may be, but the fact that this story barely measured on the Richter Scale by the press and caused little to no outrage together with the fact that it happened not in in Haigh-Ashbury in San Francisco nor in Vermont, but in TEXAS, a true bastion of patriotic, middle America...remember "Don't Mess with Texas?" is indicative of our changing attitudes about First Amendment rights and patriotism in America.

Does Michael Vick Really Deserve a Second Chance?

JDickson — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:57:21 +0000

I've always been for giving second chances, indeed our nation is a forgiving one. And we forgive not only people, but entire nations - (Remember the Marshall Plan?). Deep down, we want to see the down and out guy succeed in life once again, and most of the time irrespective of whatever crime or other "infraction" he or she may have committed. However, this forgiveness doesn't happen automatically. Generally two things must happen. The perpetrator must "do time" whether that means a jail sentence for the crime if one was committed, or serve some other penance. Second, they must ask for forgiveness.

Now then, Michael Vick is finishing up his sentence for his role in a dogfighting ring. The question is being asked, "Does he deserve a second chance?", in this case to continue his career in the NFL. My first inclination is that yes, Michael Vick should be give a second chance just like everyone else. After all, he did complete his prison sentence and he has asked for forgiveness and is reportedly in discussions with PETA for some service announcement yada yada, but then I started thinking about this. Given the abhorent social nature of toruring animals, how can anyone believe that a change of one's nature can realistically occur? This isn't a DUI case where, upon reflection, genuine remorse is possible and even probable. At which point during Michael Vick's prison sentence did he get this epiphany, this "aha!" moment when he realized, " I have done a very horrible thing (over a period of several years), and I will do whatever it takes to make this right!" Torture of living beings, child molestation, serial killings are sociopathic in nature.

The following article by Brian Cluxton from HELP FIDO says it even better:

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Michael Vick - Why not everyone deserves a second chance.

Michael Vick has been back in the news a lot the last few days, with his release from prison yesterday. KC Dog Blog has an excellent post about Vick and the HSUS. This morning, I heard Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio talking about Vick's possible reinstatement to the NFL and he made some great points which got me thinking about this issue again. I have always been in favor of giving people a second chance in life, if they are truly sorry for what they did and want to make amends. And I've honestly debated this issue in my own mind - trying to reconcile my own beliefs of giving people a second chance and Vick's actions. However, here's why I believe Vick does NOT deserve a second chance in the NFL.
First of all, it's not like Vick drove drunk, got in a bar fight, used steroids, dealt drugs, committed fraud, cheated on his wife or any one of a number of other illegal and/or immoral activities. ALL of those things and more are horrible. But he tortured and killed innocent dogs with his own hands. This was not just about dog fighting (as heinous and horrific as that is). He tortured animals. He threw dogs to the ground repeatedly until they were dead. He hooked up dogs to electrocution devices, drowned them or beat them to death. This was not Jack Bauer on 24 committing torture to save the world. These also weren't the acts of a 14 or 15 year old immature kid, shooting birds in the back yard with a bb gun. What kind of person does that? These were completely innocent dogs that just wanted some food, water, safe shelter and some love and attention every once in a while. What would you think of one of your neighbors if you found out they tortured and killed dogs? Anyone that would commit acts of torture like that is clearly a sociopath and has no place in a civilized society, let alone deserving of a second chance.

Gengrich Call on Pelosi to Resign....and so does Common Sense

JDickson — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:20:37 +0000

This from the UPI.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., should resign, one-time Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich says.

Gingrich, appearing Wednesday on ABC TV's "Good Morning America" show, said Pelosi isn't qualified to lead the House because she last week accused the Central Intelligence Agency of misleading her in 2002 on whether terrorism detainees were being subjected to harsh interrogation techniques that many equate with torture, including waterboarding.

"She really disqualified herself to be the speaker," Gingrich said. "She has a unique responsibility for national security. ... She made this allegation that smears everyone who's trying to defend her."

Common Sense Take:

It's ludicrous in one sense to even discuss this issue as once again, partisanship rules in American politics. NO dems are calling for her resignation. But most Americans understand that if the Speaker was a Repulbican, no member of the GOP would be on the resignation bandwagon either. Having said that....How can anyone who has watched her stumble and stutter as she tried to talk herself out of the pickle she obviously got herself in, believe she didn't know that waterboarding was being used?

Records show that Pelosi and several democratic members of congress attended dozens of meetings but she refuses to acknowledge that she was told specifically that that WB was being used. I guess other Dems, her aide, and the CIA all "misrembered".

Pelosi was particularly harsh in describing the CIA's account.

"They mislead us all the time," she said. And when a reporter asked whether the agency had lied, Pelosi said yes.

But Pelosi defended her own lack of action on the issue, saying her focus at the time was on "wresting congressional control from Republicans so her party could change course".

This is truly a sad state of affairs. She is on a committee related directly to our national security but her main concern was to seat more dems in power?

So she is either incompetent or lying....or both.

This Pretty Much Sums Up My Thoughts....

JDickson — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:48:52 +0000

Found this little gem in my email basket today:

> > I recently asked my friend ' s little girl what she wanted to be
when
> > she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of
> > her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked
her,
> > 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would
do? '
> >
> > She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless
people.'
> >
> > Her parents beamed.
> >
> > 'Wow...what a worthy goal. ' I told her, ' But you
don't have to wait
> > until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house
and
> > mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you
$50. Then I'lltake you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy
hangs out,and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house.
'
> >
> > She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me
straight
> > in the eye and asked, ' Why doesn't the homeless guy come
over and dothe work, and you can just pay him the $50? '
> >
> > I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'
> >
> > Her parents still aren't speaking to me.

Back Again...

JDickson — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:42:14 +0000

Sorry folks but as much as I enjoy writing down my thoughts, as of late (and I hate to admit it), the news out there has been so oppressively depressing, that I just couldn't bring myself to write. For a self described, eternal optomist, my thoughts on my country and the world we live in has become such a pervasive downer lately that writing about it all became too depressing, too difficult and too laborious to keep up with it all. But I believe that I need to write...for myself if no other reason. There scope of our problems and the sheer rate of the continuous drone of bad news requires me to organize my thoughts and writing does this for me.

How far and how quickly we have fallen in this country and the fact that we are looking dead straight into an abyss keep me up at night.

Now Can We Take Illegal Immigration Seriously?!!

JDickson — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:04:39 +0000

You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Read this:

Boy, am I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is theIraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to beRIDICULOUS.

I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until theyare read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. Includedare URL's for verification of all the following facts.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal alienseach year by state governments.

Verify at: :http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programssuch as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify athttp ://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at:
http://www. cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary schooleducation for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word ofEnglish!
Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for theAmerican-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
Verify at
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at:
< I>http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare &social services by the American taxpayers.
< BR>Verify at:http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused bythe illegal aliens.

Verify at:http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's twoand a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, theirchildren, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US
Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

;

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens thatcrossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens fromTerrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin andmarijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border.

Verify at: Homeland Security Report:
http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of massdeportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost ofbetween $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period."
Verify at:
http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back totheir countries of origin.
& nbsp; Verify at:

http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm <http://www.rense.com/ge neral75/niht.htm>

14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex CrimesCommitted by Illegal Immigrants In The United States ."
; Verify at: http: //www.drdsk.com/articleshtml
<http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml>

The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

Are we THAT stupid?

If this doesn't bother you then just delete the message. If, on the otherhand, it does raise the hair on the back of your neck, I hope you forward itto every legal resident in the country including every representative inWashington , D.C. - five times a week for as long as it takes to restore somesemblance of intelligence in our policies and enforcement thereof.

Jim Silvin

7370 S Ocean Drive #413-B

Jensen Beach, Florida 34957

772 229-1027

How Will We React to Terroism Now?

JDickson — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:21:42 +0000

With the events in Mumbai still playing out, the next question is how will we react? By "we", I don't mean necessarily just the US. I mean the world community at large. We already see the apologists are out in force with their usual call for negotiaions and their take that its somehow our fault. I continue to have doubts as to the U.S. resolve to do what's necessary to ensure our survival, but the rest of the world is perhaps a lost cause. I do not doubt for a second that the enemies of the U.S. and the Western world as a whole have the upperhand. We simply do not show the ability to come together to battle, much less win the war on terrorism.

Yet Another Sign of the Apocalypse?

JDickson — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:14:51 +0000

This story isn't about politics. It doesn't center around the economy. Nor does it revolve around civl rights. It does, however, speak volumes about one element of our society that calls into question our moral framework as a civilization. Our culture. And I'm not talking about internet porn (a subject for another day). But it still puts into question our long held belief that our culture is somehow superior or at the very least a positive objective for other countries to strive for. Clearly, the culture of the United States in music, cinema, dance, architecture, literature, poetry, and even cuisine have been regarded, at least to most of the world, in positive terms. Our freedoms and liberties we hold dear are guaranteed by the most unique of documents in the history of the world, the U.S. Constitution. Much if not most of our elemens of our culture wouldn't be possible without the freedoms endemic in these United States.

But then you come up on an article that makes me question where this "civlization" of ours is headed. When a bright, young man can commit suicide, live and online while hundreds of people watch is bad enough. But when no one steps forward to assist and instead, laughs and even encourages the young man in his death, it is appaling as well as disturbing. It reminds me of the time I witnessed a "jumper" many years ago. The crowd that gathered in the square, instead of being horrified as I was, actually became, in a very real way, contributors to a death. What started out as morbid curiosity, quickly gave way to a macabe form of entertainment. Soon, the mob began chanting, "jump!" The young man, no doubt feeling the additional pressure to "perform" for his fans, did just that. He executed an almost flawless swan dive onto the cobblestone streed 10 stories below. When the deed was done, there was stunned silence, but that soon passed. Many in the crowd, obviously elated at their great fortune to have been a witness at such an event began high fiving each other as though their favorite team had just scored.

I'm tired of hearing that this type of thing happens all the time and I shouldn't be so critical. Or that its the internet's fault, as if it had a morality itself. The internet is simply the vehicle. It is us, our culture that allows us a return to the shameless ethics of the Middle Ages and the Old West where life was cheap. We have now created a virtual public "hanging" for all of us to enjoy. No. I'm sorry. I see these things and I see a society that cares very little for each other. Add to it, the ingredients of limited resources, massive populations, divisiveness, and a probable world wide depression and we have a recipe for a very different world in the next few years.

Gays to Serve Openly in the Military?

JDickson — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:14:19 +0000

I'm not sure what to think on this one. Even with my he-man prejudices I had while on active duty, I think its a matter of time before this becomes the norm. I served for 20 years. I knew more than a few soldiers who were gay and did little to nothing to hide the fact and I'm sure for every "obvious" gay there were a dozen who to one degree or another hid their orientation. I remember, clearly during my first two years in the service two soldiers who I "discovered" were gay and perhaps due to the particular situation of those discoveries, it repulsed me. The images have stayed with me for a long time, unfaded in any meaningful way over the years. I made and joined in on the usual jokes, undoubtedly making some of those still in the closet feel uncomfortable. And I still, to this day, over a decade after Clinton's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, don't know if this is the time or not, but I have three observations.

1. Gays have been serving in the military all along.

2. The day will come when gays serve openly. Call it "progressive", call it a sign of the further decline of our civilization. It will happen.

3. I have stretched my brain trying to find one instance where I can say with any certainty that any mission failed due to anyone being "gay".

What a Great Idea The Bailout Has Been!

JDickson — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:44:25 +0000

This from the AP:

"Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced Wednesday that the administration had decided to scrap what had originally been the centerpiece of the program — a proposal to buy troubled assets to get them off the books of banks as a way of promoting increased lending.

Instead, Paulson said the administration will proceed with an alternative plan to spend $250 billion to buy stock in the banks as a way of bolstering their financial situation and accomplishing the same goal — getting the institutions to return to more normal lending.

However, critics contend the administration should be imposing more restrictions on the stock purchases as a way of insuring that the banks will use the government resources to increase lending rather than just hoarding the cash or using it to acquire other banks or boost dividends for stockholders."

WUA Take: It seems that the warnings by GOP lawmakers and conservative think tanks that the $700 Billion bailout was a knee jerk reaction are proving to be correct. It was too much too fast, and shoved down the American people's throats. Instead of taking the time to study, confer, and debate the various appropriate responses (if any) to the credit and mortgage crisis, lobbyists for the banking industry, the very people who would benefit from any bailout, got their way...AGAIN. To show who REALLY pulls the strings in the halls of congress and at the White House, the banks brought together the most unlikely of allies, Bush and Nancy Pelosi together to ensure their plans were implemented. The banks were the doctor as well as the patient, prescribing their own medicine. From the lack of substantive commentary by most of those in congress, they were were either "yes" men or in typical, chicken little fashion, they simply decided to throw money at the problem without puting into place the oversights that those in congress themselves blamed for the crisis in the first place.

Now here is our government, changing the focus of the bailout. I'm sure that behind the scenes, the administration, long abandoning the most basic of fiscal conservativism is continuing to play the role of the puppet....and quite happy about it I might add. I believe that at this point, they feel it simply hurts too much to think.