Around the Blogger World

Obama Health Care Plan - Scrappleface
Various Posts - Gateway Pundit
Global Warming - Polipundit
Quote of the Day - Smoke 'em if you got 'em
Drunk Driving - Smoke 'em if you Got 'em
Moonbat of the week - Liberally Conservative

Ignoring the Voters

This week Hamilton County commissioners approved a 1/2 cent increase in the Hamilton County sales tax. This is less than a year after the commissioners placed the issue on the ballot where it lost by a 57 to 43 margin.

Like a lot of issues they got to the right answer for all the wrong reasons.

I voted against the issue last fall because I believe the county already has the money to fund this jail if they simply wanted to realign priorities but I was pro jail.

There were also groups opposed to the tax because they were anti jail. The NAACP was against it because too many of their members would end up as residents there.

So how did the commissioners hear this vote. Faagetaboutit.

I'm not one of these people that believes in the collective wisdom of democracy. After all, look at Ted Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. And sometimes the elected representatives need to lead people to places they don't want to go.

But to completely blow off the various objections that people had about the jail and implement what they wanted in the first place is a complete miscarriage of leadership.

What makes it even more heinous is that it come on the heals of a city of Cincinnati budget that included 2.1 million for various arts and museums in the city.

Granted, the city and county operate autonomously, but that 2.1 million would have gone a long way to add to the jail issue. Since most of the criminals are city residents, it only seems fair that they kick in for their housing.

Overall not a good week for Hamilton County and the City of Cincin....OOOPs what's that sound.... Another 10 residents just headed to Warren, 5 to Clermont, and 8 to Butler Counties.

Her Medical Plan will be even Gooder

You just have to love these shots when you get them.

I wonder if Dan Quayle is the hired proof reader for the Clinton Team.

I'm sure that our future Senator, Evan, could at least spell it correctly.

A Future Senator

Meet Evan O'Dorney, Spelling Bee champion and future US senator.

As a result of all his "smarts", he'll come up with great ideas like campaign finance reform, immigration amnesty bill, minimum wage hikes, and a bridge to no where.

He'll know all about the wants and needs of 300 million Americans.

How? Because he's smart, he won a national spelling bee.

Seriously, I know the kid is only in 8th grade but doesn't he have a frightening resemblance to Bob Taft? Maybe a love child?

Where's Senator Blutarsky when we need him.

Around the Blogger World

Carter Center on Venezuela Unrest - American Thinker
Unbeleaveable (sic) - Third Wave Dave
A-Rod's Troubles - Deadspin
Guarding America's Secrets - Big Dog Blog
Squandering the Bush Inheritance - Opinion Journal
There Shall Be Open Borders (WSJ) - Bizzyblog

Hillary's Society

Hillary scares me.

Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has unveiled her economic vision. Should she be given the power to implement it, we can say goodbye to the prosperity and opportunity we have enjoyed since the Reagan years.

In a speech at Manchester School of Technology in New Hampshire, Clinton said it's time to replace President Bush's "ownership society," which she called an "on your own" society, with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity.

Doesn't such a society already exist elsewhere? It's called socialism...

Cal Thomas: It Takes a Socialist Village

Hillary Clinton has identified a grievous flaw in the contemporary American economy: It leaves "it all up to the individual." This hateful individualism is allegedly driving income inequality and destroying the American Dream.

Rich Lowry: Hillary Vs. the "On Your Own" Society

Around the Blogger World

Dad buys son Cocaine as graduation Gift - Dumbass Daily
Barry Bonds - You Tube Video
Ben Affleck proves a Point - Big Dog Blog
I'll be Sheehan You - Steyn Online
Did Boeing help the CIA - The Boring Made Dull
Edwards for President - Gribbit's Word
Supreme Court Reaches an "it depends" Ruling - The Onion
NR v WSJ on immigration - Real Clear politics
In Praise of Foxhole Atheists - On Faith Washington Post

Sales Tax Hike

Hamilton County approved a sales tax hike for construction of a new jail.

Once again, courts and jails are the first priority of county government. Why didn't they move the debt service for said jail to the top of the list and vote on money for the HCJFS?

Somehow, the surrounding counties are able to provide for jails and all this other stuff for 1/2% less than this county does.

Sex Offender

This is Jeni Lee Dinkel, sex offender. After her plea today, she'll be required to register as a sex offender for having sex with a 15 year old boy.

Now is she really a threat to a community that she lives in? Should I be concerned that she's going to grab my 4 year old daughter, throw her in the back of a van, rape and kill her?

I don't think so.

Yet once the people in the neighborhood get their alert they won't be able to distinguish her from a real threat in the neighborhood.

Jeni, you can move in next to me, I won't be scared.

Ben Affleck, political consultant

Drudge found it important to put Ben Affleck's opinions on his page today, as if, his opinions are worthy of note.

How come we can't have some newsworthy conservative celebrity out there.

I propose Ted Nugent. I was reminded of one his astute observations here recently

"What do these deer think when they see you coming?" I ask him. "Here comes the nice guy who puts out our dinner? Or, there's the man that shot my brother?"

"I don't think they're capable of either of those thoughts, you Limey asshole. They're only interested in three things: the best place to eat, having sex and how quickly they can run away. Much like the French."

The Surrender Party

Last week, I pointed out that the democrats painted themselves into a loser's corner with these votes on war funding and diatribes against Bush.

Here's a piece, by a lib no less, saying just this.

It seems true that politicians are not convinced that voters will punish Bush-style fearmongering. But that is not the Democrats' problem. The Dems' problems is precisely that they need to be convinced of that before they will act with political courage. And everyone knows this. The last few days I have been harping on the Democrats' central political weakness - that are believed to have no convictions they will fight for.

Good news for democrats, republicans have no convictions either.

Enron, I mean, Social Security pension theft II

So your company squanders your pension money and creates a ponzi scheme to cover the current benefits.

If you are an Enron executive, you get to go to jail. If you are a congressman, people say you're compassionate for the aged.

USA Today has a piece noting that the federal government has a debt load of about 59 trillion, I say, I say, I say 59 TRILLION dollars. Most of which is unfunded social security and health care benefits.

Of course, that's what it would be if the government did accounting as businesses are required to do. But this is the same government where a three percent increase can be called a budget cut.

If you've ever read the novels 1984 and Animal Farm, you understand that it's all about control of the language.

Marvelous.

Around the Blogger World

Malibu Healed by Mother Nature - Deadspin
Minimum Wage in Wrong Direction - Cato Institute
Immigration - David Frum's Diary
59 Trillion - BizzyBlog
Pirate's Review - Ohio Conservative
No Child Left Behind - Weapons of Mass Discussion

HillaryCare

What do you get when you combine your local BMV branch, the IRS and your doctor's office.... universal, government-run health care.

On the heels of Hillary Clinton’s speech on universal health care last week, Barack Obama promised he would provide health insurance to every American by the end of his first term as President today. Like Hillary, Obama supports seizing the Bush tax cuts to pay for his plan and forcing insurance providers to enroll high-risk clients.

"In the richest nation on Earth, it is simply not right that the skyrocketing profits of the drug and insurance industries are paid for by the skyrocketing premiums that come from the pockets of the American people," he said on the stump at the University of Iowa’s medical school in Iowa City.

Amanda Carpenter: Obama's HillaryCare

The Ethanol Myth

Politicians in Washington claim to be outraged over Memorial Day weekend gas prices averaging $3.20 a gallon. So why are they taking steps to drive the cost even higher?

Their favorite idea is also one of their dumbest -- increasing the ethanol mandate. The 2005 energy bill required that 4 billion gallons of this corn-derived fuel additive be mixed into the gasoline supply in 2006, rising to 7.5 billion by 2012.

Now in its second year, the mandate is an unfolding disaster. Ethanol is more expensive than gasoline, so its use has raised the cost of driving.

Ben Lieberman: Making the Pain Worse

Memorial Day Tributes

How do you honor the men and women who died in uniform on Memorial Day.

1) By painting a swastika on an American Legion in Philadelphia.

2) Throwing eggs at a color guard doing a 21 gun salute in Boston.

3) By pulling the flags out of veterans tombstones and replacing them with swastikas in Seattle.

I know what you're thinking, a nice group of young republican kids.

Remind me of why I should ever want to live in Blue State, America.

Big Cheeze

Big Cheeze is stepping up his "street cred".

He's back in jail.

I wonder if he's any relation to Mayor McCheese.

The Carbon Monster Strikes again!

One of the casualties of Global Warming?

I'll let the article spell it out....

High in the Andes, freak hailstorms and cold snaps are freezing llamas to death....

So if llamas are freezing to death that's evidence of global warming?

Maybe Sheryl "can you spare a square" Crow can advice them on reducing their squares to one each trip.

Getting rich off the Poor

A couple of weeks ago, I read an interesting piece in Business Week about businesses catering to the poor.

The article highlighted some of the businesses who cater to the poor; JD Byrider, Jackson Hewitt, Blue Hippo and various check cashing services.

For the most part, I thought the piece was fair. However, I can attest to my own practice how the poor subject themselves to much of the misery in their lives.

Let me give you a little snippet of a conversation I had with a guy who wanted a rapid refund in mid March.

Customer "Do you guys do Rapid Refunds?"

GG "No, that's an H&R Block deal.... we don't do those, frankly they are a rip off. We do offer e-filing... you would get your refund in about 10 business days."

Customer "Why are they a rip off? how much do they charge?"

GG "By the time you get your return completed and the refund processed it's probably going to cost you at least $350.00"

Customer "But you get the money that day?

GG "Yes you do"

Customer "Do you know where an H&R Block is around here?"

This is the type of thinking (or not thinking) with much of the poor. If this guy had just sent a 1040ez form back in January, he would have already had his refund and it would not have cost him one nickel.

So how can anyone be critical of a business that provides people with the service/product they desire?

It's hard to be poor, I watched my folks get eaten alive with service charges, excessive interest rates, etc. but if you're willing to tighten your belt and do without some things for a period of time you won't have to deal with these kinds of businesses.

God 2.0

Newsweek has a piece about some scientists who are attempting to create a life form out of synthetic DNA.

I say... go ahead and waste your time. I'm having a beer.

Cindy Surrenders

Cindy Sheehan, media anti-war darling and communist sympathizer, surrendered yesterday to being the spokesperson for the anti-war movement.

In her piece titled "Good Riddance Attention Whore, Cindy lays out the reasons for fading off to the background.

Money quote

I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground. Being called an "attention whore" and being told "good riddance" are some of the more milder rebukes.

It's pretty apparent to me that the surrender of Cindy to the anti-war cause only buttresses the argument as to why we need to finish the job in Iraq.

You see, serious adults on a mission don't "quit" when there is work to be done. It's why I can have some respect for people who have been consistently anti-war, but have absolutely no respect and actually, some out right hatred, for people that want to use this war for political gain (see John Kerry, Hilary Clinton, et. al). It puts our troops at serious risk when the enemy can spot political weakness and will.

Also, serious adults don't fly to Venezuela for photo ops with Hugo Chavez just to stick one in the eye of our president. What do Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro have to do with anything related to the war?

Her piece is appropriately titled... She decided to allow herself to be whored by a lot ideologues that wanted to hide behind her beliefs until it looked safe to "come out". Now that the dirt has hit the fan, you see lot's of people scurrying back in the cracks of their political walls.

Adults understand there is work to be done. They also "get" that once you step out on that limb someone may saw it off, likely by someone you think you can trust.

Her ending soliloquy

Good-bye America ...you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can’t make you be that country unless you want it.

You know the best thing about our country? If you hate it as much as Cindy does, you're more than welcome to leave... Maybe you can move to that paradise run by Hugo Chavez. Look at the picture, every one gets a state sponsored shower.

Good riddance to Cindy.

Moral Relativsim

Here's a couple of video post from a guy named Greg Koukl regarding moral relativism.

He walks through a number of thoughts regarding faith and morality and really hits it out of the park.

Prudent Musings I


Prudent Musings II

Around the Blogger World

Porker of the week - Buckeye Institute
Lost Whales source of Cheap oil - Scrappleface
Wild Boar Kill - Deadspin
"Good Riddance Attention Whore" by Cindy Sheehan - Daily Kos
Hate Crime by a Gay - King's Right
Venezuela Synopsis - BizzyBlog

Rock & Roll All Night

Here's an interview with Gene Simmons of Kiss regarding his thoughts on the military and the war.

Money Quote on Sean Penn

Oh, I think he's the enemy of Western civilization. I think he's a terrific actor, but a political knucklehead. By the way, the difference between the Warren Beattys and Sean Penns and perhaps the Hannitys in the salons of the world is very little.

Do you find it odd that this gets as much play as something Rosie (aka Shrek) would say? Not.

Art Show

So, we're now at the point of political correctness that we should try not to offend porn stars and prostitutes? A travelling "art show" is trying to help us out:

Dubbed the “Sex Worker’s Art Show” it was performed at the following colleges and universities in the month of February of 2007 alone:

Northern Arizona University, College of Santa Fe, Virginia Commonwealth University, College of William and Mary, University of Pennsylvania, Haverford College, Bard College, Wesleyan, The University of Massachusetts - Amhurst, Hampshire College, Sarah Lawrence College, Case Western Reserve University, Kenyon College, and Earlham College.

These shows are intended to offer a diverse perspective on sex work by touching on themes such as prostitute’s rights.

Mike Adams: When Porn Stars Get Offended

Pot High

The yearbook for Conifer high school in this mountain town near Denver published photos of students smoking marijuana and drinking beer, drawing the ire of parents and administrators.

Hannah Fredrickson, the senior who served as yearbook editor, said she regrets not balancing the yearbook pictures of teenagers smoking pot with pictures of non-drug users. She also said she is sorry about not warning her principal.

This Sunday's Spiritual Post

I'm often preaching about the "hole in our soul".

I believe God put the hole there. He gave us free will to put whatever we want there but it's only his presence in that space that is ultimately fulfilling.

Take a quiet moment this weekend to invite God in that space and watch the miracles begin.

A view on illegal immigration

Former Red's pitcher Frank Pastore has a good article regarding: How should a Christian view illegal immigration?

I’ll assume you’re already familiar with how the debate frequently goes. Basically, both sides toss verses at one another. Those who favor amnesty cite “alien-stranger-hospitality” passages. Those who favor legal immigration cite “law” passages.

“Christian” supporters of open borders and amnesty using carefully-selected Bible verses need to be honest. Call your attempt to be generous with the property of others what it is: a form of theft. And call your socio-economic political public policy what it is: socialism.

More...

Pot-sickles

First it was candy bars and now it's ice cream...

Police say the jingle of this ice cream truck meant pot-sickles. Police say elementary school students tipped them off to an ice cream truck driver who was apparently selling $5 and $10 bags of marijuana from the truck. Most customers were in the third, fourth, and fifth grades.

Raymundo Flores, a 40-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, was arrested Thursday on charges of possession of marijuana.