Let's Do It Again!

The start of President Obama's third year is barely under way and he is off doing what he has done for the first two years; and that is campaigning. He is hoping that we will forget that the country is still mired in a recession, that unemployment is still hovering around 9% and that he has committed to spend more of your tax dollars than any other President in U.S. history. And like his predecessor he now owns the title of high gasoline prices (albeit neither President can control oil prices thus the price of gasoline).

He wants to tout his accomplishments: "Because of your help...we yanked this economy out of what could have been a Great Depression. We passed the historic health care bill. We ended don't ask don't tell." And he is calling all of this his accomplishments.

It's obvious that the President has been watching old 1970's movies like the Bill Cosby, Sidney Poitier film "Let's Do It Again." A movie where Clyde Williams (Poitier) and Billy Foster (Cosby), in an effort to raise money for their social organization travel to New Orleans and hypnotize Bootney Farnsworth (Jimmy "J.J." Walker) into becoming an over confident fighting machine and he ultimately wins a boxing match that they had bet against the odds and won a big return. And when they return to Atlanta a group of hoods who lost money on that fight want them to rig another fight so that they can win their money back.

Now the President wants to tout his accomplishments and hypnotize us into believing that 9% unemployment is the new norm. That spending close to 1 trillion tax dollars to ensure that every American will have health coverage, whether they want it or not, is alright. And now because gay and lesbian service men can openly serve will somehow cause terrorist to stop wanting to kill us. All I can say to this is oooooh the horror!

It's funny to see that Obama has abandoned his other "successes" such as successfully taking over two thirds of the American automobile industry. Another success in getting his henchmen Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to pass the biggest porkulus spending bill in history that did not lower unemployment and did nothing to keep the economy from tanking even further. How he successfully flew to foreign nation after foreign nation apologizing for our decades of economic and social successes.

I guess the President has been hypnotized because he forgot that he went against the will of the people and that we do not deserve another four years of his kind of successes. Will we be able to survive should this country make the same "Let's Do It Again" mistake and allow this President to serve again? Are you better off than you were three years ago?

Just remember that elections have consequences and this is ours. Now let's see if we can get it right this time. Choose your candidates carefully.

These are my words! Please post yours!

Unlawful Search and Yet No Seizure!

I haven't been posting over the past several months but that does not mean that I have been absent over the governmental intrusions into our lives. Much has been written and said over the past several weeks with regards to the TSA's full body scans and "pat downs."

The fourth amendment to our Constitution grants us protection from unlawful search and seizure. This right has been upheld on several court challenges to prevent the policing forces of this country from unlawfully obtaining incriminating information and evidence against its citizens without due process.

Warrantless searches are legal if the police witness a suspect commit a misdemeanor or has reasonable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a specific felony. So how does that entitle the TSA to search a law abiding citizen without reasonable suspicion? Unless they are saying that every American is suspect and may have committed a felony prior to arriving at the airport!

And because an idiot terrorist boarded a plane on Christmas Day, 2009 and tried to detonate an underwear bomb we are all suspects? Enter Janet "neapolitan ice cream" Napolitano and the goose stepping security forces of the Transportation Security Administration. Seeking to detain Grandma Faye at the gate should she not want to be scanned with radioactive particles and frisk her as if she had just shot a Kennedy.

The TSA should be ashamed and the "ice cream lady" should be even more embarrassed. If she only could enforce the same policies at the borders of the state that she once governed along with the other states which border Mexico to prevent the entry of those who seek to do us harm; both economically as well as physically. Yet our imperial federal government seeks to sue Arizona for enforcing the same law that the Feds have already sworn to uphold.

I have not read or seen publicized that any of the full body scan or pat down methods have produced one single terrorist plot break up. Mainly because we are so arrogant as to think that the terrorist will try to board an airplane in this country using the same methods that have already been tried. These people are ever evolving and probing. The underwear bomber, the toner bombers and the shoe bomber were probing for our strengths, not our weaknesses. The underwear bomber almost succeeded but took a beat down from an alert passenger.

There are too many problems with the Department of Homeland Security as it relates to the personal freedoms of Americans. Often over reaching and over reacting we end up with full body scans or invasions of our personal space with a full body pat down. Tapping the phone conversations of a suspected terrorist and patting down my mother is two separate and distinct differences.

I propose that we let the TSA set up at our border states and pat down every person seeking to enter this country. And since this agency has so much zeal in protecting the citizens we station them at illegal entry points to arrest and detain the same illegals that want to come here. I am sure that they will find all kinds of illegal contraband on these illegal invaders than what has been found on any passenger that is looking to board a flight from New York to Los Angeles. Then and only then will they prove to me that it is worth the money we spend on airport security when we all know that the next attack will probably not be an airplane.

Why are we not profiling those who have shown a propensity to harm Americans instead of delaying my mother or older sister at the gate; both of whom have nothing more than a speeding ticket as their only criminal offense? Because someone might get offended? Yet we let the masses suffer for the few? All the while slowing air travel and jeopardizing part of the American economy. Pretty soon those who regularly fly will opt to drive then where will we be? Bailing out the airlines I think!

Mr. President, eliminate these intrusions at the airport. We already had to remove our belts, shoes and open our laptop bags and turn on cameras and phones. I can't bring more than a mouthful of Listerine in a clear bottle, a days worth of shampoo or body lotion onto the plane. What else do we law abiding citizens of this country have to do in order to get on an airplane? Walk naked through the gates? I implore you to pull in the reins on this intrusion. And do it now!

These are my words! Please post yours!

Random Thoughts and Stuff

Happy Fourth of July...
As we approach the celebration of the Independence of this country I decided to give a quick read to the Declaration of Independence. I was amazed at how quickly it was written and finally approved, published and distributed to the people. Now contrast the 2nd Continental Congress with our current legislative body and I wonder if we could ever do the same thing in such a short span of time even with all of the technology we have today......
...the long answer would be Hell No!

Comprehensive Immigration Reform...
President Obama keeps speaching (giving speeches and preaching) about how the GOP should sit down and come up with "comprehensive immigration reform." I was just pondering that statement and it came to me that we already have comprehensive immigration reform. It is wrapped up in these words; "The Rule of Law." We currently have system by which citizens of other nations can immigrate to this country legally. Any thing other than that is a violation of the law and should be pursued as such. No need to waste money, time and for you eco-warriors, thousands of pieces of paper on any legislation. Just enforce the laws.

BP and The Gulf Coast Communities...
I returned from Pensacola, Florida this past weekend and witnessed first hand the clean up efforts of the shores of Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key Beach. Two things came to mind while watching these people toil in the 100 degree heat of the Florida Panhandle:

First, I was amazed at the amount of water bottles they were collecting (from staying hydrated) I was even more perplexed as to why none of America's Green Eco-knuckleheads were not protesting the amount of trash these people are creating just from trying to clean up the beaches as a result of their forcing legislation to protect sea turtles. You see, the state of Alabama wanted to use bigger, deeper and stronger booms to protect their 200 miles of shore line but were stymied by the Fish and Wildlife Administration. The use of these booms would cause sea turtles to get trapped and they are a protected class of people,... umm I mean animal. Humans are less important than a turtle.

Finally, If these people and BP moved at any slower rate of pace then those same sea turtles would appear to be as fast as Usain Bolt.

Clean it up BP! President Obama and congress please remove all bureaucratic obstacles out of their way. This is a national emergency.

These are just some of my random thoughts and words. Please post yours!

Don't Lie to Me! Just Give Me My White Beaches!

Who's fooling who? Or is it who's fooling whom?

The President announced today that he has asked and BP executives have agreed to set aside $20 billion for the reimbursement of damages and compensation for our citizens in the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Florida and Alabama. The problem is that BP does not have $20 billion in cash to set aside.

They will need to cut spending and sell billions in assets to raise the necessary cash to fund this compensation fund by 2013. They are also going to suspend dividend payments for the next 3 quarters and possibly for the foreseeable future until such time that the Gulf Coast is cleaned up.

Sounds simple huh? Until you figure that BP still needs to continue operations to deliver revenue and the likelihood of doing this in America will be hampered since there will be no offshore drilling for the next 6 or more months. They will need to increase production in the oil exploration efforts around the world.

They obviously cannot raise this money by selling stock as their stock price is in a free fall and issuing bonds is not likely either. Who is going to buy BP stock or bonds? Not anyone who is looking for growth especially since BP stock has lost half of its value since this accident.

The suspension of dividends will affect numerous pension funds around the globe that hold BP stock and had come to rely on these quarterly dividends to help pay their pensioners. This will have far reaching economic consequences right away since we already have many municipalities on the brink of bankruptcy because of burgeoning pension benefits that need to be paid against reduced tax revenue.

Why BP would ever agree to anything like this is amazing to me. The reason, but not their fault, is that under current Federal law BP is only liable for $75 million in damages. BP has decided to waive this limit. However, why let a U.S. President demand what a foreign corporation has to do? Is it the right thing, but of course! Is it what the shareholders would want, No! I can understand the quandary that BP is now faced with from a public relations standing and a business standing.

B-Rock has decided that the Pay Czar, Kenneth Feinberg, will administer the claims against this fund. This is the same guy that helped to decide how much an executive should earn at any financial institution that took TARP funds. He also administered the claims for the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks. Because of this federal bureaucratic process there will be many claims that are not paid timely. Also, who is to decide how quick is timely?

Do not get me wrong. I want BP to get the Gulf Coast cleaned up. I grew up in Pensacola, Florida; my parents still reside there and I will be vacationing there next week. I like my beaches white and my water clear. I just think that BP should have allowed the courts in America help them work through this financial mess.

BP does not have $20 billion and they do not have to have it all until 2013. I guess we were all hoodwinked by the President's announcement today. I see no timely financial payments coming for our friends in Gulf Coast. People are going to be hurting. We are going to need timely prayer to help these residents.

These are my words! Please post yours!

Rocks, Rifles and Illegal Immigration

With all the uproar of the Israeli commandos killing pro-Palestinian activist off the coast of Gaza I wonder how soon will our media along with world opinion start to protest the killing of a Mexican invader by our Border Patrol agents.

One thing is for certain, Mexicans have learned the fine art of throwing rocks at armed militia from the Palestinians. For years I often wondered why any half intelligent human being would stand in front of a group of men armed with assault rifles, shields and riot gear and throw rocks at them. Unless you are a baseball player the accuracy of throwing a rock pales in comparison to a highly trained marksman with a rifle.

A group of Mexican invaders were stopped while trying to enter this country without proper documentation by U.S. Border agents and obviously illegally. But in a move more likened by the Palestinians, these Mexicans start throwing rocks.

Rocks versus guns and you can guess who wins this one! A Mexican teen aged invader is killed after being ordered to stop throwing rocks. Instead of the Mexican government supporting our agents for defending themselves and the laws of this nation they are trying to make this some sort of international incident, a la Israeli commando killing of Turkish activist.

The great thing about both these incidents is that there is video to support the defense of what actually occurred. And both groups were forced to use lethal force to defend themselves.

Crossing the border without permission is a crime. Intentionally assaulting a U.S. citizen and law enforcement agent is a dangerous crime. We do not want to import crime. We already have enough of our own. So if you want to come here, use the proper channels and enter our land legally.

I have one suggestion for other potential Mexican violators; "Sticks and Stones may break our bones but if your choose to throw stones our Border Agents may shoot to kill!" Graveyard dead!

These are my words! Please post yours!

Update.....Update......

The teen that was killed is a known human smuggler and was on the "most wanted" list of juvenile smugglers. Mexican security forces have trained their weapons on the FBI agents investigating the Border agent shooting. Like I said above, the Mexicans are trying to make this into an international incident which it is not when their citizens continue to violate our laws and enter our country illegally.