"deliberately dishonest, or economically illiterate"

"The most dangerous myth is the demagoguery that business can be made to pay a larger share, thus relieving the individual. Politicians preaching this are either deliberately dishonest, or economically illiterate, and either one should scare us. Business doesn't pay taxes, and who better than business to make this message known? Only people pay taxes, and people pay as consumers every tax that is assessed against a business. Begin with the food and fiber raised in the farm, to the ore drilled in a mine, to the oil and gas from out of the ground, whatever it may be -- through the processing, through the manufacturing, on out to the retailer's license. If the tax cannot be included in the price of the product, no one along that line can stay in business." --Ronald Reagan

Which pretty much means that almost every Federal Democrat is either a liar, or too ignorant to have an informed opinion on the subject of taxes. Of course, that shouldn't surprise us. Many of the same people have been doing it to the First and Second Amendments for some time now.

Kentucky Guns Shows thru 12/2009

2008

• Dec 13-14 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center 2100 tbls  National Gun Day
• Dec 20-21 Somerset, (Kenny Woods Gun Show LLC) The Center Map (2292 S. Hwy 27) RK Shows
• Dec 20-21 New Albany Indiana, National Guard Armory Tri-StateGun Show
• Dec 26-28 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center West Hall A&B RK Shows

2009

• Jan 3-4 Lexington, Heritage Hall of Lexington Center Map RK Shows (Kenny Woods Gun Show, LLC) 563-927-8176 email:kehrli8@n-vonnect.net
• Jan 17-18 Somerset, (Kenny Woods Gun Show LLC) The Center Map (2292 S. Hwy 27) RK Shows 563-927-8176 email:kehrli8@n-vonnect.net
• Feb 14-15 Lexington, Heritage Hall of Lexington Center Map RK Shows (Kenny Woods Gun Show, LLC) 563-927-8176 email:kehrli8@n-vonnect.net
• Mar 7-8 Ashland, El Hasa Temple Map RK Shows (Kenny Woods Gun Show, LLC) 563-927-8176 email:kehrli8@n-vonnect.net
• Mar 7-8 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center 2100 tbls  National Gun Day 513-523-3574
• Mar 21-22 Somerset, (Kenny Woods Gun Show LLC) The Center Map (2292 S. Hwy 27) RK Shows 563-927-8176 email:kehrli8@n-vonnect.net
• Jun 6-7 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center 2100 tbls  National Gun Day 513-523-3574
• Jun 20-21 Lexington, Heritage Hall of Lexington Center Map RK Shows (Kenny Woods Gun Show, LLC) 563-927-8176 email:kehrli8@n-vonnect.net
• Jul 18-19 Louisville, Map Kentucky Fair & Expo Center West Hall A&B RK Shows 563-927-8176 email:kehrli8@n-vonnect.net
• Sep 26-27 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center 2100 tbls  National Gun Day 513-523-3574
• Dec 12-13 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center 2100 tbls  National Gun Day 513-523-3574

Prescience...

"No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffusd and virtue is preservd. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders."

                                   --Samuel Adams

Hence,

"In 1993, a Department of Education survey found that among college graduates 50 percent of whites and more than 80 percent of blacks couldn't state in writing the argument made in a newspaper column; 56 percent could not calculate the right tip; 57 percent could not figure out how much change they should get back after putting down $3.00 to pay for a 60-cent bowl of soup and a $1.95 sandwich, and over 90 percent could not use a calculator to find the cost of carpeting a room. But not to worry. A 1999 survey taken by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni of seniors at the nation's top 55 liberal-arts colleges and universities found that 98 percent could identify rap artist Snoop Dogg and Beavis and Butt-Head, but only 34 percent knew George Washington was the general at the battle of Yorktown. With limited thinking abilities and knowledge of our heritage, we Americans set ourselves up as easy prey for charlatans, hustlers and quacks." --George Mason University economics professor Walter E. Williams

Thanks to the Friday Digest of The Patriot Post.

I few weeks back I was having a conversation with two young ladies, 14 and 19 years old, and one of them made a comment about all the laws President Obama was going to make. Not one to let a teaching moment go by, I spent the next 30 minutes or so explaining how our government worked.

The older of two graduated from high school this past Spring, the other just began her first year in high school this Fall. The older was, I believe, thought to be a fair student, and the younger was pretty much a straight A student at her middle school (She currently attends a private school where she is finding how ill-served she was at her former school). Neither of them had a clue, not one, about how our government functions.

Not much of a future if Mr. Adams is correct, and he is.

In the back rooms of Congress...

"Holy underwear! Sheriff murdered! Innocent women and children blown to bits! We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!" 

'Cause Heaven knows, you got to do something!!

Which way, GOP?

A new Emancipation Proclamation might be a good start.

"Evil acts can be given an aura of moral legitimacy by noble-sounding socialistic expressions such as spreading the wealth, income redistribution or caring for the less fortunate. Let's think about socialism. Imagine there's an elderly widow down the street from you. She has neither the strength to mow her lawn nor enough money to hire someone to do it. Here's my question to you that I'm almost afraid for the answer: Would you support a government mandate that forces one of your neighbors to mow the lady's lawn each week? If he failed to follow the government orders, would you approve of some kind of punishment ranging from house arrest and fines to imprisonment? I'm hoping that the average American would condemn such a government mandate because it would be a form of slavery, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another. Would there be the same condemnation if instead of the government forcing your neighbor to physically mow the widow's lawn, the government forced him to give the lady $40 of his weekly earnings? That way the widow could hire someone to mow her lawn. I'd say that there is little difference between the mandates. While the mandate's mechanism differs, it is nonetheless the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another. Probably most Americans would have a clearer conscience if all the neighbors were forced to put money in a government pot and a government agency would send the widow a weekly sum of $40 to hire someone to mow her lawn. This mechanism makes the particular victim invisible but it still boils down to one person being forcibly used to serve the purposes of another. Putting the money into a government pot makes palatable acts that would otherwise be deemed morally offensive. This is why socialism is evil. It employs evil means, coercion or taking the property of one person, to accomplish good ends, helping one's fellow man." --George Mason University economics professor Walter E. Williams

Buy a horse!

"Democrats are suggesting, however, an even more ambitious reason to nationalize [the auto industry]. Once the government owns Detroit, it can remake it. The euphemism here is 'retool' Detroit to make cars for the coming green economy. Liberals have always wanted the auto companies to produce the kind of cars they insist everyone should drive: small, light, green and cute. Now they will have the power to do it. In World War II, government had the auto companies turning out tanks. Now they would be made to turn out hybrids. The difference is that, in the middle of a world war, tanks have a buyer. Will hybrids? One of the reasons Detroit is in such difficulty is that consumers have been resisting the smaller, less powerful, less safe cars forced on the industry by fuel-efficiency mandates. Now Detroit would be forced to make even more of them. If you think we have economic troubles today, consider the effects of nationalizing an industry of this size, but now run by bureaucrats issuing production quotas to fit five-year plans to meet politically mandated fuel-efficiency standards -- to lift us to the sunny uplands of the coming green utopia." --columnist Charles Krauthammer

I've always wanted a five-year plan, haven't you?

why not dual citizenship?

If there is an Obama victory this evening, and all indications point that way, there will be a flood, yea, perhaps of Biblical proportions, of illegal immigrants across our southern border. They'll all want to get in before Obama issues a blanket amnesty.

Why don't Democrats will take it the next logical step and give at least all Mexicans, if not all South Americans, U.S citizenship. Wouldn't dual citizenship for them save a lot of aggravation and expense? We could all but do away with the Border Patrol, stop construction on the fence, and drastically cut back on the Immigration offices all across the country.

It would be that much more money to spend on the many other new programs, soon to be revealed.

The Ten Cannots vs "We Can!"

The Ten Cannots

1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

3. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.

4. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

5. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.

6. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.

7. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

8. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.

9. You cannot establish security on borrowed money.

10. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.

- William J. H. Boetcker, a minister, and outspoken advocate for liberty (1916)

Reverend Boetcker would be reviled and ridiculed by the Left today for merely listing these ten common sense observations about life. And were he to dare mention their basis in Scripture, the howl would be deafening.

The older I get, the better I understand that men will eternally argue the same questions year after year, decade and decade, even century after century. Solomon may have been speaking from ennui when he declared there was nothing new under the sun, but he pretty much described the human condition in those five words.

On Tuesday, our country may elect a man to the presidency who vehemently disagrees with each of these statements. And once again, the old lessons would be learned the hard way as he and his Leftist companions in the Congress ignore the past and forge ahead to "Change", taking our country in a "new" old direction that has failed over and over again.

Mark Alexander of the Patriot Post shared this story.

'I was speaking with a friend recently, a man who lived most of his life under the Communist regime in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. He has spent several years and continues to incur many legal expenses in his endeavor to become a U.S. citizen, but he has since lost his enthusiasm.

“The prospect of an Obama presidency is like dèja vu for me,” he explained. “The socialist goal back home was that everyone had equal wealth. They met that goal—eventually no one had anything. Any attempt to work harder to achieve a better standard of living for your family was considered contrary to the welfare of the state, and dutifully discouraged. Socialism is a big hole, easy to fall into and hard to climb out of.”

He lamented, “The American dream is not something I want to wake up from—but too many Americans have no idea what they have, and are about to lose it. Socialism seems an appealing ideal, collective ownership, equal society, ‘sharing the wealth,’ et cetera. But it has a downside: It doesn’t work.”

 

America Compared to What?

Nice piece by Victor Davis Hanson. A perspective too many have abandoned.

The current financial crisis has startled America from a hypnotic trance of self-indulgence and irresponsibility. But as we return to American fundamentals, we may discover that our political, social and economic system -- despite all the current election-cycle hysteria -- is still by far the most resilient in the world.

How odd that it took a financial catastrophe to remind us of that.

Sad, but true, Mr. Hamilton.

“It is an unquestionable truth, that the body of the people in every country desire sincerely its prosperity. But it is equally unquestionable that they do not possess the discernment and stability necessary for systematic government. To deny that they are frequently led into the grossest of errors, by misinformation and passion, would be a flattery which their own good sense must despise.” —Alexander Hamilton

I know the spread is closing in the polls, but it looks as though the best chance for a McCain victory is for those who might vote Dem will think Barry has it in the bag, and stay home. Thankfully, a lot of them who show up for rallies and demonstrations seem to have a hard time finding the polls the first Tuesday in November. We'll see.

One Dem's view of the financial meltdown...

Read the whole thing here. I've always enjoyed Mr. Card's books, particularly the Ender series, but this may be my favorite bit of his writing. And by the way, he's a Democrat.

“These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was... the Republican Party. Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout! What? It’s not the liar, but the victims of the lie who are to blame? Now let’s follow the money... right to the presidential candidate who is the number-two recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae. And after Freddie Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae who made $90 million while running it into the ground, was fired for his incompetence, one presidential candidate’s campaign actually consulted him for advice on housing. If that presidential candidate had been John McCain, you would have called it a major scandal and we would be getting stories in your paper every day about how incompetent and corrupt he was. But instead, that candidate was Barack Obama, and so you have buried this story, and when the McCain campaign dared to call Raines an ‘adviser’ to the Obama campaign—because that campaign had sought his advice—you actually let Obama’s people get away with accusing McCain of lying, merely because Raines wasn’t listed as an official adviser to the Obama campaign. You would never tolerate such weasely nit-picking from a Republican. If you who produce our local daily paper actually had any principles, you would be pounding this story, because the prosperity of all Americans was put at risk by the foolish, short-sighted, politically selfish, and possibly corrupt actions of leading Democrats, including Obama.” —Orson Scott Card, Democrat columnist

Hooda thunk it.

Politics came up in a recent conversation with a co-worker (not the one I mentioned in a previous post). He asked me why Independents were drawn to McCain. As I went through the points I thought pertinent, most of which do not endear McCain to me, he seemed to be paying close attention.

When I concluded, he nodded his head and said, "You know, I had pretty much made up my mind to vote for Obama, but you've sure given me a lot to think about. I've never thought about him in those terms."

Now, I had no thought of "convincing" anyone of anything that day. We were just chatting during an idle moment. But I bet he still votes for Obama. The last thing he mentioned was McCain's age. I reminded him that cut both ways.

There are days I despair these two are the best we could come up with. November 4th will certainly be one of them. If Obama wins, and it's looking like it, the GOP better get its ducks in a row for 2012. We'll have three years to find a good candidate, and right now, I hope most of the current batch doesn't run.

I will not stand by...

“The major issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal and moral responsibility of Democratic Party leadership... for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us. They tell us they have done the most that humanly could be done. They say that the United States has had its day in the sun; that our nation has passed its zenith. They expect you to tell your children that the American people no longer have the will to cope with their problems; that the future will be one of sacrifice and few opportunities. My fellow citizens, I utterly reject that view. The American people, the most generous on earth, who created the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backwards ourselves. Those who believe we can have no business leading the nation. I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose. We have come together here because the American people deserve better from those to whom they entrust our nation’s highest offices, and we stand united in our resolve to do something about it.” Ronald Reagan

Don't you wish McCain would make this speech? I don't think President Reagan would mind.

I'm just sayin'...

Actually, he is -

Justice Peter Zarella (Connecticut Supreme Court), in the minority opinion, wrote, “The ancient definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman has its basis in biology, not bigotry.” He added that if that is to be changed, it should be “a decision for the legislature or the people of the state and not this court.”  (from PatriotPost.us)

Of course, we're not really capable of making those kinds of decisions on our own. Or any other decisions for that matter. That's why we need the government to tell us what to think and do. Vote Obama.

Bill Clinton gives formula for Dem success.

“The administration keeps plowing an Uzi’s worth of bullets into the McCain-Palin ticket every time they have something else go wrong... It’s good politics for us.” —Bill Clinton admitting that pain for Americans is good for Democrats

Vote Obama.

Yes, I've been converted.

Let's see. Congressional Democrats force banks to loan money to people that can't afford their homes. Democrats increase scope of loaning to those who can't afford it, and set up Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac to bail out the banks if there's a problem. Banks jump into the program with joy and delight because government guarantees loans. People jump into the program with joy and delight, because the government said, by God, You deserve that house, when they can't really afford it.

Republicans see the fall coming and try to do something. Democrats ignore it numerous times, and accuse the GOP of being against poor people owning homes.

People who can't afford mortgages default. Property prices go down. Banks panic. Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac hold worthless paper. Banks fail. Stock market plunges. Federal government pats everyone on the head and says, "There, there. Uncle Sam will wipe away your tears, kiss the booboo, and make it all better."

Democrats say it's Republicans' fault that the government had to bail out big business. Bush should have "Done Something" to keep this from happening.

Makes perfect sense to me. Vote Obama.

“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.” —Milton Friedman

“Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others.” —Ayn Rand

“Government cannot make man richer, but it can make him poorer.” —Ludwig von Mises

“The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else.” —Frederic Bastiat

“How odd that all those boring lessons from our grandparents turn out to be true in the globalized, hip 21st century: Save your money. Don’t borrow what you can’t pay back. Look first at a man’s character, not his degrees. And if a promised return on an investment seems too good to be true, it probably is.” —Victor Davis Hanson

“Mr. Obama’s leadership during the [financial] crisis has consisted of standing out of the way and mouthing platitudes about the failings of the past eight years of Bush economics.” —Rich Lowry

 

For those who do not understand...

Our tax system has become so complicated, hardly anyone really understands it. Maybe this will help us get a handle on how it works.

Might want to send it to your congressman and senator. If you like teaching pigs to dance, send it to a Leftist.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100 , each man drinking $10 worth of beer.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20 declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, 'but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

Credit where credit is due...

“’You’ve got only a couple thousand bucks in the bank. Your job pays you dog-food wages. Your credit history has been bent, stapled, and mutilated. You declared bankruptcy in 1989. Don’t despair: You can still buy a house.’ So began an April 1995 article in the Chicago Sun-Times that went on to direct prospective home-buyers fitting this profile to a group of far-left ‘community organizers’ called ACORN, for assistance. In retrospect, of course, encouraging customers like this to buy homes seems little short of madness. At the time, however, that 1995 Chicago newspaper article represented something of a triumph for Barack Obama. That same year, as a director at Chicago’s Woods Fund, Obama was successfully pushing for a major expansion of assistance to ACORN, and sending still more money ACORN’s way from his post as board chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Through both funding and personal-leadership training, Obama supported ACORN. And ACORN, far more than we’ve recognized up to now, had a major role in precipitating the subprime crisis... In June of 1995, President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and Secretary Cisneros announced the administration’s comprehensive new strategy for raising home-ownership in America to an all-time high. Representatives from ACORN were guests of honor at the ceremony. In his remarks, Clinton emphasized that: ‘Our homeownership strategy will not cost the taxpayers one extra cent. It will not require legislation.’ Clinton meant that informal partnerships between Fannie and Freddie and groups like ACORN would make mortgages available to customers ‘who have historically been excluded from homeownership.’ In the end of course, Clinton’s plan cost taxpayers an almost unimaginable amount of money. And it was just around the time of his 1995 announcement that the Chicago papers started encouraging bad-credit customers with ‘dog-food’ wages, little money in the bank, and even histories of bankruptcy to apply for home loans with the help of ACORN...ACORN is at the base of the whole mess... And Barack Obama cut his teeth as an organizer and politician backing up ACORN’s economic madness every step of the way.” —Stanley Kurtz

Somehow I don't remember that being the drill when I bought my home. They kept bringing up things such as adequate income, down-payment, ability to pay, and much more.

...done privately would mean a jail sentence

“Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis warned, ‘The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.’ The freedom of individuals from compulsion or coercion never was, and is not now, the normal state of human affairs. The normal state for the ordinary person is tyranny, arbitrary control and abuse mainly by their own government. While imperfect in its execution, the founders of our nation sought to make an exception to this ugly part of mankind’s history. Unfortunately, at the urging of the American people, we are unwittingly in the process of returning to mankind’s normal state of affairs. Americans demand that Congress spend trillions of dollars on farm subsidies, business bailouts, education subsidies, Social Security, Medicare and prescription drugs and other elements of a welfare state. The problem is that Congress produces nothing. Whatever Congress wishes to give, it has to first take other people’s money. Thus, at the root of the welfare state is the immorality of intimidation, threats and coercion backed up with the threat of violence by the agents of the U.S. Congress. In order for Congress to do what some Americans deem as good, it must first do evil. It must do that which if done privately would mean a jail sentence; namely, take the property of one American to give to another... There is no question that if one were to ask whether we Americans are moving towards more liberty or more government control over our lives, the answer would unambiguously be the latter—more government control over our lives.” —Walter Williams

When seconds count...

This morning's timeline:

0650 - Niece goes downstairs to eat breakfast, forgets to turn off house alarm. Alarm sounds, sister-in-law turns off alarm. My wife is asleep and I'm in the shower.

0652 - Alarm company calls, sister-in-law answers the phone, but can't remember password. My wife is still asleep and I'm still in the shower.

0655 - Alarm company calls, I answer the phone. The attendant tells me the police have been dispatched. I didn't even hear the alarm go off and the wife is still asleep. Going to have to get a louder siren.

0723 - Twenty-eight minutes after the last call from the alarm company, there's a knock on door; the police have arrived. I explain it is a false alarm, and the officer was quite nice about it. Last time, they were not amused.

It took 28 minutes from the time I was told the police had already been dispatched for an officer to show up on my doorstep. Our house is less than three miles from the nearest police sub-station. There were no traffic accidents or incidents anywhere close to our house, according to the morning traffic report on the radio.

Now, I'm not complaining. Yes, I would have liked to have seen a better response time than 28 minutes, but I understand it is not the job of local, state, or federal law enforcement to protect me it the alarm goes off. As the timeline above shows, they know it's not their job, too.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not slamming the police. I think our police do a pretty good job. If they were sitting outside my home when the alarm went off, I'm sure they would have done the necessary. However, the police are not in the habit of sitting outside my house, and since it took them 28 minutes to get there

Yes, when seconds count, the police are only 28 minutes away from my house. So what does one do in the meantime? Cower in a corner while you wait for the cavalry to arrive, or get behind cover and stand ready to protect yourself and your family with tools suited to that purpose? (that means guns, if you missed it)

Rob Allen has a short video about being prepared over on Sharp as a Marble. Substitute armed burglar or home invader for civil war. You get the idea.

GBW

Traps to Avoid, Just Say No

http://www.redplanetcartoons.com/

Kentucky Gun Shows thru December 2008

Sep 13-14 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center West Hall A&B RK Shows (Kenny Woods Gun Show, LLC)

Sep 20-21 Lexington, Heritage Hall of Lexington Center Map RK Shows (Kenny Woods Gun Show, LLC)

Sep 27-28 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center 2100 tbls  National Gun Day

Oct 11-12 Cave City, Convention Center Sat 9-5, Sun 9-4 A:$5 S/T Promotions

Oct 25-26 Hindman, Knott County Sportsplex RK Shows

Nov 1-2 Somerset, The Center,Map, RK Shows (Kenny Woods Gun Show, LLC)

Nov 22-23 Cave City, Convention Center Sat 9-5, Sun 9-4 A:$5 S/T Promotions

Nov 28-30 Lexington, Heritage Hall of Lexington Center Map RK Shows (Kenny Woods Gun Show, LLC)

Dec 6-7 Ashland, El Hasa Temple Map RK Shows (Kenny Woods Gun Show, LLC)

Dec 13-14 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center 2100 tbls  National Gun Day

Dec 20-21 Somerset, (Kenny Woods Gun Show LLC) The Center Map (2292 S. Hwy 27) RK Shows

Dec 26-28 Louisville, Kentucky Fair & Expo Center West Hall A&B RK Shows

 

"what really matters..."

“When we hear about rent control or gun control, we may think about rent or guns but the word that really matters is ‘control.’ That is what the political left is all about, as you can see by the incessant creation of new restrictions in places where they are strongly entrenched in power, such as San Francisco or New York.” —Thomas Sowell

I'm just sayin'...

Change. Yeah.

"one who will preach doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." H.L. Mencken

Mencken's definition of a demagogue is as apt today as it was early last century. I expect the ecstasy seen in some political gatherings today would be difficult to tell from that seen in crowds gathered at the Well of the Comitia in ancient Rome, listening to someone running for office as Tribune of the Plebs and promising a general cancellation of debt to all.

Of course, the crowds of ancient Rome were also known to stone a erstwhile politicians for not keeping campaign promises.  Hmmmmm.

I'm holding out for puppies...

“You know why they call it birth control? Because it’s meant to stop a birth from happening nine months later. We know when life begins. Everyone who ever bought a pack of condom knows when life begins. To put it another way, with conception something begins. What do you think it is? A car? A 1948 Buick?” —Peggy Noonan

Must. Not. Choke. Co-worker.

While talking to a co-worker, the conversation turned politics. He volunteered the main reason he would never vote Republican in a presidential election was SCOTUS. When I pressed him, he said, "A McCain nominee would change the fundamental nature of the court." He went on to explain that the judges expected to leave the court generally lean (almost to the point of falling down) to the left.

So I asked him what he meant. He replied, "He would appoint conservatives, and that would unbalance the court."

So I asked him if an Obama nominee would maintain the "nature of the court" as he saw it. "Oh, yes," he said, "That would be just fine. We have to maintain balance."

I asked him why. He said it was "somewhere in the Constitution."

If ever Providence needed to be invoked...

Gun Owner. Voter. NOBAMA

If you're inclined, you can go over to the McCain store and buy this on stickers, t-shirts, and buttons.

A different look at "concealed carry"

Now that's using your, uh, well...

Well, you read about Cleavage Caddy for yourself, and buy it here if you're inclined.

Going "Green"? Nah.

As I was cutting the grass in my front yard recently, a neighbor walking by stopped to chat. First from his mouth was, "Going Green, huh?"

Prompted by my use of a Scott reel mower, he wasn’t seeing what he thought he was seeing. Even though I've been known to hug a tree or two (I'm particularly partial to Carpinus caroliniana Betulaceae and Fagus grandifolia), I wouldn't want my sister to marry one. Green is not a big deal to me.

I use the reel mower on my postage stamp front yard primarily to avoid the noise and dust cloud generated by my power mower. I still crank up the 5HP, self-propelled beast for the much larger back yard. There’s also a bit more exercise with a reel mower, and that doesn’t hurt. Well, not too much.

Unless you have environmental personality disorder, green is achieved by making it affordable and reasonable. Even AlGore, a classic case of EPD if ever there was one, hasn't moved into a yurt because it isn't reasonable. Of course, he thinks it's reasonable that we move into yurts, but that's between him and his shrink.

When seconds count...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again now. The police are there to draw the chalk outline and look for the perp. Protection is not part of their job.

from the AP and the Times Union.

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- A 911 dispatcher trying to find a Vermont woman being beaten to death was slowed by technical problems and a bureaucratic roadblock at Verizon Wireless, delaying emergency responders' ability to reach the victim, a county official in New York said Friday.

The dispatcher was placed on hold for two minutes and then got a busy signal when trying to fax a form that would allow Verizon to release the billing address of the victim's cellphone, said Bill Cook, Washington County public safety director.

It was 30 minutes between the time a screaming Francine Morgan placed the 911 call from her home in Wells that it was answered across the state line in New York and the Vermont State Police in Rutland could be sent to her home, where she was found dead.

Nothing 'till next Tuesday...

Going to funeral.

And that's not all...

“Whether we want to own up to it or not, the welfare state has done what Jim Crow, gross discrimination and poverty could not have done. It has contributed to the breakdown of the black family structure and has helped establish a set of values alien to traditional values of high moral standards, hard work and achievement.” —Walter Williams

As usual, Mr. Williams is correct. However, he doesn't mention that the "War on Poverty" did in many white families, too, particularly in Appalachia. My home county in southeastern Kentucky is still feeling the effects of generations of welfare recipients that sat at home drawing a check instead of moving to where there was work.

Anticipating a funeral

I've mentioned my paternal Grandmother a few times in the course of my blogging. She's my last living grandparent. She has been quite ill, and news from back home this morning was not good.

Her doctor and the hospice nurses have told the family there is nothing more they can do for her in hospital except try to make her comfortable, and they can do that at home. It may be hours, it may be days, but I don't expect it will be much longer than that. Renal failure, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, probably pneumonia soon, will surely make sure of it.

A friend read the following to me yesterday evening. When I spoke to my Mother this morning, the words came back to mind.

On the occasion of their daughter's death, General Robert E. Lee wrote to his grieving wife,

"...I cannot express the anguish I feel at the death of our sweet Annie. To know that I shall never see her again on earth, that her place in our circle, which I always hoped one day to enjoy, is forever vacant, is agonising in the extreme.  But God in this, as in all things, has mingled mercy with the blow, in selecting that one best prepared to leave us.  May you be able to join me in saying 'His will be done!'
...I know how much you will grieve and how much she will be mourned. I wish I could give you any comfort, but beyond our hope in the great mercy of God, and the belief that he takes her at the time and place when it is best for her to go, there is none.  May that same mercy be extended to us all, and may we be prepared for His summons." (from Recollections and Letters of General Lee)

The apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to

... sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

And I'll try to take that good advice myself, and share it with my family in the sad days which shall surely come.

Shipping firearms

Over at VFTP, Tam posts about her anticipation of a problem shipping an antique firearm. She was pleasantly surprised.

Coincidentally, I received a call today from a gentleman who is buying a couple of modern firearms from an out of state individual, and wanted to know if the guns could be shipped directly to me, or if they would have to be shipped thru an FFL holder on the other end.

The Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide (ATF P 5300.4) says:

B8) May a nonlicensee ship a firearm through the U. S. Postal Service?
A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of his or her own state or to a licensee in any state. Handguns are not mailable. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. A nonlicensee may not transfer any firearm to a nonlicensed resident of another state. The Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any kind which would indicate the nature of the contents be placed on the outside of any parcel containing firearms.

(B9) May a nonlicensee ship a firearm by carrier?
A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by carrier to a resident of his or her own state or to a licensee in any state. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. In addition, Federal law requires that the carrier be notified that the shipment contains a firearm and prohibits common or contract carriers from requiring or causing any label to be placed on any package indicating that it contains a firearm. [18 U. S. C. 922( a)( 2)( A) and 922( e), 27 CFR 178.31]

The buyer, the seller, and the transferring FFL holder are also required to abide by any applicable statutes or regulations of the respective states or localities. For example, because of the extra requirements of the California DOJ, I won't transfer a gun in or out of California, even to or from another FFL holder.

If I haven't said it lately, let me go on record now. I thank God I live in Kentucky. Firearms law isn't perfect here, but according to The Brady Campaign's 2007 ranking of 49th (tied with Oklahoma), we're getting close.

Yes!

The feds say federal institutions are in trouble for giving money to those already in debt. That’s the problem. They gave money to those already in debt. So, why are we paying taxes? Who’s more in debt than the government? What, are they $9 trillion in debt? We’re giving them more money? We’re enablers. We need to stop this.   - Jay Leno

"Irrational and ahistorical"

From The Washington Post.

What’s missing in our debate,’ Mr. Obama said [last week], ‘is a discussion of the strategic consequences of Iraq.’ Indeed: The message that the Democrat sends is that he is ultimately indifferent to the war’s outcome—that Iraq ‘distracts us from every threat we face’ and thus must be speedily evacuated regardless of the consequences. That’s an irrational and ahistorical way to view a country at the strategic center of the Middle East, with some of the world’s largest oil reserves. Whether or not the war was a mistake, Iraq’s future is a vital U.S. security interest. If he is elected president, Mr. Obama sooner or later will have to tailor his Iraq strategy to that reality.”

Irrational and ahistorical. Yup, sounds like most Liberals I know, though there are a few exceptions.

And this from The Washington Post? My, my...

Greetings, Staff Sergeant Cornell.

And in case I've never said it out loud, thank you for your service.

It was good to talk to you.

We're doomed...

"A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

-- James Madison (letter to W.T. Barry, 4 August 1822)

The more I talk to people, the worse I feel about November. And I wasn't a happy camper to begin with. Unless something changes, this may be the worst defeat for Republicans in the history of the party.

We have met the enemy, and can't tell him apart from most of our side. Though there are clear differences, too many are too willfully ignorant to make an informed decision, depending primarily on emotional responses to their immediate circumstances which pretty much delivers them into the Democrat camp at election time. God forbid any of them would fill up their gas tank before going to the polls.

We're doomed.

'splain this to me.

I've had a Sprint cell phone for 11 years.

I've lived in my current house for over 8 years.

I've used my cell phone as my main phone during that entire time, and have logged countless hours on my cell phone from my home.

But according to my current statement, I've racked up about $50 in roaming and long distance charges on calls I made from my living room on my cell phone.

I live smack in the middle of two Sprint tower coverage areas.

In over 8 years, I've never had a roaming minute from my home.

I am not happy.

"a duty to give serious thought..."

“While the media may treat the elections as being about Democrats and Republicans... elections were not set up by the Constitution of the United States in order to enable party politicians to get jobs. Nor were elections set up in order to enable voters to vent their emotions or indulge their fantasies. Voting is a right but it is also... a duty not just to show up on election day, but a duty to give serious thought to the alternatives on the table and what those alternatives mean for the future of the nation.” —Thomas Sowell

Blonde jokes...

Listening to a co-worker tell a joke, I suddenly remembered something that happened years ago.

I had been talking to a friend in Florida. He ended the conversation with a really great blonde joke. Had me crying.

After I hung up the phone, I immediately called my parent's house to tell the joke to my youngest sister A., a blonde. My other sister, D., also a blonde, answered the phone and told me A. was over at a friend's house.

Well, it was one of those jokes that you just had to tell someone right away (of course I can't remember it at all now), so I started telling the joke to D. It was a bit long, but worth every second. I delivered the punch line, and I remember waiting expectantly for the huge laugh I knew was coming. And I waited. And I waited.

Then several seconds later, D. said, "Yeah, and?" Yup, right over her head.

I lost it. I gasped out, "I'll talk to you later!" Then I fell out of the chair onto the floor laughing. Yes, literally ROFL.

My wife walked into the living room and wanted to know what was so funny, but every time I tried to tell her, I lost it again. I think it was the next day before I could tell her the blonde didn't get the blonde joke.

Now, maybe you had to be there, but that, "Yeah, and?" was one of the funniest things I ever heard.

From the original "Democrat"

Or so say his supposed spiritual heirs...

“Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread.” Thomas Jefferson

Apparently the current Party management didn't get that memo.

I am constantly amazed at the many Democrats I meet who are moral, independent, industrious, entrepreneurial, and self-sufficient. No, not amazed at their admirable qualities, but at their allegiance to a Party which has long abandoned the nurture of those qualities to preying upon those who still hold them.

Not that the "Party of Jefferson" doesn't appreciate those folks. There wouldn't be any income to confiscate and redistribute without them.

The next time someone says "network migration"...

I will be running away, screaming.

a couple of items of interest...

Michigan permit holder thwarts bank robbery.

Utah Police hassle some who open carry in West Valley City.

Associated Press: Standards coming for using quotes in blogs

Saul Hansell in the New York Times reports Associated Press will

"attempt to define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites can excerpt without infringing on The A.P.’s copyright."

and

On Friday, The A.P. issued a statement defending its action, saying it was going to challenge blog postings containing excerpts of A.P. articles “when we feel the use is more reproduction than reference, or when others are encouraged to cut and paste.” An A.P. spokesman declined Friday to further explain the association’s position.

Looks like the AP Police will be monitoring blogs. This should be interesting.

Liz sees the light

On Simply Stating the Obvious, Liz posts about castle doctrine in Ohio, and "blood in the streets".

When Ohioans were first allowed to carry concealed weapons, I thought “Oh, goody! Now watch people shooting each other down on the street.” But that didn’t happen. In fact, according to the Toledo Blade in 2004 (when the law was passed) the violent crime rate increased only slightly, then began a steady decline in 2005 and 2006. And I’ve yet to see an Old West type shoot-out in my area (where gangs are few and hunters are many).

I am actually coming around to the thought that maybe violent crime is more deterred by what the potential may be carrying than any kind of punishment the offenders might face. A mugger now has no idea if that woman walking alone is carrying a big gun and will, most likely (barring desperation for a hit of their favorite drug), think twice before approaching her. However, there is a slight rise in home invasions.

Would that all approached this with such an open mind...

I've always wondered...

Just what kind of "Reverend" Jesse Jackson is. This statement from his son tells me all I need to know.

“I cried all night. I’m going to be crying for the next four years. What Barack Obama has accomplished is the single most extraordinary event that has occurred in the 232 years of the nation’s political history... The event itself is so extraordinary that another chapter could be added to the Bible to chronicle its significance.” Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Welfare Healthcare...

Guy calls into Hugh Hewitt's radio show this evening and says why don't we call it Welfare Healthcare instead of Universal Healthcare.

I like that. Spread the word.

Obama was selected, not elected.

Actually, the first sentence says it all.

Words mean nothing to liberals. They say whatever will help advance their cause at the moment, switch talking points in a heartbeat, and then act indignant if anyone uses the exact same argument they were using five minutes ago.

When Gore won the popular vote in the 2000 election by half a percentage point, but lost the Electoral College -- or, for short, “the constitutionally prescribed method for choosing presidents” -- anyone who denied the sacred importance of the popular vote was either an idiot or a dangerous partisan.

But now Hillary has won the popular vote in a Democratic primary, while Obambi has won under the rules. In a spectacular turnabout, media commentators are heaping sarcasm on our plucky Hillary for imagining the “popular vote” has any relevance whatsoever.

It's the exact same situation as in 2000, with Hillary in the position of Gore and Obama in the position of Bush. The only difference is: Hillary has a much stronger argument than Gore ever did (and Hillary's more of a man than Gore ever was).

read it all here...

Yeehawwwww...

From the PatriotPost.us

This week’s ‘Braying Jackass’ award

“It’s all politics. It’s all about the bias of the media for Obama... I’m telling ya, all it’s doing is driving her supporters further and further away—because they know exactly what it is—this has been the most rigged coverage in modern history.” —Bill Clinton

It must be so. If anyone in this United States know anything about rigged, it would be Bill Clinton.

I have had the opportunity to speak with several Hillary supporters this week, and to the man and woman, they all swear they would cut off their hands before they would vote for Obama. If the Obama/Clinton "Dream Ticket" doesn't materialize, it looks as though huge numbers of Dems won't be casting an Obama vote in November. I wonder if the Clintonista's might run their own Operation Chaos?

He's a good boy, he is!

(in the Courier-Journal)

This past Tuesday two young men (both 19, the Courier-Journal keeps calling them teens, which while technically correct belies the fact they are legal adults), one with a weapon, were shot by a homeowner after breaking into the man's home around 5pm. One died at the scene, and the other died several hours later.

There was a struggle. The homeowner was injured. No charges have been filed, but the case will be reviewed by the Commonwealth's Attorney.

Earl Springer, the man who died at the scene of the crime, had a record. Desmond Deshawn Turner apparently did not.

Jefferson County court records show that Springer was arrested May 23 on charges of trafficking in a controlled substance and tampering with physical evidence. He had been released on his own recognizance and had a court hearing set for June 16.

In May 2007, Springer was convicted of carrying a concealed deadly weapon and sentenced to 60 days in jail, which was conditionally discharged.

No records were found for Turner.

Turner's family members spent yesterday seeking answers about the incident, said Calvin Roach, Turner's uncle.

"It's just so far from his character," Roach said. "It's very disturbing, and we just want the true story. We just have a lot of questions."

When one is looking for the “true story”, the facts are a good place to start. Let’s list a few.

• Mr. Springer had a criminal record. Mr. Turner was in his company. One of them was armed.
• Mr. Springer and Mr. Turner were in a man’s home, and apparently, since the police are calling it a break-in, they were not invited.
• There was a struggle in which the homeowner was injured and Mr. Springer and Mr. Turner were shot.
• The homeowner has not been charged.

A reasonable person could come to some fairly solid conclusions from these facts.

The protestations of good character and intentions from the families of those slain while committing a crime are so familiar as to be past clichéd. This may have been Mr. Turner’s first involvement in crime, but the odds are against it.

“My child/grandchild/nephew, etc. could NEVER do that,” is something I heard often when I served as an EMT on a rural rescue squad. Even when a victim’s blood was spattered head to toe on a “suspect”, a parent had to be restrained from fighting a Kentucky State Trooper while yelling, “He’s a good boy! He didn’t do it!”

One thing is certain. Young men and women who have never had to stand responsible for their actions while a child are morally handicapped and poorly prepared for the real world, which occasionally insists upon it.

National Open Carry Day - Friday, July 4, 2008

Back in January in a post about a WalMart manager suddenly afflicted with PSH when he saw a gentleman shopper carrying a Glock, I concluded, "Are we too frightened of "scaring Whitey" to open carry? We have National Ammo Day, and National Buy-a-Gun Day. Do we need a National Open Carry Day or two to help some of these jerks to get over their hoplophobia?"

I can't recall ever making another reference to it, but GBW is the third listing in the Google search for the phrase after PatriotPages.net and Snowflakes in Hell. Go figure.

According to PatriotPages, Friday, July 4th is National Open Carry Day, and the weekend of July 4-6 is National Open Carry Weekend.

There's been a lot of discussion on blogs and boards lately about the efficacy of concealed carry v. open carry. I usually come down on the side of those who say that open carry is a tactical mistake, however, if someone chooses to do so, they should be able to open carry any place they have a right to be. And we certainly should refrain from it just to keep someone's panties from scrunching into a wad.

We are told we frighten people, and so shouldn't let our guns be seen. We are told we are a menacing presence that makes others uncomfortable, including police who should know better. Most folks who regularly read gun blogs will remember ColtCCO's experience with a Knoxville, Tennessee police officer outside a WalMart in the fall of 2007 which resulted in an official apology, reprimands and additional training about carry laws for the entire department.

Perhaps several million responsible, law abiding adults exercising their right to keep and bear arms openly on the day our nation celebrates shaking the tyrant's boot off our neck would have a salutary effect upon the ignorance and immaturity of the general public. Millions might be wishful thinking, but hundreds of thousands is certainly not out of the question.

Even if the public isn't educated, I'm sure a number of police officers would be forced to confront their ignorance. Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against cops per se, only ignorant ones. If you sign up to enforce the law, you should know it.

In Kentucky, the Commonwealth's Constitution disallows most restrictions on bearing arms, indeed includes positive affirmation of "the right to bear arms in defense of themselves..", speaking of the People. In fact, open carry was intended to be the norm in Kentucky, as the the Constitution specifically allows the the General Assembly to prohibit concealed carry of deadly weapons. Apparently in 1891, they didn't give much thought to the tactical advantages of concealed carry.

I wouldn't expect to have much trouble with open carry in most of Kentucky, except perhaps the People's Democratic Republics of Louisville Metro (PDRLM) and Lexington/Fayette County and perhaps in parts of Northern Kentucky. But one can find benighted souls anywhere, and everyone has heard tales of small town cops run amok.

I expect to be in small town America on the Fourth of July and intend to open carry. If I get stuck in PDRLM, I will attend at least two very public outdoor gatherings, and I intend to open carry. Wherever I am, I hope I'm not alone in observing National Open Carry Day.

I think I'll use this occasion as an excuse to buy a new holster for my Glock Model 20. I'm leaning toward the Blackhawk CQC Holster with SARS. It comes with both belt loop and paddle setups. That ought to take care of any retention concerns. I'll let you know what I think of it.

Patriot Post on the Second Amendment and Obama

Not that Hillary's any better.

Mark Alexander of PatriotPost gives us an essay on the Second Amendment with some quotes and other info from Senator Obama.

And make no mistake, the newly-emboldened Left, with Barack Hussein Obama leading the charge, is gunning for those rights. Obama supports the D.C. regulations because he, “...wanted to make sure that local communities were recognized as having a right to regulate firearms... The notion that somehow local jurisdictions can’t initiate gun laws isn’t born out by our Constitution.”

Does he suggest, by extension then, that our national Constitution can be amended by judicial dictates and local ordinances?

Of course, in addition to serving on the Woods Fund board with Weather Underground terrorists William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, Obama also served on the board of the Joyce Foundation, which since 2000, has given more than $15 Million to radical gun control organizations and is closely linked to the Soros Open Society Institute, which advocates a worldwide ban on civilian firearm ownership...

Of course, suggesting that violence is a “gun problem” ignores the real problem—that of socio-pathology and the Leftists who nurture it. (See the Congressional Testimony of Darrell Scott, father of Rachel Scott, one of the children murdered at Columbine High School in 1999.)

Jump over and read it.

Framing the argument. "Language Counts in the Debate on Guns"

Def Mech on making the right words count.

“Saturday Night Specials,” “Cop Killer Bullets,” “Assault Weapons,”"Junk Guns,” Bullet Hoses,”"Sniper Rifles:” we hear these pejorative terms applied all the time to guns and ammunition. Those of us in The Community of People Who Legally Possess Firearms must be more careful in not allowing anti-gun fanatics, latte liberals, and hard-core socialists to dictate the terms of the debate regarding our natural rights to self-defense against crime and tyranny that are recognised by the Second Amendment.

and

“Gun Rights” is often used as a catch phrase, but we are not really talking about the rights of a tool. Nobody would advocate for ”Shovel Rights,” or “Saw Rights.

Doing the math on buying gasoline...

A friend sent me an email with a link to a site that tells you the price of gas in your area when you enter your zip code. I'm sure it can be quite useful, but I was figuring this out the other day and came up with this.

Say you have a 12 gallon gas tank on your car.

12 x $4.00 = $48.00/tank

12 x $3.95 = $47.40/tank

You save $ 0.60/tank

Say you get 20mpg. It costs you $ 0.20 for every mile you drive.

If you drive 5 miles out of your way to save five cents a gallon, it costs you $ 1.00 to drive that 5 miles. You would lose $ 0.40 on that tank of gas, not to mention the extra time it takes to drive there and back. If you drive 10 miles to save that nickel/gallon, it would cost you $2.00 just to make the trip, and you would lose $1.40 on that tank of gas.

I know a man that routinely drives 10 miles out of his way to save 2-5 cents per gallon, and he loses money every time he fills up his tank. He just doesn’t believe the math.

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Sigh. Too true.

“Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. Duncan complains that conservative, pro-life, pro-gun Democrats won three special elections by stealing GOP issues... Democrats didn’t steal your issues, sir. You abandoned them. Your party discarded them. Democrats simply engaged in dumpster harvesting.” —Cal Thomas

Our tax dollars at work

From FoxNews. In my nearly 40 years of political awareness, I have never seen a good reason for the United States to send our tax dollars to this organization. This is certainly another good reason to pull out of the U.N.

The multibillion-dollar procurement business of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the U.N.’s flagship anti-poverty agency, is a gigantic shambles, according to UNDP’s own investigators.

Moreover, UNDP’s management has privately acknowledged that fact and is scrambling to fix the mess — even as it loudly denied concerns of a procurement scandal that have been raised by FOX News, among others.

In a confidential report obtained by FOX News, UNDP’s auditors have described the UNDP procurement organization that is spending well over $2 billion annually as:

— overwhelmed by its caseload at headquarters and in the field, while procurement ballooned from $800 million in 2003 to $2.5 billion in 2006 and $2.2 billion last year;

— often failing to provide plans to support its buying activities, which the report says causes many purchases of goods and services to be carried out on an "ad hoc basis" (in fact, more than $595 million worth of non-existent purchases were recorded, although the audit notes that they were not paid for);

— wallowing in shoddy paperwork and faulty bidding processes, which contributed to a "high number of waivers of the competitive process and to quality problems in the procurement process in general";

Click here to see the draft audit.

I hope they sell a million of them.

Get it here.

Panem et circenses, redux

Last month I had a brief post about bread and circuses. I wish the cartoon had been available then.

more from RedPlanetCartoons.com here.