"A bladder cancer survivor from Michigan who wears a bag that collects his urine said a security agent at a Detroit airport patted him down so roughly, it caused the bag to spill its contents on his clothing.
Monday, November 22, 2010
TSA pat-down leaves Michigan man covered in urine
TSA pat-down leaves Michigan man covered in urine:
Friday, November 19, 2010
Too Big to Fail?
Back when we had the beginning of our current financial crisis, there were people talking about how some businesses were "too big to fail." We found out how untrue that was. In fact, it seemed that their size predetermined failure: they were like juggernauts, like the Titanic - so large they weren't nimble enough to change quickly to market events. So the government stepped in and rescued them.
But now, we have a government that is so large that it, like the "too big to fail" financial institutions, cannot support itself. Nor can it be responsive to just about anything with the kind of quickness that would make a response relevant.
It's obvious that some things will crush themselves under their own weight. We saw it in the financial sector, the housing sector, and now the government sector. We must slim down the government before it collapses, because these days, the rescuers are Chinese.
How do we do it? Start by eliminating and consolidating departments. Businesses know well that reorganizations are in order every few years to ensure efficiency. The problem with government is that people rise to positions of authority who don't have a clue about any of this; They're happy to let staff sit around because they can brag about the size of their "empire." They ought to brag about its efficiency. But complacency rules the day in government, because pay and professional survival are tied more to work politics than to performance.
Education, for example, is known to be best handled at a state level. So why do we even have a Federal Department of Education? The Department of Energy was created as a response to the oil crisis of the early 1970s. They now deal with atomic energy. But we haven't had a new nuclear energy plant built in this country in nearly as long - over a generation. So what's their excuse for being? And that's just to start. It's common knowledge that current White House staff levels are in the hundreds of employees. But during the most crucial crisis of the last few generations - World War Two - how many staff do you think FDR had? About 45.
We've got to cut back government and start living up to our country's promise - namely, opportunity. Let the free market do the things at which the government now fails over and over and over. But they're complacent. Don't rock the boat. Raise taxes.
At some point, everyone has to pull their heads out of wherever it is, stand up and do the things that are good for the future of the country. America is just too special to be allowed to run down, or worse, be taken over by a foreign economic power because of our lust to spend money for nothing.
But wouldn't it be a crushing irony, that our insatiety for cheap things built the very economic power that would eventually overtake us. The communists always said enemies are best conquered from within.
But now, we have a government that is so large that it, like the "too big to fail" financial institutions, cannot support itself. Nor can it be responsive to just about anything with the kind of quickness that would make a response relevant.
It's obvious that some things will crush themselves under their own weight. We saw it in the financial sector, the housing sector, and now the government sector. We must slim down the government before it collapses, because these days, the rescuers are Chinese.
How do we do it? Start by eliminating and consolidating departments. Businesses know well that reorganizations are in order every few years to ensure efficiency. The problem with government is that people rise to positions of authority who don't have a clue about any of this; They're happy to let staff sit around because they can brag about the size of their "empire." They ought to brag about its efficiency. But complacency rules the day in government, because pay and professional survival are tied more to work politics than to performance.
Education, for example, is known to be best handled at a state level. So why do we even have a Federal Department of Education? The Department of Energy was created as a response to the oil crisis of the early 1970s. They now deal with atomic energy. But we haven't had a new nuclear energy plant built in this country in nearly as long - over a generation. So what's their excuse for being? And that's just to start. It's common knowledge that current White House staff levels are in the hundreds of employees. But during the most crucial crisis of the last few generations - World War Two - how many staff do you think FDR had? About 45.
We've got to cut back government and start living up to our country's promise - namely, opportunity. Let the free market do the things at which the government now fails over and over and over. But they're complacent. Don't rock the boat. Raise taxes.
At some point, everyone has to pull their heads out of wherever it is, stand up and do the things that are good for the future of the country. America is just too special to be allowed to run down, or worse, be taken over by a foreign economic power because of our lust to spend money for nothing.
But wouldn't it be a crushing irony, that our insatiety for cheap things built the very economic power that would eventually overtake us. The communists always said enemies are best conquered from within.
US Military in Mexico? Not such an Outside Idea.
A hundred years ago, Pancho Villa started raiding towns on the US-Mexican border. It caused so much havoc that the US sent an expeditionary force of several thousand men under General "Blackjack" Pershing to put an end to it. They never did catch Villa, but it put a cramp in his style.
Back then, Villa was more of a local annoyance than what we have today - a nationwide threat in the onslaught of traffic in drugs, illegals and crime - which affects every American throughout the country. Even worse, Mexico as a sovereign nation is on the precipice of collapse. And it's never good for a country to have an unstable neighbor right next door. What emerges from the power vacuum can never be predicted.
There are many things we should do. First and foremost, stop the drug cartels. Next (or even simultaneously), enact policies that make it profitable for American companies to put their manufacturing in Mexico rather than China. This will give the Mexicans a reason to a) not get involved in the drug trade, and 2) not come to the US illegally looking for work. It's one thing to go to kill the drug cartels, but it'll never stay dead unless the regular Mexican folks have an honest option to make a living.
But to be sure, the stabilization of Mexico and her sovereignty is good security policy for the US.
Now let's see what the White House does. Right.
Perry Suggests U.S. Should Consider Sending Military to Mexico - FoxNews.com: "
Back then, Villa was more of a local annoyance than what we have today - a nationwide threat in the onslaught of traffic in drugs, illegals and crime - which affects every American throughout the country. Even worse, Mexico as a sovereign nation is on the precipice of collapse. And it's never good for a country to have an unstable neighbor right next door. What emerges from the power vacuum can never be predicted.
There are many things we should do. First and foremost, stop the drug cartels. Next (or even simultaneously), enact policies that make it profitable for American companies to put their manufacturing in Mexico rather than China. This will give the Mexicans a reason to a) not get involved in the drug trade, and 2) not come to the US illegally looking for work. It's one thing to go to kill the drug cartels, but it'll never stay dead unless the regular Mexican folks have an honest option to make a living.
But to be sure, the stabilization of Mexico and her sovereignty is good security policy for the US.
Now let's see what the White House does. Right.
Perry Suggests U.S. Should Consider Sending Military to Mexico - FoxNews.com: "
Democrat Math
"'My friend [Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky] has offered some legislation to extend all them all [tax cuts], costing $4 trillion,' the Nevada Democrat said.I love it. It "costs" $4 Trillion. Well, Harry, I think it actually means you have $4 Trillion less of Americans' money to throw away.
Democrats Still Struggle on Extending the Bush Tax Cuts - FoxNews.com:
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Inverted Body Scanner Image Shows Naked Body In Full Living Color
Of course, if they all looked like the pic on the right, I'd have no trouble with it.
Why Profile for Air Travel
Finding a terrorist is like looking for a needle in a haystack. So why not figure out a way to make the haystack smaller? Profiling will do just that, by dramatically reducing the number of people who get scrutiny.
Intensive searching of all American citizens as they try to use air travel is not only a violation of due process rights, but as an effective matter, it baloons the size of the population that will be searched - 99%-plus unnecessaily.
The government runs it. With their track record, does anyone think it's smart?
Intensive searching of all American citizens as they try to use air travel is not only a violation of due process rights, but as an effective matter, it baloons the size of the population that will be searched - 99%-plus unnecessaily.
The government runs it. With their track record, does anyone think it's smart?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
An Ellis Island for Terrorist Control
How many more freedoms will the Obama Administration take away from everyday Americans before we realize we're not free and also not safe? The pat-downs do nothing but violate the US Constitution because they violate the reasonable search and seizure clause; there is no just cause to search everyone without a credible threat. But that aside, it's also ineffective.
Why is this ineffective? Because the threat is not from passengers who are American citizens and originating their flights from the US. The documented threats have come from foreigners outside the US who hate Americans. Richard Reid and the diaper-bomber were that. So how often does it have to happen before American officials get it through their thick heads they're looking in the wrong place? Americans with white skin and outside the ages of 18-45 are just not doing this stuff.
Ah, political correctness, I forgot. Everyone has to be treated equally as they sing Kumbaya and drink bottled water from mountain springs.
The dreaded P-word must be brought to bear: Profiling must be used, because it's the most powerful weapon in our arsenal. It's also the smartest. It's also the least intrusive to the greatest number of people. (Hmmm, might have a Marxist idea going there, but I digress...). Simply out, we know who these people are. Let's look for them.
There's no question that more than a few people will be insulted when they are profiled. However, that's just how the dice roll; they are unlucky enough to be born of the same race as those who would harm us. But if they are people of good will, they will understand. And, this policy works under the 4th Amendment, because these individuals are of the ethnic makeup of ALL of those who did prior bombings.
That we don't so this is just so damned stupid.
As a side thought, maybe it's why we haven't found Osama Bin Laden; I guess the administration, in it's zeal to not make anyone feel bad, is looking for an 80-year-old white man with bad teeth and speaks cajun rather than a 6-foot-5-inch tall Muslim terrorist of Saudi descent with dark skin. Yeah, that makes sense.
OK, even if you won't profile, at least make some attempt to stop foreigners from bombing incoming international planes. Here's an idea: 100 years ago we had ports of entry like Ellis Island and Locust Point to control the incoming flow of people. Frankly, it was to control the spread of disease and protect Americans from epidemics. In its day, Ellis Island was the foremost public health hospital of its kind in the world. Today, Americans need the same kind of protections, except in this era, from the disease of terrorist air passengers.
Let's build a big airport in Maine, where all international European flights must land and be searched. The people don't even have to get off the plane - send a bomb-sniffing dog down the aisles and through the cargo bay. If the bomber sets off the bomb during this search, well, at least it didn't happen over a densely populated area. I feel bad for the dog, though.
The plan has to be something like this because the threats are clearly aimed at the US from outside. We can't do the searches outside of the US because it's not our sovereign territory. So perform this non-invasive, yet thorough search on our own soil.
It's such a simple idea, no wonder the politicos and bureaucrats can't get their intellectually-paralyzed brains around it.
TSA Boss: New Pat-Downs Are More Invasive - FoxNews.com:
Why is this ineffective? Because the threat is not from passengers who are American citizens and originating their flights from the US. The documented threats have come from foreigners outside the US who hate Americans. Richard Reid and the diaper-bomber were that. So how often does it have to happen before American officials get it through their thick heads they're looking in the wrong place? Americans with white skin and outside the ages of 18-45 are just not doing this stuff.
Ah, political correctness, I forgot. Everyone has to be treated equally as they sing Kumbaya and drink bottled water from mountain springs.
The dreaded P-word must be brought to bear: Profiling must be used, because it's the most powerful weapon in our arsenal. It's also the smartest. It's also the least intrusive to the greatest number of people. (Hmmm, might have a Marxist idea going there, but I digress...). Simply out, we know who these people are. Let's look for them.
There's no question that more than a few people will be insulted when they are profiled. However, that's just how the dice roll; they are unlucky enough to be born of the same race as those who would harm us. But if they are people of good will, they will understand. And, this policy works under the 4th Amendment, because these individuals are of the ethnic makeup of ALL of those who did prior bombings.
That we don't so this is just so damned stupid.
As a side thought, maybe it's why we haven't found Osama Bin Laden; I guess the administration, in it's zeal to not make anyone feel bad, is looking for an 80-year-old white man with bad teeth and speaks cajun rather than a 6-foot-5-inch tall Muslim terrorist of Saudi descent with dark skin. Yeah, that makes sense.
OK, even if you won't profile, at least make some attempt to stop foreigners from bombing incoming international planes. Here's an idea: 100 years ago we had ports of entry like Ellis Island and Locust Point to control the incoming flow of people. Frankly, it was to control the spread of disease and protect Americans from epidemics. In its day, Ellis Island was the foremost public health hospital of its kind in the world. Today, Americans need the same kind of protections, except in this era, from the disease of terrorist air passengers.
Let's build a big airport in Maine, where all international European flights must land and be searched. The people don't even have to get off the plane - send a bomb-sniffing dog down the aisles and through the cargo bay. If the bomber sets off the bomb during this search, well, at least it didn't happen over a densely populated area. I feel bad for the dog, though.
The plan has to be something like this because the threats are clearly aimed at the US from outside. We can't do the searches outside of the US because it's not our sovereign territory. So perform this non-invasive, yet thorough search on our own soil.
It's such a simple idea, no wonder the politicos and bureaucrats can't get their intellectually-paralyzed brains around it.
TSA Boss: New Pat-Downs Are More Invasive - FoxNews.com:
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Gov't Fails Latest Test of Trust in Gulf
Who does this surprise?
FOXNews.com - AP: Gov't Fails Latest Test of Trust in Gulf: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
FOXNews.com - AP: Gov't Fails Latest Test of Trust in Gulf: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
The cleanup is on us
One can talk about special interest this and special interest that, but in the end, it is the government who holds all the power. It is government who makes the laws and decides on policy. Special interest doesn't. Special interest throws around a lot of money in the hopes of influencing those laws and policies, but in the end, it's the government who accedes to the money and the will of the special interest and gives them what they want. This is called corruption.
Our government is corrupt. If they needed to apply different policies and didn't because they were bought off, that's corruption. Doesn't matter who was bought, doesn't matter what administration did it, doesn't matter what party did it. What matters is that it needs to change.
The gulf right now is a mess because of this corruption. BP had a terrible accident, but the cleanup should have been initiated by the government in office at the time of the disaster because it's their frigging JOB. No matter how many fingers get pointed at past administrations, it is now on Obama's shoulders and his response is miserable. He's had 2 months to initiate cleanup, and has done virtually nothing. Except point fingers and say he's going to find out who's "ass to kick." Might I suggest he kick his own?
But ultimately, it's now up to the voters to clean up not just the gulf, but to clean house in Washington and get some decent people in there who care about more than just their party and themselves.
Our government is corrupt. If they needed to apply different policies and didn't because they were bought off, that's corruption. Doesn't matter who was bought, doesn't matter what administration did it, doesn't matter what party did it. What matters is that it needs to change.
The gulf right now is a mess because of this corruption. BP had a terrible accident, but the cleanup should have been initiated by the government in office at the time of the disaster because it's their frigging JOB. No matter how many fingers get pointed at past administrations, it is now on Obama's shoulders and his response is miserable. He's had 2 months to initiate cleanup, and has done virtually nothing. Except point fingers and say he's going to find out who's "ass to kick." Might I suggest he kick his own?
But ultimately, it's now up to the voters to clean up not just the gulf, but to clean house in Washington and get some decent people in there who care about more than just their party and themselves.
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