Politics, Inane and Serious Ramblings, Philosophy, miscl. crap
politicsandramblings.htm

© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer

This page contains ramblings.   They may or may not reflect my own true beliefs.  My purpose is to get you riled up, to make you think, ponder, consider.  


America!.....Where EVERYone has a God-given right to excess...to have more than they need!
 


Advice I give to my young male friends, regarding dating (in increasing order of YOUR oncoming PROBLEMS:

1. You think about a certain gal all the time; you've been dating her, and haven't slept together... yet....but are about to try, tonight.
2. You think about a gal all the time; you've been dating her, and HAVE been sleeping together.
3. She rides; has her own bike, maintains it competently, and is a LOT of fun to ride with.
4. You have been getting SO MUCH of the MOST OUTRAGEOUS SEX, that you practically take her for granted.....and she just told you that 'we should talk...right after dinner'.
5. She says that you should meet her mother.
6. She says you should meet her father.
7. She says you should meet her parents.....and; off-handedly mentions that she 'missed her period'.
8 to 100. There isn't any #8 to 100....because you are in DEEP SHIT TROUBLE.

If you were looking for wife, or more-or-less-permanent companion, you are in double trouble.
Make that TRIPLE trouble.

In the worst situations, when you are NOT thinking, nor wanting, a wife or permanent companion; and things are getting, well, too serious for one's wanderlusting....the only thing to do is to get on a motorcycle and haul ass.
Usually a 1000 miler will clear the brain...especially since you are not returning!

For shorter therapy, a nice 100 miler through the boonies will often clear one's brain.
Go for a hard dirt ride. By yourself. Stop in a very remote area.
Look into your bike's mirror. Have a conversation with yourself.
Afterwards, return to where you are staying. IMMEDIATELY head for the nearest pub, and have 3 beers, with a shot of decent tequila with each beer.
AVOID seeing HER, as with that much booze in you, you are SURE to say the wrong thing.  Then, again, maybe it will get rid of her.


On the other hand, the RIGHT gal needs to be held onto, in every which way.

Don't ask me how to know if she is the RIGHT ONE.

 


 

 

Venison vs. Beef: The controversy ends



Controversy has long raged about the relative quality and taste of venison and beef .
Some people say venison is tough, with a strong "wild" taste.
Others insist venison's flavor is delicate.
Recently, an independent food research group conducted a taste test to determine the truth of these conflicting assertions once and for all.

First, a Grade A Choice Holstein steer was chased into a swamp a mile and a half from a road and shot several times.
After some of the entrails were removed, the carcass was dragged back over rocks and logs, and through mud and dust to the road.
It was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and driven through rain and snow for 100 miles before being hung out in the sun for a day.

It was then lugged into a garage where it was skinned and rolled around on the floor for a while.
Strict sanitary precautions were observed throughout the test, within the limitations of the butchering environment.
For instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff and lick the steer carcass, but most of the time were chased away when they attempted to bite chunks out of it.

Next, a sheet of plywood left from last year's butchering was set up in the basement on two saw horses.
The pieces of dried blood, hair and fat left from last year were scraped off with a wire brush last used to clean out the grass stuck under the lawn mower.

The skinned carcass was then dragged down the steps into the basement where a half dozen inexperienced but enthusiastic and intoxicated men worked on it with meat saws, cleavers, hammers and dull knives.

The result was 375 pounds of soup bones, four bushel baskets of meat scraps, and a couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge and an inch and a half thick on the other edge.

The steaks were seared on a glowing red hot cast iron skillet to lock in the flavor.
When the smoke cleared, rancid bacon grease was added, along with three pounds of onions, four bottles of cheap beer, and the whole conglomeration was cooked, covered, for two hours.

The meat was gently teased from the pan and served to three intoxicated and blindfolded taste panel volunteers.

Every member of the panel thought it was venison. One volunteer even said it tasted exactly like the venison he has eaten in hunting camps for the past 27 years.

The results of this scientific test conclusively show that there is no difference between the taste of beef and venison...

 


English....the language of insanity..?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and
get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship...
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and
in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?




Famous Predictions and Statements :

Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances." -- Dr. Lee DeForest, "Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television."

"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives." - - Admiral William Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom." -- Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." -- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers ." -- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." -- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

"But what .. is it good for?" -- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- Bill Gates, 1981

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us," -- Western Union internal memo, 1876.

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" -- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.  Sarnoff headed RCA.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible," -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper," -- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."

"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make," -- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out," -- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible," -- Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this," - - Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads.

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy," -- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." - - Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value," -- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, EcoleSuperieure de Guerre, France.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented," -- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.

"The super computer is technologically impossible. It would take all of the water that flows over Niagara Falls to cool the heat generated by the number of vacuum tubes required." -- Professor of Electrical Engineering, New York University

"I don't know what use any one could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldn't be a feasible business by itself." -- the head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to found Xerox.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon," -- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"A new Global Ice Age is nearly here"....too numerous 'scientists' to list....circa early seventies.

 (1) A Texan, a Frenchman and an Israeli are on a plane flying over the Pacific Ocean when the engines stop functioning. The plane crash lands on a Pacific Island and the 3 are immediately captured by a tribe of cannibals and taken to their village.

The Chief tells the 3 captives that these cannibals are civilized and they have a custom on their island that before they eat anyone, they grant that person his or her last wishes, no matter what they are.

He asks the Texan, "What is your last wish?" The Texan  replies, "I  want a 2 inch thick steak with all the trimmings, Cajun fries and a case O' Longnecks." The Chief motions to some of his tribesmen who immediately run into the jungle and come back with the steak, the fries and the beer. The Texan eats his meal and he is thrown in the pot.

The Frenchman is asked, "What is your last wish?" He replies, "I'd like a case of Dom Perignon and I'd also like a big plate of escargots cooked in the French manner." The Chief motions to his tribesmen who immediately rush off into the jungle and bring back everything the Frenchman asked for.  He eats and drinks his fill, and he is then thrown  in the pot.

The Chief turns to the Israeli and asks, "And what is your wish?"

The Israeli looks the Chief squarely in the eyes and replies, "I want you to kick me in the behind as hard as you can."  The Chief is bewildered and asks the Israeli again, only to receive the same reply, "I want you to kick me in the behind as hard as you can." The Chief shrugs his shoulders, asks the Israeli to turn around, and kicks him as hard as he can.  With that, the Israeli pulls out a gun and kills the Chief and all of the other cannibals.

The Texan and the Frenchman get out of the pot, look at the Israeli and say, "If you had that gun why didn't you do anything sooner?"

The Israeli replies: "What? And risk being condemned by the UN, EU, and the U. S. State Department for 'overreacting' to insufficient provocation?"


(2)

Some quotations:

If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the
newspaper you are misinformed.
   -Mark Twain

 Suppose you were an idiot.  And suppose you were a member of Congress....
But then I repeat myself.
   -Mark Twain

 I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man
standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
   -Winston Churchill

 A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the
support of Paul.
   - George Bernard Shaw 

 A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he
 proposes to pay off with your money.
   -G. Gordon Liddy

 Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting
 on what to have for dinner.
   -James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

 Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in
 rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
   -Douglas Casey,
 
 Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car
keys to teenage boys.
 -P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

 Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live
at the expense of everybody else
 -Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

 Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: 
If it moves, tax it.  If it keeps moving, regulate it.  And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
  -Ronald Reagan (1986)

 I don't make jokes... I just watch the government and report the facts.
  -Will Rogers

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs
when it's free!   - P.J. O'Rourke

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as
possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other -Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics
won't take an interest in you. -Pericles (430 B.C.)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.  -Mark Twain (1866 )

Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it.  -Larry Nevels (2008)

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal:  a happy appetite at
one end and no responsibility at the other -Ronald Reagan

The inherent voice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. 
The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -Winston Churchill

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the
taxidermist leaves the skin. - Mark Twain

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to
fill the world with fools. - Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

There is no distinctly Native American criminal class....save Congress -Mark Twain

What this country needs are more unemployed politicians -Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have
-Thomas Jefferson

 


MORE 'stuff':

 Don't let yourself be victimized by the age you live in.  It's not the times that will bring us down any more than it is Society.  When you put the blame on Society, then you end up turning to Society for the solution.  There is a GREAT tendency today, especially in the United States, to absolve individuals of moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance.  You buy that, you pay with your soul.  IT IS NOT MEN WHO LIMIT WOMEN, IT IS NOT STRAIGHTS WHO LIMIT GAYS, IT IS NOT WHITES WHO LIMIT BLACKS.  WHAT LIMITS PEOPLE IS LACK OF CHARACTER...THEY DON'T HAVE THE FUCKING NERVE OR IMAGINATION TO STAR IN THEIR OWN MOVIE.....LET ALONE DIRECT IT.

"It is MY RIGHT to be UNCOMMON....if I can, and if I dare.  I seek opportunity....not security.  I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.  I want to take the calculated risk; to dream, to build, to fail, and to succeed.  I refuse to barter incentive for a dole.  I prefer the challenge of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the state calm of utopia.  Let me sing, dance, laugh, play, in my own way.  Let me paint, listen to music, sit in the sun, read a good book, or just look up and watch the stars.  Let me enjoy my quiet inner nature.  I WILL NOT trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout.  I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.  It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid:  to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say:  THIS I HAVE DONE.  All this...and more...is what it SHOULD MEAN to be an American."

The source of the above quotation has been ascribed to several folks.  I don't know for sure who wrote it, but I edited it, and that is my edited version above.

(3) A wee science fiction story I once wrote, never published.  Click HERE.

(4) How do you get a turtle out of its shell, so you can cook him?
....You take him to a psychiatrist.

(5) meum dictum pactum     Kind of old-fashioned, but are YOU this type of person??  why not?

(6) For collectors of trivia:
       For those of the 60's generation of dopers and protesters, etc......the name Alice B. Toklas....from which came 'taking a toke'....was a real person.   Alice B. Toklas and her 'companion'  (as they put it in those days)....was Gertrude Stein....they were QUITE the pair.  They lived in a French Village, and were often seen at the end of WWII, walking with their white poodle Babette, or their dog Basket...or their hound, named Polype.    They also had a cat named Hitler.

(7) Sometimes Friendship is like a bowl of wax fruit, it's beautiful until you put the bite on it.   
   
    Bureaucratic Utopia is when the government takes in more in taxes than the citizens earn.  

(8)
The MAHAYANAS, a Buddhist sect, tell the story of a man who often stood on a river bank near his home, looking across the river at the distant opposite shore.  It was often only dimly visible through a foggy mist, but could be seen as unspeakably beautiful.  The hills were lushly green, the trees were all in blossom.  Deer and other forest animals were browsing. Often this man had gazed at this sight, always thinking of how wonderful it might be to live there. 

On a particularly nice day, he found a raft tied at the river's edge.  he untied the raft and paddled towards that distant shore.  The Journey took awhile, as the currents in midstream were swift.  Because of fog and mist, from near the center of the river both shores were often lost from view, and at times he was not sure of the direction he was going.  With considerable effort he continued on, and eventually reached land. 

He stepped out upon the green covered earth with wondrous feelings.  He noticed the green hills, the blossoming trees, the sounds of birds, the browsing deer.

Then, he looked back, but could not see the opposite shore from whence he had departed, due to the fog and mist.  For a moment he was astonished, as there was NO RIVER to be seen, NOR was there any raft!!   ....then, he understood.

Most everyone reading that story will get the first impression that the moral is that one should remember that 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the street'.   Or, perhaps that 'you can't see the forest for the trees'.  Those FEW of you that TRULY understand, will smile differently. 

(9) I allowed my mind without restraint to think of whatever it pleased and my mouth to talk about whatever it pleased.  I forgot the "this and not-this" was mine or other's; whether the gain or loss was mine or other's.  I forgot who was my teacher and who was my friend.  I transformed in and out; and the eye became the ear, the ear like the nose, the nose as the mouth....and there was nothing that was not identified.  The mind was concentrated, the form dissolved, the bones and flesh all thawed away;  I did not know where my form was supported, where my feet treaded.  I just moved with the wind, like a leaf detached from the tree branch.  I was not conscious of whether I was riding the wind or the wind riding on me.
Lieh-tzu

(10) Obituary for the late Mr. Common Sense

We mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the  worm; Life isn't always fair; and Maybe it WAS my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn); reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. His health declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or a Band-Aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.   He'd already taken a beating when Judges ruled that you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and that the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; "I Know My Rights", "Someone Else Is To Blame", and "I'm A Victim", and a step-sister "I come first".

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

(11)   Islam, religious fanatics in general, etc.: 

A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can ...or at least SHOULD....guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

 "Very few people were true Nazis "he said," but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools.... So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.  Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.  It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority", the "silent majority", is cowed and irrelevant.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.  The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.   Rwanda collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of  points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.   Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like the man from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have  begun.   Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.  As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

(12)   Blatantly copied....about the controversy over illegal immigration (lightly edited by me and very minor comments inserted by me in red):
"The majority of newspapers in this country are Leftist, and won't print "politically incorrect" items or which don't agree with the philosophy they are pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great letter to the editor that should have been published, but with your help it will get published via cyberspace!


New Immigrants
From: "David LaBonte"

My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC
(Orange County) Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined.


Dave LaBonte (signed)

Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County
Register:

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr.Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good-bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.

Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of  prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight  over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It  would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte

 

(13)   The Soul of Wit:
       
Promulgating your esoteric cogitations or articulating your superficial sentimentalities and amicable, philosophical, or psychological observations, beware of platitudinous ponderosity!   Let your conversational commmunications demonstrate a
        clarified conciseness, a compact comprehensibleness, no coalescent conglomerations of preciose garrulity, jejune bafflement and asinine affectations.  Let your extemporaneous verbal evaporations and expatiations have lucidity, intelligibility
        and veracious vivacity without rodomontade or Thespian bombast.   Sedulously avoid all polysyllabic profundity, pompous propensity, psittaceous vacuity, ventriloquial verbosity and vaniloquent vapidity. 
        Shun double-entendre, obnoxious jocosity and pestiferous profanity, observable.....or apparent.

((in other words, say what you mean, and don't use big words))

(14)  

Thought you might like this; for sure it will drive Liberals crazy.  I HAVE bothered to look it up in Snopes, and elsewhere's and it appears legitimate. 
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Hall

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2009/02/robert.html

"I'm 63 and I'm Tired"
by Robert A. Hall
 

I'm 63.  Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.
 

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.
 

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes."  Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.
 

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America  offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States would have the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China , the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Christian people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of  Venezuela .
 

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.
 

I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois.
 

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.
 

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News?  Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.
 

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in  America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.
 

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a  three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.
 

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.
 

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next?  Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"?  And, no,  I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion.  I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... THOSE are the citizens we need.
 

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war?  You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave?  Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are?  Not even close.  So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.
 

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.
 

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.
 

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.
 

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.
 

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.
 

Robert  A. Hall is a Marine  Vietnam  veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.

 

 

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Political Science for Dummies

DEMOCRAT 
 


You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none. 
You feel guilty for being successful. 
You push for higher taxes so the government can provide cows for everyone. 

  

REPUBLICAN 
 


You have two cows. 
Your neighbor has none.
So? 
 
  

SOCIALIST 
 


You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. 
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow. 
 
  

COMMUNIST 
 


You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk. 
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour. 
 
  

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE 
 


You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows. 
 
  

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE 
 


You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pour the milk down the drain. 
 
  

AMERICAN CORPORATION 
 


You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. 
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. 
You are surprised when one cow drops dead. 
You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses. 
Your stock goes up. 
 
  

FRENCH CORPORATION 
 


You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows. 
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good. 
 
  

JAPANESE CORPORATION 
 


You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. 
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school. 
 
  

GERMAN CORPORATION 
 


You have two cows. 
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. 
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year. 
 
  

ITALIAN CORPORATION 
 


You have two cows but you don't know where they are. 
You break for lunch.
Life is good. 

  

RUSSIAN CORPORATION 
 


You have two cows.
You drink some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows. 
You drink some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. 
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have. 

  

TALIBAN CORPORATION 
 


You have all the cows in  Afghanistan  , which are two. 
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature'private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the  US  government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons. 
 
  

IRAQI CORPORATION 
 


You have two cows.
They go into hiding. 
They send radio tapes of their mooing. 

  


POLISH CORPORATION
 
 


You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them. 

  

BELGIAN CORPORATION 
 


You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish. 
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk. 
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy. 

  

FLORIDA CORPORATION 
 


You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one. 
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best looking cow. 

  

CALIFORNIA CORPORATION 
 


You have millions of cows. 
They make real California  cheese. 
Only five speak English.
Most are illegal.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.


 

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© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer

 

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