Connect The Dots

Government entities with totalitarian tendencies understand correctly that the control of content and access to information is vital to the suppression of individual liberty and societal freedom.  And that the suppression of liberty and freedom is what is required to maintain and expand power.

United Nations Conference Introduces Resolution to Control Internet

US State Dept. Isolates Benghazi Survivors

US Atty. General Secretly Authorizes the Federal Government to Collect and Store Information on Innocent Citizens

Three different articles on different topics, but all offend in the same way.

Urban Evacuation

This is a real problem. 

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In Which I Indulge in a Very Brief Lament

Oh, for crying out loud...PikeSpeak, has devolved into what is, essentially, just a food blog.  Where is the insightful commentary, the thoughtful prose, the whimsical (and yet manly) poetical musings, the incisive critique of contemporary culture, the music reviews, the deep spiritual philisophicationisms, or the gratuitous self-promotion?  Ummm...okay, maybe we have that last one...

Next, I'll probably be posting pix of the "Spaghetti Dinner for 150 People" thing that I'm doing on Family Night this Wednesday at church.   That one IS big fun, though, with the all the women from Nancy's Small Group helping out.  Actually, "helping" is not really the right word since, without them, it really wouldn't happen at all.  I think I may take some pictures of that.

I like spaghetti.  It's the best.  With garlic bread.  If you don't agree, then you clearly weren't raised right and your opinion is wrong.

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Self-sufficiency

I was struck by the irony of the fact that when I typed "off the grid living" into Google's search engine, there were 5.3 million results returned in .16 seconds.

Progress!

My official new favorite state, besides Indiana and Texas,  is now Arizona.  Not only is it beautiful there, if a little toasty during the summer and early fall, but they just seem to be doing a lot of good things lately.  I like the new gun law, for example.
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Shut up already and go DO something.

The NAACP's accusing the Tea Party Movement of overt racism is as clear a case of the "pot calling the kettle black" as anything I have ever seen.  It is as ironic and darkly humorous as it is poisonous and hypocritical.  There is no question that, historically, this storied organization has done much outstanding work in the the attainment of civil rights parity for ethnic minorities, principally African-Americans. However, much of their recent work is centered on institutionalizing racism through the same type of self-serving, sensationalistic, race-baiting-for-profit exercises that are routinely engaged in by the Reverends Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson Sr., and similar profiteers. 

I guess, like everybody else, they've all got mouths to feed and bills to pay over at the NAACP.  And shouting about problems that don't exist is a heckuva lot easier than actually doing something substantive these days. With all of the hopeandchange(tm) going on, plus the very real racism scandal going on at the Justice Department to avoid dealing with, they've really had to work hard to find some way to get themselves back in the news.

Yeah, these people make me a little cynical.
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10 Reasons to Delete Your Facebook Account

An interesting article that makes clear some of the recent debate about Facebook's privacy policy and what it means for users:

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Sharpshooting

Interesting article from Sky News about a British soldier who recently set a remarkable, if somewhat grisly marksmanship record in Afghanistan.  This guy's story is impressive.

To compensate for the distance, he aimed 6 ft. higher, and 20 in. to the left.  Here is his rifle:

Click on the picture above for more detail.  Here is an informative link to more info on the weapon.
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Why America Hates Universal Health Care: The Real Reason

This is a blunt and concise article from Pajamas Media that hits the nail on the head.  There is at least one picture associated with this article that some will find offensive but, objectionable as it may be, it does aptly illustrate the author's point.

I am in agreement with 99.5% of the article, otherwise.  I think this explains well why so many Americans, regardless of political stripe, object so vehemently to the healthcare legislation that has become the principal feature of President Obama's administration.

Read it here.

"Rahm Emanual thinks Democrats are retarded..."

Glenn Reynolds should get some kind of award for this hilarious headline:


RAHM EMANUEL COMPARES DEMOCRATS TO RETARDED PEOPLE, then apologizes to retarded people.

Click on through for the details...or not.
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Nobel Peace Prize Rap by MC Crowbar

"I made a sandwich - got a Peace Prize!"



Oh, yes.  This is very funny to me.

h/t to Instapundit
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Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize has become increasingly ridiculous and irrelevant over the last couple of decades, even comedic at times, in a pathetic kind of way.  Here is a list of the winners since 1980:

_ 2008: Martti Ahtisaari
_ 2007: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Al Gore
_ 2006: Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank
_ 2005: International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei
_ 2004: Wangari Maathai
_ 2003: Shirin Ebadi
_ 2002: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter
_ 2001: United Nations, Kofi Annan
_ 2000: Kim Dae-jung
_ 1999: Medecins Sans Frontieres
_ 1998: John Hume, David Trimble
_ 1997: International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams
_ 1996: Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Jose Ramos-Horta
_ 1995: Joseph Rotblat, Pugwash Conf. on Science and World Affairs
_ 1994: Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin
_ 1993: Nelson Mandela, F.W. de Klerk
_ 1992: Rigoberta Menchu Tum
_ 1991: Aung San Suu Kyi
_ 1990: Mikhail Gorbachev
_ 1989: The 14th Dalai Lama
_ 1988: U.N. Peacekeeping Forces
_ 1987: Oscar Arias Sanchez
_ 1986: Elie Wiesel
_ 1985: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
_ 1984: Desmond Tutu
_ 1983: Lech Walesa
_ 1982: Alva Myrdal, Alfonso Garcia Robles
_ 1981: Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
_ 1980: Adolfo Perez Esquivel

Some of these are absolutely worthy, to be sure.  Others seem relatively obscure and unknown.  But then there's Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Yasser Arafat, Mohamed El-Baradai, and...

...wait for it....

Al Gore.

And now this.

......

Rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem

"The request reads: "Children wanted for Future Temple service. Ultra-orthodox Jewish sect is searching for parents willing to hand over newborn sons to be raised in isolation and purity in preparation for the rebuilding of the biblical temple in Jerusalem. Only members of the Jewish priestly caste, the Kohanim need apply..."

Words from an ancient scroll disovered in a recent archeological dig? Or perhaps an excerpt from a Hollywood screenplay for some biblical epic? Actually, those words appeared in the contemporary Israeli newspaper, Haaretz."

Read the whole thing. The last couple of paragraphs tell why this is important.


Believe it.

Senator Boxer's Ego is bigger than the state of California.

California Senator Barbara Boxer, in typical fine form:



As opposed to Brigadier General Michael Walsh, the commanding general of the US Army Corps of Engineers, who, you know, more or less just had his rank given to him for charm and good looks.

This woman's unfettered hubris is appalling. Again. General Walsh deserves another medal for his calm, accommodating reserve in the face of such overweening arrogance.

Yes, ma'am.

Leadership

"NOT ONE MEMBER HAS READ THIS BILL!"

Do you think that our nation's leaders have any idea in what low regard they are beheld by those they govern?


UPDATE: The Democrats finally made the bill's language available around 11 p.m. Thursday, approximately 10 hours before members meet Friday to consider the bill and 38 hours short of the time promised Americans to review the bill.




That our leaders cheat on their taxes, lie with impunity, and twist both the letter and spirit of the law for the sake of personal power and material gain should not surprise us.

That we allow it is the greater crime. And yet, most of them will, I daresay, be reelected.


Yeah...change we can believe in.

Economic Prognostication

It is a very rare day that I read, much less rebroadcast, financial articles, but
this one
from CNN Money is particularly timely, understandable, interesting, and.....concise.

h/t microlesia

Winners

Just go read this story.

Do it. Go. NOW.



h/t AIM & Kamp Krusty

Comical. Or not?

Personally, I was always a little suspicious of Aquaman.

This is just darn silly, in my opinion. But Stan Lee is a man who knows a business opportunity when he sees it, that is for sure. I, too, wait with baited breath, to see what super-power this "hero" will reveal.

A Gaza Stripped of Hamas?

Here is an excellent summary on the politics swirling around the current conflagration between Israel and the Hamas terrorists.

"Coldplay rips off Joe Satriani?" The fur is gonna fly....

The kids over at ChordStrike have been on a roll lately and you should check them out for their ideas and recommendations for music that is often off the beaten path.

Here, though, is their take on the recent lawsuit brought by guitar-samurai Joe Satriani against the pop superstars Coldplay in which it seems their huge hit, Viva La Vida may have borrowed too generously from one of Joe's instrumental tunes off of a 2004 album.

You definitely want to check out the YouTube video that they have showing the two songs overlaid. It's pretty incredible. I am usually pretty skeptical about these kinds of claims, because pop/rock music is so pervasively inbred anyway these days. But this time...this time it really sounds eerily close and I'm thinking ol' Satch may have an axe to grind with the youngsters.


One thing I know for sure, and this video proves...Coldplay really could be the best band in the world if they got Joe Satriani to play guitar.


Followup: Coldplay says, "Oh, no we din't!"