anti-Muslim film

I wish they would stop saying this is about some obscure anti-muslim film (done by an Egyptian-born Coptic Christian living in the United States--only a few dozen people have seen the film--it was shown to a select audience in JULY (and they just happenend to get angered about it on Sept. 11th--give me a break.)  I think a more logical explanation would be Obama and Biden boasting about killing Bin Laden (what was it that Biden said over and over again "Bin Laden is dead and GM lives"), and the drone killing of Al Qaeda's second in command.  Heard being chanted at the demonstrations in Egypt--'Hey Obama, we are 1 million Bin Ladens'  The brother of the #1 leader of Al Qaeda, and the nephews of the killed #2 in command were reportedly seen in Egypt for the first demonstrations on Tuesday (Wednesday morning their time) 

Embassy Attacks

Let's see if we can tie some dots together--The Democratic party leaves out the usual statement that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.  Earlier in the year, President Obama had snubbed the Prime Minister of Israel.  And now the United States puts no limits on what Iran can do with its nuclear program, but tells Israel to wait for its foreign policy to work, then refuses to meet with the Prime Minister when he comes to the UN later this month.  He will be too busy (A scheduled appearance on the Letterman show is more important than meeting Netanyahu).  And the claim at the Democrat Convention was that Israel has never had a better friend than this president!!!???

We help get rid of Mubarak in Egypt, and Kadaffi in Libya.  We pledge to send more than a BILLION dollars to Egypt, and what do we get for our efforts on behalf of the people there--two embassies attacked, an ambassador killed, an embassy burned.  And what is the initial response of the Embassy in Egypt:  apologize to the strikers for the abuse of free speech that insulted Muslims over a film about Muhammed.  Until the ambassador was killed, then, finally the Administration disavows the statement of the Egyptian embassy (they said it had not been cleared) and condemned the people who killed the ambassador.  Why didn't they disavow the statement immediately and condemn the invasion of US territory (embassies are considered sovereign land of the country whose embasssy it is--just ask England, Ecuador and the fugitive Lasange of Wikileaks).  Does this remind  you of Jimmy Carter and the take over of the US embassy in Teheran that lasted until Ronald Reagan became president 444 days later. The burning of the embassy should be seen as an act of war.

News that the Mexican police broke up a terrorist group training in Mexico and arrested some Al-Qaida members, including an American-born member.  And the President refuses to allow Arizona from enforcing its illegal immigration law, or to enforce the laws themselves.  The claim that the Obama administration has returned more illegal immigrants than any other administration has been shown to fudge the numbers.  Many of those returned are not entered into the computers as illegal immigrants, so that when they return to the United States and captured and returned again, they are not seen as repeat offenders.  Reprorts are that some of these people have been returned many times.  (like the statistics on divorce, if a person gets divorced 4 times, that is counted as four people getting a divorce--and that is how they get to 50% of marriages end in divorce).  Sending the same person back home 4 times is counted as sending 4 people back.  And the claim that  only about 800,000 young people (those under 30) were eligible for Obama's "Dream Act" executive order has been shown to be bogus--over 1 million applied for the work visas, and the number may go as high as 2 milliion--these are people who are taking American jobs with 23 million Americans unemployed, and who get preferential treatment at Colleges (in-state tuition and easier access to scholarships which out-of-state American students can't get.)

Does anybody doubt that we are at war with radical Islamic terrorists?  And doing very little about it!  When the King of Jordan falls (he was attacked over the weekend) and the Saudi Arabian government falls, watch what happens to the price of gas, and to Israel, and to the United States standing among Muslim countries.  And the president refuses to allow the XL pipeline from being built, has not allowed resumed drilling in the Gulf (you can get a permit, but can't drill until you get clearance from the EPA--who elected them?) and the EPA is trying to find some way to stop fraking for natural gas on private lands in the US.

Creationism Defended

There was talk at the Democratic Convention that part of the Republican Education program would be to teach Crreationism.  I found evidence, not in the Bible, that that might not be a bad idea.  I quote:  (emphasis is mine;  if you do not recognize the source, then it becomes even more critical that we teach Creationism):

     "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the the earth, the seperate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
     We hold these truths to be self-evident, tht all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
     "We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States;. . . ."
     "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance of the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

This is, of course, part of The Declaration of Independence written by that Deist (i.e. non-Christian, who took the New Testament and eliminated parts that he considered not true sayings of Jesus) Thomas Jefferson.  He obviously believed in Creation, with a Creator.  True it is not a scientist tome--but Jefferson, along with Franklin, was considered the leading intellectual and scientist of the day in the colonies, if not in the world.  Evolution is a godless discipline--requiring as much faith to accept some of its tenets as does Christianity.  They try to take the Creator out of the Creation of the world.  If we don't teach Creationism in the science classroom, we ought to teach it somewhere--history, ethics, somewhere--so we let our children know where we came from (just as evolution tries to do).  It might prevent us from making Government, or one man who runs the government from assuming he is the Creator and "creating" rights that are not part of Nature or of Nature's God.

Mark Twain 58

NEWSPAPERS

     Mark Twain lived in a time when people depended on newspapers for most of their information about what was goiing on in the world.  He thought the public was too willing to believe the half-truths printed in the newpapers.  In an 1872 speech on "the Sins of the Press," he gave this example:
     "A Detroit paper once said that I was in the constant habit of beating my wife and that I still kept up this recreation up although I had crippled her for life and she was no longer able to keep out of my way when I came home in my usual frantic frame of mind.  Now scarcely the half of that was true. '

The trouble is that the stupid people--who constitute the grand overwhelming majority of this and all other nations--do believe and are moulded and convinced by what they get out of a mewspaper.   (from a speech "License of the Press," 1873)

The old saw says, "Let sleeping dog lie."  Right.  Still when there is much at stake it is better to get a newspaper to do it.  (from Following the Equator, 1897)

NEW YORK

I. a virtuous person only a year before, after immersion for one year--during one year in the New York morals--had no more conscience than a millionaire.  (from a 1906 speech, "New York Morals")

NEW YORKERS

     A New Yorker once chided Mark Twain:  "You Missouri people are all right, but you're too provincial."
     "Provincial?"  retorted Twain.  "On the contrary.  Nobody in New York knows anything about Missouri, but everybody in Missouri knows all about New York."

NOAH

The more I see of modern marine architechture and engineering the more I am dissatisfied with Noah's Ark. . . .Nobody but a farmer cold have designed such a thing, for such a purpose.  (from an 1896 notebook)

More observations on today's news...

1.  See earlier comments on anti-religious hate crimes.  Muslims were celebrating the end of Ramadan in a Staten Island park--someone spread three packages of uncooked bacon around the park, with an anti-Muslim note.  Is this a hate crime?  My take: if it is a crime the crime is littering.  Is it anti-religious?  Definitely!!!

2.  Jeff Foxworthy has a new show--The Bible Challenge--don't know where it is seen, probably Fox network.  He gave 5 sample questions (Jonah, Babel) I missed one:  What did God use to create man.  Choices:  clay, dust, water, earth.  I chose clay--the answer was dust ("Ashes to ashes,dust to dust")--but all the editions that I have:  KJV, RSV, NIV, New English, American Standard--all list 'ground'.  I like Foxworthy's arguement for 'dust'

3.  California decided to help underwater mortgages by lowering the principal of the loan (up to $100,000 reduction in principal): banks to pay for half, the state the other half.  Banks refused, so state said they would pay 100%--but they only have enough Stimulus Fund Money to cover 50% so they have been told that the US government will pay for the other half--that's you and me, paying for California mortgages.  $100,000 is about the size of my mortgage--and yet I have to pay for someone to have that amount taken off of his principal.  How bout taking that amount off mine so I can own my house free and clear.  What's going on in California, David?

4.  NC Voter Integrity Project found that in Wake County more than 550 people were on the voters rolls that were probably not citizens and eligible to vote.  The Board of Elections chose 18 (don't know what criterion was used for the choices) and are holding meetings as we write this--but only to discuss the 18--not the 550.  In Wake, after the 2008 elections, three Democrats admitted they voted twice for Obama.  Gov. Perdue vetoed the Voter-ID, and the Dems in the NC House blocked the override.  In Miss, the head of the NAACP is in jail on 10 counts of voter fraud.   Who says we don't need voter ID?  The Democrats, the NAACP, and our Justice Department!  Do the math!

5.  The Detroit Sanitation Department has twice the number of employees than the city of Chicago  (Population: Chicago:  2.7 million;  Detroit: 707,000) based on amount of water processed.  Consultant group told Detroit they could save millions by reducing the force by 1/3.  Unions refused to go along.  (The Department has on its work force a horse shoer--yet it has no horses, nor horse shoes--and the Union refuses to allow Detroit to eliminate even that job--The Union actually said they need MORE employees to do the job.  No wonder Detroit is in trouble.  Can you say that this is a city run by the unions, not the people and their elected representatives.

6.  Last:  GOP nominee from Missouri Todd Akin:  THIS IS NOT A DEFENSE OF AKIN--HE SHOULD GO!! AND TODAY.  But he is being condemned for something he said.  What he said was stupid--and we don't need any more stupid people in Congress.  But I would like to compare what the reaction is to what people say versus what they do and the reactions of each party to each.  Think back  Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott lauded Strom Thurmond on his 100th birthday  He made reference to Strom's run for the Presidency on the Dixiecrat ticket (without naming it) and was roundly censured by both the GOP and the Dems. He went on an apology tour, but was still forced to resign as Majority Leader.  He won re-election (he was basically unapposed) but resigned from the Senate the next year.  In the meantime, the Democrat leader of Senate was Robert Byrd of West Virginia--a former leader of the KKK, and used the "N" word twice in a TV interview (he called himself the "N" word).  No condemnation, no apology tour.  Rep. Dan Crane (R, Ill) and Gerry Studds (D. Mass) were both caught having affairs with interns--Crane with a female, Studds  with a male.  Both were censured by the House--Crane faced the House as the censure was read--then did not run for re-election because of the scandal.  Studds turned his back on the House as the censure was read, received 2 standing ovations from the people of Mass at town meetings shortly after the censure and was re-elected 6 times.  He did not apologize for the affair: said it was consensual.  Mark Grayson (D,Fla) spoke on the House:  "GOP health care plan:  Don't get sick, if you do get sick, Die quickly"  no condemnation of this by Dems.  Mark Foley (R. Fla)  was caught sending sexually-explicit messages to former male interns (there was no proof of contact, just messages) He was forced to resign by the GOP leadership.  Anthony Weiner (D.NY) was caught sending sexually explicit photographs to females ( I think one was an intern)  He denied it saying the charges were false--then was caught in the lie and THEN he resigned. He now is thinking of running for mayor.  (by the way, his wife is the subject of Michelle Backman's charges of possible involvement of the Muslim Brotherhood in setting State department policy with Arab countries--she is Hillary Clinton's Chief of Staff; her mother, father, uncle and I believe her grandfather were high officials of the Muslim Brotherhood.)  Obama government not only has refused to investigate, but also has refused Freedon of Information request for documents giving her her clearances for her status.  John Corzine (Senator, later Governor D NJ)  ran an investment house that looted customer accounts of $2 Billion--a clear violation of the law--Holder's Justice Department is going to drop criminal charges.  WHY?  BilI Clinton had sex with an intern in the Oval Office, lied about it (in typical Obama practice, blamed a vast right-wing conspiracy) lied to the grand jury, then got caught in the lie was impeached  but defended by Dems (we shouldn't condemn someone for what they do in private--and one should always lie about extra-marital affairs to protect the family) I could go on, but this is too long already:  But here is the moral of the story (with the exception of Weiner) The Republicans get harsher penalties--many times imposed by theGOP itself--for what they say , than what happens to Dems for what they do ;   And the Dems can say anything they want without censure or reprimand.

Mark Twain 57

NARRATIVE

     "In writing, it is usually stronger and more dramatic to have a man speak for himself than to have someone else relate a thing about him," Mark Twain told a New York audience during a question-and-answer session after a lecture.
     "Suppose a man dies," someone asked.  "Is it stronger to have the man himself say that he has died?"
     "Sometimes,"  Mark Twain answered.  "Take the case of Major Patterson, down in Missouri, when a squatter had moved in on some of the extensive lands he had laid claim to.  Deciding to use the frightening method to get the squatter off, the Major donned a mask one dark night, moumted an enormous black horse, rode to the squatter's door , called him out, and asked for a bucket of water.  The Major had also availed himself of a contrivance. . . a large leather bag on his chest and stomach, buttoned securely under his coat.
     When the squatter had brought the water the Major raised the three-gallon bucket, slowly poured its contents into the bag through an opening at his throat, turned to the astonished squatter and said, 'Ah-h-h-- That's the first drink of water I've had since I was killed at the battle of Shiloh!'
     "The squatter disappeared from that part of the country,"  Mark Twain concluded.  "And I think you will agree that when the Major spoke for himself, the effect was stronger than otherwise."

NEW DEAL

     "F.D.R. tole me tht he took his famous phrase from M.T.'s Connecticut Yankee when I presented him our Mark Twain Gold Medal, 3rd December 1933," wrote Cyril Clemens, editor of The Mark Twain Journal, a leading scholarley organ.
     The phrase that gave a name to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration was drawn from a chapter entitled "Freemen!" in which the Connecticut Yankee, who is basically an updated Jeffersonian democrat with technocratic tendencies, confronting the backward realities of the medieval monarchy and decides it is high time for a revolution.  "And now here I was in a country where a right to say how the country should be governed was restricted to six persons in each thousand of its population," he observed.  "I was to become a stockholder in a corporation where nine hundred and ninety-four of the members furnished all the money and did all the work, and the other six elected themselves a permanent board  of direction and took all the dividends.  It seemes to me that what the nine hundred and ninety-four dupes needed wa a new deal."
     A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was less popular with the critics than Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, but Mark Twain considered it his magnum opus;  It is the clearest and most complete statement of the author's democratic, egalitarian philosophy.  the book was artistically flawed because the author inserted so much of his own opinion into it and did not disguise himself behind the mask of artistic irony as successfully as he did in Huckleberry Finn.  In Huckleberry Finn, the author's views are so artfully masked that to this day there are some blacks who consider the book racist.  But nobody will ever accuse the Connecticut Yankee, or his creator, of being a monarchist.  A Connecticut Yankee is a literary manifesto for democratic revolution.
     "It's my swan song, my retirement from literature," Mark Twain wrote sadly to his friend Howells.  "Well, my book is written--let it go, but if it were only to write over again there wouldn't be so many things left out.  They burn in me. . . .but now they can't ever be said;  and besides they would require a library--and a pen warmed up in hell.

Mark Twain on Mothers

MOTHER

     "I was always told that I was a sickly and precarious and tiresome and uncertain child,"  Mark Twain informed his biographer Paine, "and lived mainly on allopathic medicines during the first seven years of my life.  I asked my mother about this, in her old age--she was was in her eighty-seventh year--and said: 'I suppose that during all that time you were uneasy about me?' "
     "Yes, the whole time,"  said she.
     "Afraid I wouldn't live?"
     After a reflective pause--ostensibly to think out the facts--"No--afraid you would."

MOTHER-IN-LAW

     Mark Twain taught that there are two types of humor, conscious humor and unconscious humor.  He used the following mother-in-law joke as an example of unconscious humor.
           A man receives a telegram telling him that his mother-in-law is dead and asking, "Shall we embalm, bury, or cremate her?"
           He wired back, "If these fail, try dissection."
"Now the unconscious humor of this,"  Mark Twain explained, "was that he thought they'd try all of the three means suggested, anyway."

MORALS

     Mark Twain often described himself as a "professional moralist."  In a speech in London in June 1899, he told of the turning point in his moral development.  It was one day in his youth when he stole a watermelon out of a farmer's wagon while the farmer was waiting on another customer:  " 'stole' is a harsh term, I withdrew--I retired that watermelon--and I retired with it."  Much to his chagrin, the watermelon turned out to be unripe.
     "The minute I saw it was green I was sorry, and began to reflect--reflection is the beginning of reform. . . .I said to myself  'What ought a boy to do who has stolen a green watermelon?  What would George Washington do, the father of his country, the only American who could not tell a lie?  What would he do?  There is only one right, high, noble thing for any boy to do who has stolen a watermelon of that class; he must make restitution; he must restore that stolen property to its rightful owner.'  I said i would do it when I made that good resolution.  I felt it would be a noble, uplifting obligation.  I rose up spiritually stronger and refreshed.  I carried that watermelon back--what was left of it--and restored it to the farmer, and made him give me a ripe one in its place."

Always do right.  This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.   (from a note to the Young People's Society, 1901)

The Moral Sense teaches us what is right, and how to avoid it--when unpopular.   (from an essay "The United States of Lyncherdom,"  published in 1923)

No brute ever does a cruel thing--that is the monopoly of those with the Moral Sense.   (from "The Mysterious Stranger," published in 1916)

A man should not be without morals;  it is better to have bad morals than none at all.   (from an 1894 notebook)

It is not best that we use our morals week days;  it gets them out of repair for Sundays.  (from an 1898 notebook)

Presidential Children

 In "National Review" (August 27, 2012), Kevin Williamson has written an interesting article about the gender of children born to "born leaders"--boss material--based on the Trivers-Willard hypothesis: an evolutionary biology study that says "high-status animals tend to have more male offspring than female offspring.  The theory holds true across many species, from red deer to mink to Homo sap.  The offspring of rich families are statistically biased in favor of sons--the children of the general population are 51% male and 49% female, but the children of the Forbes billionaire list are 60% male."  Romney has 5 sons, no daugthers;  18 grandchildren (13 boys, 5 girls). When he goes to church at the summer family reunion they make up a third of the congregation.  No wonder he's rich--Hey, mom, what happened to us--oh, forgot, we are rich in the Spirit--and some of us don't believe in evolution anyway--at least I know Dad didn't.
What about our Presidents (I'm taking a leap here equating leadersip and skill in the wielding of power to wealth--the focus of the article--but then I don't know too many rich red deer or mink--although their coats are expensive.  Here are the 20th and 21st century presidents--Biden doesn't know about the 21st century ones--he's still in the 20th century.
Obama  2 girls
W. Bush  2 girls
Clinton 1 girl
HW Bush 4 boys and 2 girls
Reagan 1 boy, 2 girls, 1 adopted son--Michael, the closest to him in political leanings
Carter 3 boys 1 girl
Ford 3 boys and 1 girl  (remember: he was our only non-elected president--appointed to the position by Nixon after Spiro Agnew resigned over kickbacks while gov of MD.
Nixon 2 girls
LBJ  2 girls
JFK 2 boys (1 died before his first birthday) 1 girl
Ike 2 boys (1 died at age 4)
Truman 1 girl
FDR 4 boys 1 girl
Hoover 2 boys
Coolidge 2 boys (Calvin, jr. died at 16)
Harding no children--but was rumored to have an illegitimate daughter--not proven.  He married a divorcee with a young son--no word on whether Harding adopted him.
Wilson 3 girls  (and he was a mysoginist, who tried to prevent the women from getting the right to vote?)
Taft 2 boys
Teddy Roosevelt 4 boys 2 girls  ('favorite' son, youngest was killed in WW1.  Teddy wanted to get his commision from the Spanish-American War back so he could go fight--at age 60--Wilson refused--Teddy died the next year
For those interested in the past 'great' Presidents (the Mount Rushmore ones):
Lincoln 4 boys (three died while quite young, at ages 4,8 18--Robert Todd, his 1st born died in 1926 at age 83)
Jefferson 5 girls 1 stillborn son  (interesting fact--his eldest lived for 64 years, followed by the son, #2 daughter died at 3, third daughter  (Lucy Elizabeth died at 1, then they had another daughter that they also named Lucy Elizabeth.  Martha Jefferson died shortly after and the second Lucy died at age 3--Jefferson must have been a very melancholy man.  The claim tht he fathered children by the slave Sally Hemmings--his wife's half sister--have been disputed by as many credible historians as there are on the other side of the issue--many claim they were fathered by a Jefferson cousin--dates of his visits to Monticello match up with births of Sally's children. And DNA tests tht have been done would implicate any male Jefferson--including the cousin.
Washington no children, adopted Martha's son and and daughter  
So it looks like if Romney wants to be president, he and his wife better get busy and have 2 girls (Obama, WBush, HWBush, Reagan,Nixon, LBJ) --or better theory--we elect presidents who have no concept of money, no wonder we're in such a financial mess (Although Carter and Ford destroy that theory--remember WIN--'Whip inflation now' with Ford and Stagflation with Carter)--they fit the hypothesis mentioned at the beginning, but they sure mishandled the economy.

Mark Twain 56

I'm working on a piece about Saul Alinsky (Rules for Radicals) a hero of both President Obama and Hillary Clinton (in case you thought she was more moderate than him), but I'm having trouble getting it short enough to keep everyone interested.  If not later today, then probably Saturday after I get back from the hospital.  So in the mean time, here's today's Twain:

MUSIC

     Music is a salve for the wounds of the soul, and everyone, no matter how devoid of musical talent, has sometime suffered from a yearning to play an instrument.  Often, the lesser the talent, the greater the yearning.  Mark Twain succumbed to this temptation himself.  "After a long immunity from the dreadful insanity that moves a man to become a musician in defiance of the will of God'" he recalled, "I finally fell a victim to the instrument that they call an accordion."
     He learned to play "Auld Lang Syne" on it.  "After I had been playing 'Lang Syne' about a week, I had the vanity to think I could improve the original melody, and I set about adding some little flourishes and variations to it."  He was soon driven out of his boardinghouse because of the vehement objections of the other  boarders.  He moved to another boardinghouse and was driven out of that one as well.  After moving into his third boardinghouse in a week, the deternined amateur musiciasn once more resumed playing "Auld Lang Syne."
     "The very first time I struck up the variations, a haggard, careworn, cadaverous old man walked into my room and stood beaming upon me a smile of ineffable happiness.  Then he placed his hand upon my head, and looking devoutly aloft, he said with feeling unction, and in a voice trembling with emotion, 'God bless you, young man!  God  bless you!  For you have done that for me which is beyond all praise.  For years I have suffered from an incurable disease, and knowing my doom was sealed and that I must die, I have striven with all my power to resign myself to my fate, but in vain--the love of life was too strong within me.  But heaven bless you, my benefactor! for since I heard you play that tune and those variations, I do not want to live any longer--I am entirely resigned--I am willing to die--in fact, I am anxious to die."

Wagner's music is better than it sounds.

NEIGHBORS

Mark Twain had been postponing a social call upon some new neighbors, but one day he saw an opportunity.  "My name is Clemens," he said, bowing politely.  "We ought to have called on you before, and I beg your pardon for intruding now in this informal way, but your house is on fire."

NATURE

Architects cannot teach nature anything.  (from an essay "Memorable Midnight Experience," 1874)

Mark Twain 54

MONEY

     Mark Twain was of two minds about money.  In his life he made a fortune and he lost a fortune, more than once.  He was born in poverty, he was wealthy at the age of fitfty, bankrupt at sixty, and wealthy again at seventy.  His life story was a story of rags to riches, yet there was always a part of him, like Huckleberry Finn, more comfortable in rags.
     Mark Twain gave a name to the materialistic age he lived in:  "TheGilded Age."  He savagely satirized plutocrats in print.  Yet one of his best friends, Henry Rogers, was a millionaire.
     Once when Mark Twain was in Bermuda on a vecation with Rogers, a Bermudan remarked to Twain, "Your friend Rogers is a good fellow. It's a pity his money is tainted."
     "It's twice tainted," said Twain, nodding knowingly.  "Tain't yours, and tain't mine."

The lack of money is the root of all evil.

God was left out of the Constitution but was furnished a front seat on the coins of the country.

The motto ["In God We Trust'] stated a lie.  If this nation has ever trusted in God, that time has gone by; for nearly half a century almost its entire trust has been in the Republican party and the dollar--mainly the dollar.

There was never a nation in the world that put its whole trust in God. . . .I think it would better read, "Within certain judicious limitations we trust in God,"  and if there isn't enough room on the coin for this, why, enlarge the coin.    (from a 1908 speech: "Jumping to Conclusions")

Some men worship rank, some worship heroes, some worship God, and over these ideals they dispute--but they all worship money.    (from an 1898 notebook)

Simple rules for saving money:  To save half, when you are fired by an eager impulse to contribute to charity, wait and count forty.  To save three-quarters, count sixty.  To save it all, count sixty-five.     (from Following the Equator, 1897)  

Daily Rant for Tuesday, August 21

Heard on the morning talk shows this morning--from the ridiculous to the sublime to the political:

1.  Today is the 25th anniversasry of the release of DIRTY DANCING--great music, interesting story about class and acceptance, filmed in NC.  What's not to like!

2.  Shopping tips  when to shop for what:  Monday--electronics and cars (stores and lots are empty because most people shop for these things on weekends, might see some sales.  Tuesday--Airline tickets, especially after 3 PM--airlines trying to fill seats, good bargains, and gas,  Wednesday--entertainment--theme parks--parks are empty, might find some discounts,  Thursday--Clothes, shops are restocking in preparation for weekend: you get first choice.  Friday--Accessories, see Thursday, Saturday--Books,  Sunday--groceries: Sunday papers carry scads of coupons, and appliances.

3.  The Republican congressman from Kansas skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee.  It  happened last year--why is this a 3 day (or more) story in the press?  Oh yeah, I forgot, he's a Republican and he's running (unapposed) for reelction, and it makes Romney look bad.  I went skinny dipping in the Grand Canyon on my high school trip--does that make me ineligible for the Presidency or even for Congressman from NC? Just as they say the Sea of Galilee is a 'sacred place (really?), isn't the Grand Canyon a sacred place to the Gaea people--the environmentalists who love the earth more than man.

4  Poll:  56% to 40% of respondents say they are NOT better off now than they were 4 years ago.  That includes me--4 years ago I didn't have leukemia--can I blame Obama for my condition, like Obama's people blame Romney for the cancer death of Mrs. Soptic.  It's logical--and I've finally found someone to blame (something else Obama is good at  when it comes to bad news or problems he hasn't been able to fix.)

5.  Study by Liberty Institute ( part of Liberty University) and Family Research Coucil (object of last week's assault) shows that religion (all religion, not just Chritianity) is under assault in THIS COUNTRY.  The news reports tell of two incidents--a cross in the Mojave desert that honors WWI dead (WWI was fought in the 19teens, almost 100 years ago, and the cross has been there forever (this is being attacked by an alliance of Atheists and the ACLU)  Obamacare's Birth Control mandate, in contradiction to the 1st amendment to the Constitution.  I'll add a third:  in clearing the ruins of the World Trade Center, they pulled up two beams in the form of a cross.  They decided to put it in the museum--Atheists object--separation of Church and State, which is NOT in the Constitution.  At the least, they want some acknowledgement that some atheists died in the attacks--but what is their symbol?  The last time they tried this (at a town's Chritmas display when there was also a menorah and some Muslim display, and I think even a Druid display.  What did the atheists put up when allowed? A huge placard attacking all belief in God as dangerous myth, destructive to intelligence and society--great Chritmas spirit (no other display attacked any other religion--just honored their own)

6.  In doing the Twain quotes, the book lists the subjects in alphabetical order.  Immorality and immortality are next to each other:  the only difference in the two words is the "T", the shape of a cross.  Is someone trying to tell us that the cross is the way to escape immorality and come to immortality?  Think about it!

Romney's Income Tax Return

Got up early--preparing for my Barium swallow test and couldn't sleep. no food since last night and the steroids are making me hungry--Wendy's at 10 on the way home.

Okay, lets get this out of the way so that we can talk about the state of the economy, the deficit, the rising debt, and the effects of raising the tax rate from 35-39%

Before 1913--no Presidential candidate had to diclose his income taxes, nor a financial disclosure statement.  The IncomeTax didn't become part of the Constitution until the 16th amendment adopted in 1913.
The first president to disclose his income tax forms was FDR--he, rather his family did, disclosed 25 years worth AFTER FDR had died (that helps a lot!).
Truman did not, Ike did not, JFK did not, LBJ did not, Humphrey did not, Nixon did not.  LBJ, Nixon and McGovern issued detail-less financial disclosure forms.  Then came Watergate--and Congress passed (1978) the Ethics in Government Act, which called for Financial disclosure, but not Income Tax forms (considered a violation of privacy).  However, George Romney, Mitt's father, had in 1968 released 12 years of tax forms with no legal requirement that he do so
The rest that I could find:  Bob Dole--30 years.
Jimmy Carter  1 year
Michael Dukakis  5 years
Gerald Ford, summary, but no details of the previous 10 years.
Ronald Reagan 1 year.
John Kerry 20 years--but no details on his wife Teresa Heinz's wealth--she is the heiress to the Heinz Ketchup fortune, making Kerry one of the wealthiest Senators.
John McCain  2 years--but no details on his wife, Cindy, who, like Theresa Kerry, is the real weathy one in the family.
Obama 12 years (although Media Matters--a left-wing blog--says only 7).
I have no info on the Bushes, father or son.
ONCE AGAIN, THERE IS NO FEDERAL REQUIREMENT TO DISCLOSE ANY TAX FORMS--although Senator Levin of Michigan has a bill before the Senate that would require 10 years worth of not only Presidential candidates (can hardly wait to see Roseanne Barr's--yes, she is running for President) but also members of Congress
Members of Congress are requiredto show only Financial Disclosure forms.  Of the 535 members of Congress only17 have disclosed their tax forms--but not Harry Reid nor Nancy Pelosi.  As far as I know, in the Executive Branch, only the President and vice-President have disclosed theirs (I don't know how many for Joe Biden).  No Cabinet member,or Czar or senior member of staff has.
Romney has issued one, will  release last year's when his accountant is finished with it-he got an extension--and he published his Fiancial Disclosure as required by law

Mark Twain on Watermelon

Hospital visit went well--Barium wasn't pink,and it didn't tasste like strawberry, but it was quite palataable.  Test itself took less than 15 minutes--Drink some Barium, driunk some more (one swallow each time while the tech look at a scope--they decided to do only a partial, so only say the esophagus--not the entry into the stomach.  Aafter the 2 Barium swallows, ate 2 teaspoons of applesauce with barium mixed in, followed by more barium, then a graham cracker with barium on it. Done.  However it took them almost an hour to get the barium from the lab, and get the rest ready--so it wasn't tht short a day.The tech saw no problems, except that seems to be a slight nodule facing away from the esop. that seems to slow the speed of the food heading toward the stomach--but it was at the bottom of the scope, so she didn't know what was actually happening after the food passed the nodule.  She's going to recommend a full Barium swallow (which is what I thought I was supposed to be getting today) for some time in the future--they were primarily interested in seeing if some of the food was going into the lungs instead of the stomach, and she saw none of that--will know more on Wed

WATERMELON

The true Southern watermelon is a boon apart, and not to be mentioned with the commoner things.  It is chief of this world's luxuries.  king by the grace of God over all the fruits of the earth.  When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat.  It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took; we know this because she repented.  (from Pudd'nhead Wilson, 1894)    

One last thing--Obama's College transcripts (Occidental College, Harvard and Columbia).  Most Presidents DO NOT REVEAL their transcripts--not required.  Those we find out about are displayed in their museums (JFK for one)  JFK, his freshman year, got 3 C's and 1 B.  His sophomore year he got a B in government, 4 C's, and a D in history (this from the man who won the Pulitzer Prize for Profiles in Courage--which was actually written by Ted Sorensen, not JFK)   Al Gore, the leading Guru of Climate change, got a D and a C+ in the two Natural Science courses he took.  George Bush (son) had a 77 average at Harvard (D in Astronomy), Bush's Harvard classmate, John Kerry, who many considered to be so much smarter than Bush, had a 76 average  (In North Carolina that would be a D, but at Harvard it's a C average)  These grades include 68's in 2 history courses, 69 in Political Science.  So our presidents haven't been the brightest lightbulbs in the package.  I guess it doesn't matter if President Obama is or isn't the smartest man to ever be President (JFK thought that Thomas Jefferson was the smartest one--but of course he died before he could behold the brilliance of our current President--who thinks that there are at least 57 states, and pronounces Corpsman ( pronounced 'coreman' a navy rank) as if it were a dead body (corpseman) , including the 's'--three times in one speech.  (can any one spell potatoe (sic)?)

Boy Scouts and Gays

I saw in the news the other day that the Boy Scouts reaffirmed their stand on homosexual leaders--to the outcry of ACLU some Democrats and other "concerned" Americans  concerned about "equal rights"   I would think that this coming so soon after the Sandusky/Penn State, the decision by the Boy Scouts was very smart (I know Sandusky is called a pedophile by the press--but he only molested boys--doesn't that make him a homosexual?--not my idea only--I heard the same thing, more or less by either Glen Beck, Neal Boortz or Rush.  I can see the Boy Scouts not wanting to pay all the law suits that would come if one of their homosexual leaders turned into another Sandusky.
     On the subject of gay marriage--Boortz had an interesting caller-Boortz debate on the subject the other day (Boortz surprises me, he says he's a libertarian and won't take any caalls from people who want to argue with him about abortion--he's pro-choice--gov't should stay out of people's medical choices)  anyway, back to marriage--I missed the first part of the call so I don't know where the call was coming from, but the caller insisted that anti-gay marriage laws discriminated against him.  Boortz countered that there was no discrimination--he couldn't marry a gay man either. If neither of them could marry a gay man, where was the discrimination?  Interesting point--I'd never thought of the subject quite like that but it takes it out of the religious realm and puts into the legal realm, where people couldn't say that we are trying to impose our own morality on them .
Speaking of trying to impose morality, I love the controversy over Chik-fil-A.  the owner was expressing his views on Same-sex marriage and his religious foundation for them which happened to be the same views Obama held until he 'Evolved' a few months ago (See my Mark Twain quote on Darwin on evolution--it fits this situation perfectly) And here come the mayors of Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago saying they will block any attempt to put a Chik-fil-A in their towns.  The Mayor of Boston later backed down, and CfA probably would find it too expensive to go into San Fran with all their regulations about franchise operations and Big box stores.  But Rahm Emanuel took the cake  
when he said that CfA wouldn't be welcome because they don't hold to Chicago 'values'.  Rush asked, "What would those values be?  The highest murder rate in the country, half their governors in jail--including Blago who comes from Chicago and was a friend of the Mayor,and other government officials also being accused of corruption, The home town of Resko (friend of Obama who gave him a sweatheart deal on his home and is now in jail, the city of Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Bernadine Dorn, Jesse Jackson (both father and son--father: the shakedown artist--tht's hiow he got a beer distribution center for his nephew. and son under ethics investigation in the House for corruption in the Obama Senate seat scandal, and is now in the Mayo Clinic under treatment), Louis Farrakhan (who can speak his anti-Jewish and anti-white rant and not offend the Mayor), and the problems he's been having with the teacher's union trying to get a longer school day/year: they have the shortest in the country--those are the Chicago 'values' CfA doesn't believe in--Praise God they don't.
By the way, Rahm's brother Ezekial is medical ethicist at the NIH (and an advisor to Obama on the health care law) who believes that life has different value at different times of their life--babies don't have much value (to society) when they are small--and sickly, so we shouldn't spend scarce medical dollars on them--and the same is true for the elderly--their contribution to society is done and now they are a drag on those scarce medical funds.  Remember when that lady asked Obama about her 100 year old mother who needed a hip replacement (or was it a heart pace maker?)  She asked if her life long healthy life style and joy of life shouldn't qualify her for the medical treatment even at her age, and Obama answered that at some point shouldn't you just put her on aspirin or other pain killers and try to make her last days comfortable as possible, and not burden the medical system with needless care.
well I've gone on enough (and I haven't even gotten to the what some spokesman for Obama said about the Prez and his love of Israel)  Good night