Our representatives in Copenhagen should remember that good environmental policymaking is about weighing real-world costs and benefits — not pursuing a political agenda. That’s not to say I deny the reality of some changes in climate — far from it. I saw the impact of changing weather patterns firsthand while serving as governor of our only Arctic state. I was one of the first governors to create a subcabinet to deal specifically with the issue and to recommend common-sense policies to respond to the coastal erosion, thawing permafrost and retreating sea ice that affect Alaska’s communities and infrastructure.

But while we recognize the occurrence of these natural, cyclical environmental trends, we can’t say with assurance that man’s activities cause weather changes. We can say, however, that any potential benefits of proposed emissions reduction policies are far outweighed by their economic costs. And those costs are real. Unlike the proposals China and India offered prior to Copenhagen — which actually allow them to increase their emissions — President Obama’s proposal calls for serious cuts in our own long-term carbon emissions. Meeting such targets would require Congress to pass its cap-and-tax plans, which will result in job losses and higher energy costs (as Obama admitted during the campaign). That’s not exactly what most Americans are hoping for these days. And as public opposition continues to stall Congress’s cap-and-tax legislation, Environmental Protection Agency bureaucrats plan to regulate carbon emissions themselves, doing an end run around the American people.

In fact, we’re not the only nation whose people are questioning climate change schemes. In the European Union, energy prices skyrocketed after it began a cap-and-tax program. Meanwhile, Australia’s Parliament recently defeated a cap-and-tax bill. Surely other nations will follow suit, particularly as the climate e-mail scandal continues to unfold.

In his inaugural address, President Obama declared his intention to “restore science to its rightful place.” But instead of staying home from Copenhagen and sending a message that the United States will not be a party to fraudulent scientific practices, the president has upped the ante. He plans to fly in at the climax of the conference in hopes of sealing a “deal.” Whatever deal he gets, it will be no deal for the American people. What Obama really hopes to bring home from Copenhagen is more pressure to pass the Democrats’ cap-and-tax proposal. This is a political move. The last thing America needs is misguided legislation that will raise taxes and cost jobs — particularly when the push for such legislation rests on agenda-driven science.

Without trustworthy science and with so much at stake, Americans should be wary about what comes out of this politicized conference. The president should boycott Copenhagen.

The writer was the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president and governor of Alaska from 2006 to 2009.

Source The Washington Post.

I’m glad Sarah Palin is speaking out on so many issues. One voice among just a few. Most politicians have their heads shoved so far up Obama’s butt they refuse to see what is going on. They must be changed in 2010 like dirty diapers.

Chris Carney votes to make me a slave!

Congressman Chris carney and others voted to make me a slave by forcing me to either buy health insurance or be fined!
Health care expert Betsy McCaughey has read the nearly 2000 page House version of the health care bill and found some of the details you need to know. Read More.

Harry Reid compares health care vote to slavery.mov

Obama and the invasion of the body snatchers

Reid compares those opposing this health care bill as those who support slavery. This POS has it ass backwards. It is Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their cronies who are eroding our freedoms and bringing us ever closer to becoming slaves of their Obammunistic ideals and a NWO. It is not just health care add Cap and Trade and government take overs as a whole and Obama will bring our standard of living into line with his native Kenya.  Obama’s agenda is not the well being of the American people or defending the Constitution. Is about a power grab and a New World Order with one world governance. Throw these traitors out when they come up for re-election. We must start now in preparation for the 2010 elections.

Seriously, does anyone have Common Sense anymore? 

None of us are perfect, and we all have our sad little moments of being idiots from time to time.  Still, I think we all could benefit from reading this book.  There is a reason it was written way back in 1776.  Human nature is still the same.  I see and hear things in my life, on the nightly news, on E!, in the papers, in the blogs, on Facebook, on the phone, and especially on Bravo TV (Still, I can’t get enough of those Housewives of Orange County) that disturb me on so many levels.  What do you readers think?  What have you seen that illustrates why this book needs to be mandatory reading for all of us? 

A man living in a 10-20 million dollar townhouse on the Upper West Side approached us in a polite but astute manner saying “I’m the president of this block, and the mayor’s office of film & theatre permit says you can’t run this small generator”. We, ever so courteous to the people around[there is an ideal the people I've learned from in the film business have taught me - always leave a place better than you found it], will always oblige. We take his word for it. Now I say “it’s keeping us warm(it was powering heater on our truck)” and he gives me the ::so?Shrug:: like that’s nothing. Then he went back into his climate controlled mansion and we sat outside in the dark & cold. You tell me what I should think about that.

It’s December. Thanksgiving has come and gone. Christmas is approaching. Society is rushing around shopping in anticipation of the day where we surprise each other with presents under the tree. What’s the meaning of Christmas, you ask? Well technically speaking, it’s the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Technically, this season is supposed to be about nativity scenes, church-going, and spreading the love that Jesus Christ bore unto us. God gave His people the gift of Jesus, and as Christians we are to carry on that gift by giving to others.

Well.

Stop.

Not quite.

That’s not all of it.

Instead, we live in America. God bless the USA. Christmas is now about money, gifts, parties, and decorations. So, we are carrying on the tradition and purpose of gift giving. That’s supposed to be enough? Well, it would be, but instead we are living in the midst of consumerism. Buy, buy, and buy. That’s the mentality of Christmas because Christmas has become an industry. People have gotten lost in the mad dash for a Nintendo Wii or iPod touch or big screen television. They lose themselves arguing with the salesman for the best price. They lose themselves in the jungle of a parking lot trying to find a parking space. They lose themselves arguing with another shopper over the very last Nintendo Wii because Christmas will be ruined without it. Way to spread the spirit, huh? How many times have you been trampled in the mall?

I guess it’s true. The holidays bring out the crazies. Who knew that a little gift-giving and shopping could turn someone into a monster? Now, I’m not saying I’m not included in the crazies. I’ve had my fair share of war in the Target parking lot; I’ve hunted for the best deal on a GPS; I’ve competed with the neighbors for the best yard decorations. I mean, you have to compete with the best of ‘em. But…

There comes a point when crazy becomes idiocy and idiocy becomes hilarity.

A few examples:

1. Thanksgiving is a time for one to gather around the table with loved ones and give thanks for one’s many blessings. Instead of pitching a tent outside Best Buy at 5:30pm Thanksgiving day to be the first in line to buy a 50 inch television, go home, gather around with your family and be thankful for the one you already have. I love you American consumerism.

 2. Here’s a good idea: air a TV special on Thanksgiving about the life of a turkey from birth till it’s served on your table. Mmm tasty!

3. If you would really like to radiate the Christmas spirit this holiday season, dress your car up like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and then give someone the bird as they turn on their blinker and make a legal right hand turn. Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too, jerk!

4. The inflatable Thomas the Tank train sitting next to the giant inflatable snowman family of five sitting next to the inflatable Christmas tree sitting next to the inflatable Santa Claus will always be tacky. There will never be any exceptions. None.

5. Remember Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus. So, try to stay away from wrapping your tree branches with red Christmas lights. There’s no reason to display the devil’s pitchfork in your front yard.

6. Wasn’t this country founded by Christians? So, please, do not wish me a happy holiday. Wish me a Merry Christmas.

7. If someone volunteers to decorate the front entrance of your neighborhood, do not call them and complain because you think it’s ugly. Next time, do it yourself and decorate it how you want. …then see how it feels when someone calls you to tell you your decorations are ugly.

8. Re-gifting is smart. People give you junk just for the sake of giving you junk. Give that junk to someone else. Just don’t forget to take the gift tag off. There’s no need for someone to know that you’re giving them the junk someone else gave you.

 So, let’s think America….. A little more common sense would make my holiday season and yours a little more enjoyable and a lot less ugly.

Merry Christmas, folks!

GLENN BECK IS THE MOST SEXIEST MAN ALIVE!!! HE IS COMPASSIONATE, INTELLIGENT, HANDSOME, FUNNY, AND ALWAYS FULL OF SURPRISES!

YOU CAN FIND GLENN AT: WWW.GLENNBECK.COM

The 12 Days Of Global Warming

Thanks to Ironic Surrealism for the above.

The 12 Days Of Obama

12 Days of Bailouts

Wake up, think long and hard. These are the creeps that get elected and want to control your life. They are on the road to a NWO and could give a flying f%@k less about you or I. They are lying criminals who are trampling our constitution and need to be thrown out of office ASAP and never be allowed to hold office again.

The credit crunch has hit me hard. I haven’t lost my job (so far), but my income has decreased significantly (about 25%), the threat of redundancy has loomed over me for the whole of 2009 and is likely to be an issue again in 2010. During this time of difficulties I’ve had to tighten my belt, to cut costs, I’ve had to crunch my own credit, look at my needs and expenses and try to put together a back-up fund for emergencies.

It has been hard. The credit crunch was unexpected by most people, including me, and because there was no warning I found myself unprepared.

To give you some background, I have a full-time job (the joy!), I live in rented accommodation (which until recently I enjoyed alone). I enjoy good food, regular holidays, lots of tv channels, unrestricted broadband internet access, buying things when I want them, not having to save forever to get an iPod touch, and being in control of my money.

That is until I realised how precariously balanced I was on the financial divide. The divide between the haves and have-nots. Because of the credit-crisis it’s not so much of a divide any more, and there’s no border patrol stopping you going over to the other side now.

I plan to put together a series of articles aimed at making you look at your money and getting you to think about how you spend it. This isn’t a get rich quick scheme, it’s not a 12-step debt removal system, it’s just a common-sense way of looking at money and how you use it. The idea is to take in this information and use it to save yourself some money without having to go without too much.

Next time: Budgeting

Of course, if you've devised a "system", then this blog post is void.

Dumb from the customers’ perspective, that is. Ingenious from that of the industry itself.

Gambling. Dumber than alcohol, dumber than tobacco, dumber than network TV. At least drinking gives the user an inflated feeling of self-worth, and at least cigarettes make a statement (“I enjoy slowly killing myself while rendering the radius around me uninhabitable.”)

As for gambling, however, it just impoverishes its practitioners. Nothing else.

We’re not counting football bets between friends here, or a night of poker with the fellas. Those are zero-sum games. Unless you’re exceedingly horrible at reading an injury report or you insist on drawing to inside straights, you’ll end up neither making nor losing money in the long run when you bet among your friends. You’re essentially moving bills back and forth as a form of camaraderie.

Casino gambling is different, thanks to vig. That’s the cut the casino takes from every wager, which will ultimately bleed you dry. On the roulette wheel, the casino takes 3% of every bet. On straight sports wagering (i.e. a single game per bet), the casino takes 5%.

If someone offers you an investment that pays, say, 10%, would you take it?

The correct answer is “I don’t know.” A rate of return needs to be quoted with a time period for it to mean anything. If the investment takes 20 years to pay 10%, that’s .5% annually. You might as well leave your money in a savings account.

What if the investment pays 10% per day?

Say you invest $1. You’d have $1.95 by the end of the week, $17.45 by the end of the month, and $28 million in half a year’s time. Within 11 months you’d be earning more money than the rest of the world combined.

(That being said, when you read an interest rate quoted in a financial publication – or on any Control Your Cash post other than this one – assume the rate is annual unless otherwise specified.)

So an investment’s duration is always as important as the interest rate, with one exception – negative interest rates. These are always bad, for obvious reasons. If the reasons aren’t obvious, understand that having less money today than you did yesterday is something you want to discourage.

So let’s rephrase that earlier question:

If someone offers you an investment that pays, say, -3%, would you take it?

Which returns us to casino gambling. And for today’s example, the casino mainstay of keno. Keno, if you’re not familiar, is a type of lottery. Some states even incorporate it into their idiot impoverishment plans official lotteries.

In keno you pick twenty numbers from 1 to 80. The casino then draws twenty numbers, and you get paid depending on how many you got right. The game appeals to idiots for several reasons:

-it requires zero skill.
-it offers an outlet for superstition (“My granddaughter was born on the 17^th day of the 11^th month. I was 48 when I joined Oprah’s Book Club. I have 2 eyes on my head, which are currently looking at 77 collectible miniatures,” etc.)
-it provides a margin for error (for instance, if you mark 6 numbers on your ticket, you get paid even if you get only 3 right. If you mark as many as 15 numbers, you get paid if you get only 6 right. What’s not to love about a game that still pays you even if you get more numbers wrong than right?

The vig on keno would be criminal, except that keno players engage in voluntary exchange with the casino and know the rules going in.

Say you play the simplest possible keno ticket; one where you select just one number. The chance of you getting it right is 4-to-1. Most casinos pay 3-to-1.

Which means you just found an investment that pays -25%.

We showed how an investment that pays 10% every 24 hours can make you legitimately rich within a few months, and richer than the rest of the world in less than a year.

Meanwhile, a keno ticket pays -25% in about 7 minutes. (The length of time the casino takes to draw its numbers, then set up for the next game.)

By the way, that one-number ticket is the safest (well, “least dangerous”) keno bet in existence.

Say you play a two-number ticket. The chance of getting both numbers right is about 17-to-1, and pays 12-to-1. Here the casino takes a 28% cut.

Like any good (for the casino) game, the dumber players are, the worse they get punished. Take the average keno player, who isn’t there to win a lousy $4 on a $1 one-number ticket, or even $12 on a $1 two-number ticket. Not when she can WIN UP TO $50,000!!!

One Nevada casino doesn’t require players to perform the toughest feat in keno – correctly picking all 20 numbers on a 20-number ticket – to claim its biggest prize. Instead, in a nod to ease and simplicity, this casino offers its biggest prize even to anyone who can just pick all 14 numbers on a 14-number ticket. Again, for a sweet $50,000 prize.

Care to guess what the odds are on getting 14 numbers right out of 14?

“Well,” you’re thinking, “Control Your Cash has already demonstrated that the casino takes a gigantic cut, somewhere in the 25-28% range. So the odds are probably around…65,000-to-1.”

Higher.

100,000-to-1?

Higher.

You’re telling me the casino actually keeps most of the money wagered on said tickets, paying the player less than half? That’s horrible.

Yeah, we know. Back to the original question: what do you think the odds are?

110,000-to-1?

Look, we try to keep these posts down to a reasonable length. Stop pussyfooting. The chance of getting all 14 numbers right is…

38,910,016,282-to-1.

It’s as if the casino said, “We chose a random person, somewhere on the planet, and got that person to roll a die. Who did we pick, and what number came up?” In other words, you’re going to lose.

We understand that the casino must take some cut for its expenses, like say the 3% it takes on roulette bets. If the casino were taking a similar cut here, then a winning $1 ticket should entitle you to Warren Buffett’s net worth. Or the entire market capitalization of Ford Motor Company. Or the gross domestic product of Costa Rica.

But instead, you get $50,000. Which makes the vig 99.9999%.

But hey, it’s only a buck. And you could win $50,000!!! Which is a big number! And aren’t all big numbers basically the same?

Below is the vig the casino takes on each keno bet. The Roman numerals refer to how many numbers you chose on your ticket. So for instance, if you play an 8-number ticket and get 5 right, the casino keeps 84% of your money. Happy reading.

TED came to Ottawa this weekend and in honour of thought-provoking talks, I’m sharing one of my all-time TED favourites by Barry Schwartz.

Mr. Schwartz demonstrates, via a story of unfortunate events, how society is run wild by bureaucracy.

As a public servant guided by common-sense, witnessing bureaucracy running wild in bureaucracy can often be confounding. Processes, rules and hierarchy have existed long enough that most neither question them, nor try to change them if they do.

For those of us working in online communications and social media in the Government – this is where our “practical wisdom” needs to shine. Many of us are the first or second generation Web leaders in Government. We are creating a new working order within the bureaucracy – where processes and rules don’t yet exist. It is in our experience and knowledge that we must have confidence and and rely on as we make decisions and set new directions every day.

Most of us don’t have senior managements to whom we look for guidance on Web 1.0 and 2.0 communications.  In the absence of direction, or in the presence of misguided or misinformed direction, it is our judgement that should stand firm.

My rallying cry to you – use your judgement, regularly!  And don’t forget, judgement is a section in your job description (for Canadian public servants.)  Exercise it.

Onward.

Martha

I’m going to be incredibly original today and announce that I have a bone to pick with Facebook. Not necessarily Facebook itself, per se. I love Facebook. I mean, I’ve complained about Facebook in the past on this blog, but honestly, if Facebook was heroin, I’d be pretty screwed over. However, my current complaint about Facebook doesn’t actually have anything to do with Facebook, but rather its community.

You see, way back in ye olden days of Facebook (roughly two or two and a half years ago), one of my favorite parts of Facebook was running around looking for groups with funny titles and messages, like “Back in my day, evolution simply meant a more badass Pokemon”, “Automatic Doors Make Me Feel Like A Jedi”, “I Will Judge You If You Use Comic Sans MS”, “If you ever had a near orgasm from seeing the green check on WebAssign”, and my personal favorite back when it was a little more topical, “Fuck Iraq, We Gotta Catch Voldemort!”. And this isn’t to say that people aren’t making funny groups anymore. Last week I found one called “When I Die I Give My Friends Permission To Change My Status To ‘Is Dead’”. That makes me chuckle. But you know what doesn’t make me chuckle? When people can’t keep their Facebook groups and their Facebook pages straight.

See, you become a member of a group, but you become a fan of a page. Here’s an example I found roughly 20 seconds before I started writing this post (just to give you an insight into how the creative process tends to work on this blog). I found a page called “I change my date on homework so it looks like I did it earlier.” Now, that’s pretty funny, and I like that someone made this observation, but then they went about it the wrong way. This is the title of something that should be a group. Not a page. You can’t become a fan of I change my date on homework so it looks like I did it earlier. That’s grammatically incorrect! You can become a fan of changing my date on homework so it looks like I did it earlier. Or you could have made the whole thing a group!

Basically, I’d like to lay down  a general rule of thumb that I’d like to see adopted. If it’s the name of a page, it has to function as a noun. Yes, this means you have to dig out those arcane grammar skills you’ve tried to suppress the memory of and remember how to make noun clauses and how to use gerunds and all that fancy stuff, but, really, the alternative is a world where you log on to Facebook and read that one of your friends has become a fan of “I use my cell phone to see in the dark”. You can’t be a fan of that! That’s a sentence, not a noun! And what’s even worse is when you read something like “So-and-so became a fan of ‘We used to talk for hours and now we never even say hi’”. Come on, even if that followed the rule of thumb I just made up, how the hell could you be a fan of that? “Oh man, I love alienating people!”

So, to the peoples of Facebook who make pages for people to become fans of, learn what the word “fan” means, and learn how grammar works.

That’s about all I have to say about that. Back to 30 Rock and Spanish homework. Although I’d like to use this opportunity (“opportunity” meaning “I actually updated recently”) to inform that probably incredibly small demographic of people who a) read my blog, b) read A Softer World, and c) want a wallpaper based on this particular A Softer World to know that I actually updated that oft-neglected portion of the site with such a thing to fit your needs! Enjoy it and distress people in your immediate vicinity who glance over at your desktop!

Also, I feel the need to share this with everybody I can!

Michele Bachmann: We’re At The Point Of Orderly Revolution

Civil War in the US Coming Soon!

On Line Wall Street Journal

The European Union Times

We are living in dangerous times. Read the articles linked above. We can not stand like ostriches with our heads in the sand making believe everything is alright. To many politicians have their heads up their butts to see and stop Obama’s course to our destruction. Thanks to The Mad Jewess for her post on this. Visit and read her take on it. As for change, we need to change back to what this nation was founded on, not some socialist utopia that Obama is seeking, not a NWO.

Let me get straight to it. I was robbed. My car was vandalized and some pretty nice audio and video equipment was stolen. No biggie, This is why we pay gobs of money to our insurance companies.

What I AM having, is a hard time accepting the fact that with all my size strength and intelligence, there was absolutely nothing I could have done to stop it. I cannot shake it off. As a protector and defender of my family, I feel like I was caught slipping.

I’ve been talking to and reading about victims of theft and burglary, and how they feel violated and helpless. Yep, that’s sounds about right. What’s worse, this feeling of paranoia has me extremely protective of my family. More so than normal. If I was a scary bear before, I am certainly not to be poked or prodded now.

My family as a group will be obtaining concealed weapon permits and enrolling in a firearms class (not that I need it),but since we’ve become a Glock carrying family, it stands to reason that a family that shoots together….

Overkill? Hell no. Turn your television on. Go to any news channel, and realize that your time is coming soon. It’s just a matter of time before you become a statistic. Doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, the country’s crime rate has increased exponentially over the last few years.

Even if you consider yourself safe from theft, what’s your perverted neighbor across from you REALLY thinking of you? And to you guys trying to put another notch in your players card, two words for you: Steve McNair (RIP). Is it me, or does it seem that everyone in the world has lost their damned minds.

I won’t even bring up the recession. That alone is driving the indigent to extremes never before seen. Like breaking into my car parked at a four star hotel on friggin THANKSGIVING…

All of my close friends will tell you I’m not and never will be a gun advocate. Personally, I prefer the up close and personal hands on beat down.

But extreme times call for extreme measures. I’ll be waiting, locked and loaded.

To quote the comedian, Cedric the entertainer…”I WISH a motherf%#ker would…”

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese war planes attacked Pearl Harbor, the forward base for the United States in the Pacific, effectively drawing the United States into war with Japan.  This picture, widely publicized in the United States, illustrates the extent of the physical destruction.  The sinking battleship is the USS West Virginia.  The crew of the motorboat in the foreground is attempting to save sailors in the water.  The official battle report, submitted on December 11, 1941, can be a useful source document for classroom use.  The sinking of the USS West Virginia resulted in the death of 106 crewmen.

A surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy’s base at Pearl Harbor and on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands on December 7, 1941. It destroyed much of the American Pacific Fleet and brought the United States into World War II. The attack followed the decision of the Japanese government that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration would not abandon China and Southeast Asia to the Japanese military nor continue to supply Tokyo with vital materials. Early Sunday morning, December 7, Japanese aircraft launched an assault that destroyed or disabled nineteen ships and 292 planes. American deaths totaled 2, 335 and 1, 178 were wounded. Ultimately, though the attack was a tactical success, the Japanese failed to destroy American repair yards, fuel reserves, and submarines. Source for below photo and clip. Visit for other photos, clips and information.

Attack on pearl harbor

Let us not forget those that were either killed or wounded in this sneak attack on the United States.

Let us not forget that we had a second devastating sneak attack on Sept. 11, 2001, by Islamic terrorists. I fear we will have one more before America wakes up and this will come from the enemy within. Systematic destruction of our military and freedoms by liberals in Congress following Obama’s lead toward a NWO with one world governance. Don’t let history repeat itself.

Update:

Visit tparty2010 for another take on this.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese war planes attacked Pearl Harbor, the forward base for the United States in the Pacific, effectively drawing the United States into war with Japan.  This picture, widely publicized in the United States, illustrates the extent of the physical destruction.  The sinking battleship is the USS West Virginia.  The crew of the motorboat in the foreground is attempting to save sailors in the water.  The official battle report, submitted on December 11, 1941, can be a useful source document for classroom use.  The sinking of the USS West Virginia resulted in the death of 106 crewmen.

A surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy’s base at Pearl Harbor and on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands on December 7, 1941. It destroyed much of the American Pacific Fleet and brought the United States into World War II. The attack followed the decision of the Japanese government that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration would not abandon China and Southeast Asia to the Japanese military nor continue to supply Tokyo with vital materials. Early Sunday morning, December 7, Japanese aircraft launched an assault that destroyed or disabled nineteen ships and 292 planes. American deaths totaled 2, 335 and 1, 178 were wounded. Ultimately, though the attack was a tactical success, the Japanese failed to destroy American repair yards, fuel reserves, and submarines. Source for below photo and clip. Visit for other photos, clips and information.

Attack on pearl harbor

Let us not forget those that were either killed or wounded in this sneak attack on the United States.

Let us not forget that we had a second devastating sneak attack on Sept. 11, 2001, by Islamic terrorists. I fear we will have one more before America wakes up and this will come from the enemy within. Systematic destruction of our military and freedoms by liberals in Congress following Obama’s lead toward a NWO with one world governance. Don’t let history repeat itself.

Update:

Visit tparty2010 for another take on this.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese war planes attacked Pearl Harbor, the forward base for the United States in the Pacific, effectively drawing the United States into war with Japan.  This picture, widely publicized in the United States, illustrates the extent of the physical destruction.  The sinking battleship is the USS West Virginia.  The crew of the motorboat in the foreground is attempting to save sailors in the water.  The official battle report, submitted on December 11, 1941, can be a useful source document for classroom use.  The sinking of the USS West Virginia resulted in the death of 106 crewmen.

A surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy’s base at Pearl Harbor and on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands on December 7, 1941. It destroyed much of the American Pacific Fleet and brought the United States into World War II. The attack followed the decision of the Japanese government that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration would not abandon China and Southeast Asia to the Japanese military nor continue to supply Tokyo with vital materials. Early Sunday morning, December 7, Japanese aircraft launched an assault that destroyed or disabled nineteen ships and 292 planes. American deaths totaled 2, 335 and 1, 178 were wounded. Ultimately, though the attack was a tactical success, the Japanese failed to destroy American repair yards, fuel reserves, and submarines. Source for below photo and clip. Visit for other photos, clips and information.

Attack on pearl harbor

Let us not forget those that were either killed or wounded in this sneak attack on the United States.

Let us not forget that we had a second devastating sneak attack on Sept. 11, 2001, by Islamic terrorists. I fear we will have one more before America wakes up and this will come from the enemy within. Systematic destruction of our military and freedoms by liberals in Congress following Obama’s lead toward a NWO with one world governance. Don’t let history repeat itself.

Update:

Visit tparty2010 for another take on this.

No, I haven’t forgotten about this guy. By now, up to four alleged jumpoffs have given the media plenty of interviews, happy to announce that they were doing the famous golfer. Some say that nine women have acknowledged their connection to Tiger Woods. One is a former porn star. Whatever.

The newest, Mindy Lawton, insisted in one of Rupert Murdoch’s screeds, The News of the World, that that Tiger was very well endowed…with other physical attributes that have little to do with golfing. Well, okay. Is that all? And no, I’m not supplying the link.

Woods told her to meet him in a shop car park in the Orlando suburb of Windermere near his £2.4million home in a gated community.

She recalled: “I followed him in through the gatehouse and was blown away when we pulled into the driveway. Tiger opened the garage doors and we went inside through the kitchen. The house was just fantastic.

“It was about 3am and very dark. I could not see any photos of Tiger and his wife around, but there was a wall lined with trophies.” Woods cuddled up to Mindy on the sofa and began kissing her.

She said: “He started to strip off my clothes and I took off his. We were sitting on a brown sofa and within seconds we were both naked.

“As a sportsman he is in great shape, but he is also very well endowed. He kept on complimenting me on my figure and kissed me all over.

“That first time he was very dominant and knew what he wanted and what he was doing. By the time we finished I looked like a rag doll, but we both had big smiles on our faces.”

Mindy left around 5am, due to begin her shift at the restaurant two hours later. Later that morning Tiger walked in with his pals. Mindy said: “He really was very happy and we both gave each other knowing looks.”

Tiger Woods is being reduced to a mindless body, and frankly, I don’t think I feel too good for him at this level. He is more than that. Yes, he is what you might call a superb physical specimen. Yes, it is his fault for exposing himself to and consorting with such women, but there is something else at work here. At first, it was his very cerebral game that fascinated people and made them believers and fans, because golf is a game not only about privilege and money, but about mind as well as body control. That’s how they felt okay about him. He wasn’t like some basketball, football, or baseball players who have problems keeping their trousers zipped. He was well-spoken, handsome, conservative, coming from a military family. And he was Buddhist, too, from the Theravada, Hinayana part of the Buddhist Street.

Unfortunately, there was no middle ground created for Tiger to occupy if something went wrong. When it comes to discussing black people in the media or popular culture, it is always in extremes, never in grey shades. These extremes die hard as people tend to be quite comfortable in revisiting stereotypes and other bankrupt tropes to explain people and events. Because, finally, Tiger Woods is black. A black man. All that ducking and weaving for naught, and it caught up with him, as many blacks knew that it would. There is no shade for Cablinasians in this heated situation, as the word becomes the made-up name it always was. Nothing wrong with being proud of your mixed ancestry, and coming from New Orleans, I knew that there were many bi/tri/quad/octo-racial people, but you can talk all that stuff under the table if you come out brown as the tops of some dinner rolls. Tiger, you are black.

Now, in these interviews with the jumpoffs, Tiger emerges as all body, which is fixated on one purpose only, getting as much sex as possible. It’s not even about love or affection. It’s dead center about sex. Your body is beautiful, and my body is beautiful, (and I am still young and rich and famous), so let’s get down and do the deed. Nothing wrong with that. I mean, been there and done that before, and it is pleasureable, but up to a point. That is, even I got tired of that, and wanted more. Tiger didn’t.

And on top of it all, he was the one who spoke vows with another woman to be her husband, forsaking all others, and continued flinging with his other women. Be wild and cra-zay if you wanna when you are single, but not when you’re married and have a family. Don’t use jumpoffs as a way of leaving the marriage, blaming the wife, working off steam, or whatever. Escape the marriage because you may want out, period.

Tiger Woods appears to be a late bloomer with all of this activity. Is he a sex addict? That remains to be diagnosed by a qualified professional. Because this makes me think that the one commenter on my last post about Tiger who said that he had married Elin Nordegren too young–at 28–was right. Tiger Woods has been living and breathing golf since he was two years old, and all the way through his young adulthood and through his quitting Stanford and turning pro. The pressure of simply being Tiger Woods must be terrific. But there are other ways to work things through, other than sexual. Tiger may be a cerebral guy, but he is like many who doesn’t want anyone fooling with the furniture up there. He likes it fine and doesn’t want to readily change.

It also doesn’t excuse his continuing liaisons with these women even after he married Elin, had children, and passed the age of 30, the new goalpost of maturity. And the report that Tiger’s not using condoms during all this makes me wonder for Elin’s sake. When you have sex with someone, as the saying goes, you’re not just having sex with him or her, but with several other people at the same time. Just what was he bringing home to his wife? That ain’t right. That ain’t even right, because for all intents and purposes, Elin was keeping her end of the promise. I don’t blame her at all for going ballistic. It’s no different from say, a brother living next door bringing AIDS or any other sexually-transmitted disease to his woman because of his activities, and later accusing her of stepping out on him when she comes up snake-eyes. You’ve heard of those stories out in the neighborhood or even on shows like Steve Wilkos.

And how many times have we heard about this reductionist thinking about black men, that this is all that they are? Just sex machines? Or that they’re the ultimate Biggus Dickus to lay? I’m wanting, begging to hear something different from brothers on this issue. So far I haven’t. Other than high-fiving each other on blogs and comment sections, or shaking knowing heads, or calling on Woods to find god, I haven’t read very much about black men challenging and revising this pervasive idea and using Tiger’s woes as an opportunity to say something about themselves and each other and tread their own middle way, be they straight or gay. It’s profoundly disappointing. Getting this latest about Tiger’s sexual prowess pulled out of Murdoch’s bag of tricks is more than just disgusting and racist. It’s fcking tired.

I’m thinking, how did Tiger really view Elin? Was he taking a page from his father? Did his widowed mother force him to marry? Was Elin pregnant when the straying occurred, and she could not fathom sex with him? Was he stressed out over his golfing? Was he afraid? Did he sense a faltering of his skills? I don’t have a workable context yet–but I am getting there–with which I can understand why he needed a bevy of jumpoffs to go along with his marriage. I don’t approve of his cheating, but more and more, I don’t like the women either from Uchitel on down. Not because they are white or bleached blonde or professional playas in their own way. I’m way beyond that. There’s always been a class of demimondaines, society women, groupies, party girls, or celebrity hostesses who’ve catered to athletes, rock stars, actors, and other famous individuals.

I don’t like Tiger’s women collaborating in this media-driven backlash against Woods, mainly because (1) he’s beat the best at a game in which he’s been the top draw for years, and these escapades are threatening to diminish his achievements, not just his image and product endorsements; and (2) he’s got a white wife, Elin Nordegren, from Sweden, a Scandinavian country–which makes her more whiter, purer, and Nordic than even the most upper class American (or Mormon) here. These women are wanting to hit at her too, and not just Tiger, as he pays off Uchitel and the other women not to disclose anything else like photos and films. Here, finally, is the weakness in his game and in his marriage and in his perfect life. The relief that Tiger is black after all must be palpable among his opponents on the golf circuit and elsewhere, and especially among those who had even begrudged him his Masters jacket.

Oh, yeah. I know the women are making piles of money and garnering a lot of publicity–some more than others–in response to being used by Woods, and perhaps they should collect during these 15 minutes. However, if someone’s story makes that jump between consent and rape, we may really have a donnybrook in the making. Lawton already suggests in her interview that Woods liked rough sex. Don’t think that they won’t try to find that person. I’m sure they’re scouring for her now.

There’s more I’d like to write about Tiger, but it will have to wait. There is more in the offing. I can’t wait to get my Cricket connection back.

Read the letter sent to Sen. Barbara Boxer from an Alaskan Airlines pilot below.
Many of us witnessed the arrogance of Barbara Boxer on June 18, 2009 as she admonished Brigadier General Michael Walsh because he addressed her as “ma’am” and not “Senator” before a Senate hearing.

This letter is from a National Guard aviator and Captain forAlaska Airlines named Jim Hill. I wonder what he would have said if he were really angry. Long fly Alaska !!!!!

Babs:
You were so right on when you scolded the general on TV for using the term, “ma’am,” instead of “Senator”. After all, in the military, “ma’am” is a term of respect when addressing a female of superior rank or position. The general was totally wrong. You are not a person of superior rank or position. You are a member of one of the world’s most corrupt organizations, the U.S. Senate, equaled only by the U.S.House of Representatives.

Congress is a cesspool of liars, thieves, inside traders, traitors, drunks (one who killed a staffer, yet is still revered), criminals, and other low level swine who, as individuals (not all, but many), will do anything to enhance their lives, fortunes and power, all at the expense of the People of the United States and its Constitution, in order to be continually re-elected. Many democrats even want American troops killed by releasing photographs. How many of
you could honestly say, “We pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor”? None? One? Two?

Your reaction to the general shows several things. First is your abysmal ignorance of all things military. Your treatment of the general shows you to be an elitist of the worst kind. When the general entered the military (as most of us who served) he wrote the government a blank check, offering his life to protect your derriere, now safely and comfortably ensconced in a 20 thousand dollar leather chair, paid for by the general’s taxes. You repaid him for this
by humiliating him in front of millions.

Second is your puerile character, lack of sophistication, and arrogance, which borders on the hubristic. This display of brattish behavior shows you to be a virago, termagant, harridan, nag, scold or shrew, unfit for your position, regardless of the support of the unwashed, uneducated masses who have made California into the laughing stock of the
nation.

What I am writing, are the same thoughts countless millions of Americans have toward Congress, but who lack the energy, ability or time to convey them. Regardless of their thoughts, most realize that politicians are pretty much the same, and will vote for the one who will bring home the most bacon, even if they do consider how corrupt that person is. Lord Acton (1834 – 1902) so aptly charged, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Unbeknownst to you and your colleagues, “Mr. Power” has had his way with all of you, and we are all the worse for it.
Finally Senator, I, too, have a title. It is “Right Wing Extremist Potential Terrorist Threat.” It is not of my choosing, but was given to me by your Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. And you were offended by “ma’am”?

Have a fine day. Cheers!
Jim Hill
16808 – 103rd Avenue Court East
South Hill , WA 98374

Thank’s to RJ over at Paul Revere’s Riders for posting this. My sentiments exactly. Boxhead is an arrogant a-hole that while trying to get “respect” showed that she deserves none.

In June, McChrystal noted, he had arrived in Afghanistan and set about fulfilling his assignment. His lean face, hovering on the screen at the end of the table, was replaced by a mission statement on a slide: “Defeat the Taliban. Secure the Population.”

“Is that really what you think your mission is?” one of those in the Situation Room asked.

On the face of it, it was impossible — the Taliban were part of the fabric of the Pashtun belt of southern Afghanistan, culturally if not ideologically supported by a significant part of the population. “We don’t need to do that,” Gates said, according to a participant. “That’s an open-ended, forever commitment.”

But that was precisely his mission, McChrystal responded, and it was enshrined in the Strategic Implementation Plan — the execution orders for the March strategy, written by the NSC staff.

“I wouldn’t say there was quite a ‘whoa’ moment,” a senior defense official said of the reaction around the table. “It was just sort of a recognition that, ‘Duh, that’s what, in effect, the commander understands he’s been told to do.’ Everybody said, ‘He’s right.’ “

“It was clear that Stan took a very literal interpretation of the intent” of the NSC document, said Jones, who had signed the orders himself. “I’m not sure that in his position I wouldn’t have done the same thing, as a military commander.” But what McChrystal created in his assessment “was obviously something much bigger and more longer-lasting . . . than we had intended.”

Whatever the administration might have said in March, officials explained to McChrystal, it now wanted something less absolute: to reverse the Taliban’s momentum, deter it and try to persuade a significant number of its members to switch sides. “We certainly want them not to be able to overthrow the government,” Jones said.

On Oct. 9, after awaking to the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Obama listened to McChrystal’s presentation. The “mission” slide included the same words: “Defeat the Taliban.” But a red box had been added beside it saying that the mission was being redefined, Jones said. Another participant recalled that the word “degrade” had been proposed to replace “defeat.”

Go to this Washington Post article for the entire story.

We are in a war against global Islamic terrorism. The goal of war is to defeat the enemy and win. If that means killing every last one of them so be it. This is not a board game where you set up rules to even the playing field for the enemy.  You don’t punish those thst are defending our freedom because a murdering terrorist got a “fat lip”. Constitutional rights and civillian trials for terrorist mass murderers. WTF is it with these people.

Global Warming For Dummies in 1:21 seconds….

Liberty and Tyranny: Bachmann Warns Against Cap-and-Trade

Cap & Trade will DESTROY the middle class

Stop the New World Order — Global Warming is a Hoax

Climate has been changing since the beginning of this earth, it is changing now and will until the end times. This climategate push is a step towards one world governance by a few elitists and the rest of us will be left behind living more and more like those in the third world. Al Gore is a fraud that has made millions pushing this scam. Obama is a proponent of a NWO. He was not the first but let’s make him the last. Obama and those that follow his ideals of an increasingly Obamanist society.

Episode twenty five of Jared Weseman: Unfiltered Has Been Released! Listen to it at unfiltered.mevio.com ! Or subscribe in iTunes .

Show Notes: Unfiltered #025: Obama’s War…… for 12-5-09

MUSIC

• Inside of Me by 7 Years Today
• The Breakdown by Shotty
• The Night the Two of Us Died by Adam Ilami
• Gone by And Other Things
• Circus by Gills and Wings
• The Dawn by Awake! Awake!
• Primal Urges by Chris Nelson

STORIES

• Gore’s presentation on climate change draws 800 as 200 protestors gather outside
• Climatologists Baffled by Global Warming Time-Out
• Dems at risk of losing Obama’s old Senate seat
• Climate Emails Stoke Debate
• Climategate: the final nail in the coffin of ‘Anthropogenic Global Warming’?
• Climategate e-mails sweep America, may scuttle Barack Obama’s Cap and Trade laws
• Climate scientist at center of e-mail controversy to step down
• Palin’s Book: The Overview
• Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government
• Splits widen for Democrats over health reform
• Joe Lieberman slams public option; taunts critics
• Senate health care debate to focus on Democratic divide
• Senate debate on health care bill opens with heated rhetoric
• Afghan troop increase similar to Iraq surge of 2007?
• Obama outlines troop buildup, Afghan withdrawal plan
• NATO to send more troops to Afghanistan
• President’s Afghan drawdown plan called risky, ‘unrealistic’
• Frequently asked questions about the mission in Afghanistan
• Obama Approval on Afghanistan, at 35%, Trails Other Issues
• Obama approval rating below 50 percent
• GM CEO Henderson forced out; Whitacre takes over — for now
• Unexpected drop in jobless rate sparks optimism
• Obama: Jobs news ‘modestly encouraging’
• The ‘Real’ Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
• Gold Jumps to Record as Slumping Dollar Spurs Investment Demand
• Obama wants domestic spending cuts in next budget
• Howard Dean Declares Debate Between Capitalism and Socialism to Be Over
• Dell unveils Android-based Mini 3 smartphone
• Microsoft and News Corp eye web pact
• Judge rules for Apple in Psystar case
• Verizon ad describes negotiations with Apple?
• Windows Mobile loses nearly a third of market share
• The End Of The CrunchPad
• AT&T-iPhone Marriage Might End in June 2010
• Next generation iPhone now in testing phase
• UPDATE 1-Activision says “Call of Duty” series tops $3 bln
• Chevy Volt to cruise into California next year
• Comcast poised to get NBC Universal
• Facebook Says It Has No Immediate IPO Plans
• Sprint – Engadget Mobile
  
  

CONTACT THE SHOW

• Email: jwunfiltered@gmail.com
• Voicemail:646-495-9203 x 79330
• Twitter: @jaredweseman
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• Web/Show Notes: unfiltered.jaredweseman.com

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