My parents were lower middle-class. We had what we needed, and a bit of what we wanted, but not much more than that. My father was a self-employed house painter, and my mother a school bus driver. I put myself through college and all that I have – I worked damned hard for. It is fair to say I have little sympathy for the moocher class, or the entitlement mentality.
For a couple of years, when I was in the service, I lived in Kingston Jamaica – a place where the “poor” are truly poor. We have precious few real poor people in America.
Neal Boortz posted some statistics that describe “the plight” of being poor in America:
• Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three bedroom house with one and a half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
• Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
• Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two thirds have more than two rooms per person.
• The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
• Nearly three quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
• Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
• Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
• Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
Once a year here in Jacksonville Florida our local newspaper runs a school-by-school report that shows the percentages of kids on the free or reduced lunch (read Taxpayer Provided) program. When I first saw this I immediately knew something was grossly wrong. There were schools that showed nearly 100% of the kids receiving free/reduced lunches!
Now let me clarify something. I have NO problem helping the truly needy. But we have expanded the needy class here beyond all reasonable imagination! Let me put it this way: If my personal finances were in dire straits, there is ONE household need I would see to it that was taken care of regardless of all other considerations: feeding my children! That expenditure would come before house payment, car payment, light bill, or even food for me!
But the entitlements crowd wants the government to take from the productive class, and give to the poor, allowing them to keep their money free for wants!
Here’s a perfect example. This lady in Macon GA wanted her heating bills paid for by the taxpayers, and she’s all upset because for whatever reason, she was turned down. But look in the background at the size of her big screen TV. Note also the video game component. What is THAT an X Box or something? Aren’t those things about $300 dollars, with game cartridges running an average of $50 apiece?
Heck I don’t have a TV that big, and I don’t even own an X Box!
In my opinion, she should be selling off such trinkets before she expects help from those of us who actually work and produce something for society!
Monday
My son was mugged
My son did something one night last week that seriously shocked me. He allowed himself to be attacked in a parking lot; taken completely unawares by two muggers who thankfully had no interest in anything beyond his wallet and his shoes!
As the story goes, he was returning to his apartment around 1 am after having dallied with some friends over drinks. He pulled into the gated complex in a fairly upscale area and parked his car. After he got out and locked his car (and simultaneously locking his pistol in the car’s console) he was grabbed in a headlock from behind by someone operating in “Ninja-mode”. The other attacker came from out of nowhere and attempted to pull Joe’s feet out from under him. He said he felt like the guy was actually trying to remove his shoes as well.
There’s no telling what would have happened if they had been successful getting my son on the ground.
However, the two thugs had no idea that for his size, Joe has uncommon strength and ability. Joe also has a long history of fisticuffs to his credit and has no qualms about settling issues the old fashioned way. Imagine their surprise when Joe easily broke the headlock and began slugging it out with both would-be thieves!
While I am very relieved that Joe was able to overpower and chase off two strong-armed attackers, I also can point to several aspects of the tale that gives me real cause for concern.
First of all, it is just by the grace of God that his foes were apparently unarmed. Otherwise finding their easy mark to be NOT so easy, they might have decided to “bust a cap” in Joe just out of pure frustration! These two clowns had only theft in mind and no wish to watch someone die. But, instead of a headlock, Joe’s first warning he was under attack could just as easily have been a knife in the rib cage.
I have hammered home the idea to my kids that one should never go about unaware of their surroundings. Unless you’re home on the couch with all the doors locked, there is no excuse for leaving one’s guard down to the extent that Joe did. However, I bet these two thugs have gotten the point through to my son far better than anything I could ever say or do. I sincerely hope this is one lesson Joe will never have to re-learn.
Closely related to the question of general awareness is the concept that a .22 in your pocket is better than a cruise-missile locked up where you can’t reach it. Again – I think that lesson was amply brought home to Joe, and he’s fortunate to have survived it.
Finally, and perhaps the most worrisome aspect of all, is that the two thugs now know approximately where Joe lives, and specifically what kind of car he drives. If upon further reflection they decide that the many shots to the head and face they received at the hands of their “victim” warrant some kind of payback – they are well positioned to deliver such payback in a way, and at a time, of their own choosing. My daughter-in-law and my 10 month-old granddaughter pull into that same parking lot every day, and I am deeply concerned that these two yahoos are out there - somewhere - waiting to try it again!
As the story goes, he was returning to his apartment around 1 am after having dallied with some friends over drinks. He pulled into the gated complex in a fairly upscale area and parked his car. After he got out and locked his car (and simultaneously locking his pistol in the car’s console) he was grabbed in a headlock from behind by someone operating in “Ninja-mode”. The other attacker came from out of nowhere and attempted to pull Joe’s feet out from under him. He said he felt like the guy was actually trying to remove his shoes as well.
There’s no telling what would have happened if they had been successful getting my son on the ground.
However, the two thugs had no idea that for his size, Joe has uncommon strength and ability. Joe also has a long history of fisticuffs to his credit and has no qualms about settling issues the old fashioned way. Imagine their surprise when Joe easily broke the headlock and began slugging it out with both would-be thieves!
While I am very relieved that Joe was able to overpower and chase off two strong-armed attackers, I also can point to several aspects of the tale that gives me real cause for concern.
First of all, it is just by the grace of God that his foes were apparently unarmed. Otherwise finding their easy mark to be NOT so easy, they might have decided to “bust a cap” in Joe just out of pure frustration! These two clowns had only theft in mind and no wish to watch someone die. But, instead of a headlock, Joe’s first warning he was under attack could just as easily have been a knife in the rib cage.
I have hammered home the idea to my kids that one should never go about unaware of their surroundings. Unless you’re home on the couch with all the doors locked, there is no excuse for leaving one’s guard down to the extent that Joe did. However, I bet these two thugs have gotten the point through to my son far better than anything I could ever say or do. I sincerely hope this is one lesson Joe will never have to re-learn.
Closely related to the question of general awareness is the concept that a .22 in your pocket is better than a cruise-missile locked up where you can’t reach it. Again – I think that lesson was amply brought home to Joe, and he’s fortunate to have survived it.
Finally, and perhaps the most worrisome aspect of all, is that the two thugs now know approximately where Joe lives, and specifically what kind of car he drives. If upon further reflection they decide that the many shots to the head and face they received at the hands of their “victim” warrant some kind of payback – they are well positioned to deliver such payback in a way, and at a time, of their own choosing. My daughter-in-law and my 10 month-old granddaughter pull into that same parking lot every day, and I am deeply concerned that these two yahoos are out there - somewhere - waiting to try it again!
Thursday
The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
An excerpt:
Read the rest here:
Four Scenarios for the End of the American Century by 2025
A soft landing for America 40 years from now? Don’t bet on it. The demise of the United States as the global superpower could come far more quickly than anyone imagines. If Washington is dreaming of 2040 or 2050 as the end of the American Century, a more realistic assessment of domestic and global trends suggests that in 2025, just 15 years from now, it could all be over except for the shouting.
Despite the aura of omnipotence most empires project, a look at their history should remind us that they are fragile organisms. So delicate is their ecology of power that, when things start to go truly bad, empires regularly unravel with unholy speed: just a year for Portugal, two years for the Soviet Union, eight years for France, 11 years for the Ottomans, 17 years for Great Britain, and, in all likelihood, 22 years for the United States, counting from the crucial year 2003.
Read the rest here:
Four Scenarios for the End of the American Century by 2025
Tuesday
Sixty-nine years ago today...
Hat tip to Western Rifle Shooters Association for pointing out this excellent Pearl Harbor Page.
Remember
Remember also the OTHER dastardly attack on American soil.
Remember
Remember also the OTHER dastardly attack on American soil.
Saturday
Regarding tots, testes & the TSA
Just who in blazes would want to work at a job where you:
- are hated and despised by all your “customers”
- must publicly fondle the genitals of an endless stream of fat, smelly, surly, sweaty, strangers – with a straight face
- are accumulating a massive lifetime dose of radiation to the only body you have
- must routinely pry screaming children from their parents arms in order to frisk them like you would a prison inmate
What does this say about the psyche of someone who wants a job like this?
I have no choice but to fly on two occasions each year. I am NOT standing in that microwave powered “body-print” machine (given my predisposition to skin cancer), and I am NOT sure how I’m going to react when someone I’ve never met grabs a hold of my short arm!
Now go read the short but VERY enlightening post over at Confederate Yankee she entitles: Good News! TSA Scanners Damage DNA, Increase Cancer Risk to Everyone, But Will Kill Small Children and TSA Agents First
Remember that what you don’t know CAN hurt you.
- are hated and despised by all your “customers”
- must publicly fondle the genitals of an endless stream of fat, smelly, surly, sweaty, strangers – with a straight face
- are accumulating a massive lifetime dose of radiation to the only body you have
- must routinely pry screaming children from their parents arms in order to frisk them like you would a prison inmate
What does this say about the psyche of someone who wants a job like this?
I have no choice but to fly on two occasions each year. I am NOT standing in that microwave powered “body-print” machine (given my predisposition to skin cancer), and I am NOT sure how I’m going to react when someone I’ve never met grabs a hold of my short arm!
Now go read the short but VERY enlightening post over at Confederate Yankee she entitles: Good News! TSA Scanners Damage DNA, Increase Cancer Risk to Everyone, But Will Kill Small Children and TSA Agents First
Remember that what you don’t know CAN hurt you.
Friday
Thursday
When the zombies come
Seeing the aftereffects of hurricane Katrina brought the point home to me how thin the veneer of civilization really is. Oh sure there were some who maintained their principals – but the majority of people went nuts in a very short time. We saw cops looting shoe stores, uniformed thugs tackling old women in their homes, massive looting and just general chaos.
Remember that sheep only have two speeds: graze and stampede.
Curtis at Refreshing the Tree of Liberty brings us another more contemporary example of the sheep in action. As you watch these short videos, keep in mind they are just after bargains. But energy interruptions of any sort will bring food shortages, and formerly docile Sunday-school teachers might cut your throat in order to feed their hungry kids.
Watch and learn.
Remember that sheep only have two speeds: graze and stampede.
Curtis at Refreshing the Tree of Liberty brings us another more contemporary example of the sheep in action. As you watch these short videos, keep in mind they are just after bargains. But energy interruptions of any sort will bring food shortages, and formerly docile Sunday-school teachers might cut your throat in order to feed their hungry kids.
Watch and learn.
Wednesday
Testimony of one who lived under Hitler
Read this lady's story of living in Austria during the rise of Hitler.
As you read it, note the similarities with what's happening here in America.
The folks who demand that government solve all our problems have a very persuasive approach. It works - for a while. Until one day you wake up under total tyranny.
After America, There Is No Place To Go
By Kitty Werthmann
As you read it, note the similarities with what's happening here in America.
The folks who demand that government solve all our problems have a very persuasive approach. It works - for a while. Until one day you wake up under total tyranny.
After America, There Is No Place To Go
By Kitty Werthmann
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