Remember to Say "Thank You"

"I bear this cross with honor, 'cause freedom don't come free."

--Toby Keith, "American Soldier"

As you get ready for your picnics, your trips to the lake, your last-minute trip to the fireworks stand to get the last gross of bottle rockets and sparklers, I want you to stop and think for a minute about where you got your freedom on this Independence Day.

Did you get it from Barack Obama and George W. Bush? No.

Did you get it from media talking heads like Bill O'Reilly, Arianna Huffington, Rush Limbaugh, and James Carville? No.

Did you get it from organizations like the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today? No.

Did you get it from celebrities like Brad Pitt, Paris Hilton, Bruce Willis, and Susan Sarandon? No.

Did you get it from academics from such places as Berkely, South Dakota State, Columbia University, Harvard and Dakota State University? No.

Did you get it from community organizers like ACORN? No.

Did you get it from bloggers like Todd Epp, Steve Sibson, Cory Heidelberger, Pat Powers, Dakota Women and me? No.

So where did you get your freedoms that you're celebrating today on this Independence Day?

Simple.

We got them from the (mostly) men and women who have sacrificed their time, bodies, minds, and lives so that we can enjoy our lives in freedom and security. For 234 years, starting in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, these individuals sacrificed their blood, so we would not have to sacrifice ours. THEY won us the freedom to act like idiots with our lives... to mock our country and feign embarrassment to the rest of the world... to celebrate the morons that throw shoes at our Presidents....

...and the freedom to call the people who have fought and died for our freedoms morons, rednecks, butchers, brainwashed robots, rapists, and baby killers.

These people are our greatest heroes.... they suffered through the hellish winter of Valley Forge. They shed blood at Bull Run and Shiloh. They went through Hell on Earth at Normandy and Omaha Beach. And they are fighting off those who would do us harm in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These brave men and women are indeed heroes. They have put their lives on the line, doing something that the rest of us either can not or will not do. Defend and ensure our freedoms with their lives.

So as you get ready to light off your fireworks, or get ready to play volleyball, or get ready to bemoan the state of our country, take the time to think of the soldiers, sailors, and pilots who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we will not have to.



Think of them... and thank them.

panem et circenses

A half a world away, thousands of individuals are waking up from a 30-year slumber. They are starting to realize their government is lying to them, and that they will do anything to keep in power, including killing its citizens who protest.

A half a world away, a tyrannical dictator is waving his saber armed with a nuclear tip at us, threatening to blow up the world in order to assuage his feelings of inadequacy.

A half a world away, soldiers are sacrificing their limbs and lives so that we can live in freedom, and free from fear of the evil bastards that would do us harm.

Yet here, what do most people want to talk about?

*A pair of spoiled brats who get married and can't seem to decide whether or not to stay on a reality show.

*A couple who sold out themselves and their kids to be viewed by the public, at the cost of their own marriage.

*Who wins a singing or dancing show.

These things take up our mindset, constantly.

The Roman poet Juvenal wrote a phrase 200 years ago that accurately describes what we are experiencing... panem et circenses.

"Bread and Circuses"

At the risk of..

At the risk of offending some radical feminists, or sounding phallo-centric, I just wanted to pass along the following sentiment:

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

With love, your son.

Iran... Iran so far away...

Unless you're one of those rubes who like to follow the clusterf*#k that is the "Jon and Kate Plus 8" saga, you've probably been paying attention to the debacle over in Iran.

Basically, Iran's presidential election, featuring two hard-liners who'd both like to see Israel wiped off the map and to finish Hitler's "final solution" has been marred by massive voting irregularities, not to mention fraud. The religious folks, who are the ones who wear the "daddy pants" in Iran basically declared the incumbent as the winner despite it taking about three days to count the ballots (apparently they never heard of "hanging chads").

Needless to say, the public is a mite torqued off. So much so that they have decided to take to the streets and let the clerics know just how they're feeling. And based on some reports, around 100 or so folks have died. To make matters even more fun, the religious authority has said if the protests don't stop, they're bascially going to be busting heads, literally.

Kinda takes the phrase "The beatings will continue until morale improves" to a scary real level.

Here in the good ol' "Birthplace of Modern Democracy", the debate has been what to do or say about this whole situation. President Obama has denounced the way that the protesters are being handled. But should we say more?

In a word, no.

Why not? Two reasons. First of all, we're not looked upon with a whole lot of favor over in the Middle East right now... especially in the country formerly known as Persia. Still a lot of bad feelings from 1979, you know (they tend to know how to hold a grudge in that part of the world). So anything we say or do is going to be ignored at best, reviled at worst.

Secondly, it seems the regime over in Iran is doing a pretty good job of slitting its throat on its own. Fareed Zakaria of CNN says that even if the ruling religious leaders manage to stifle the protests, enough information and images of what's been going on has been leaked via Twitter and Facebook that they've pretty much abandoned the ideals that brought them into power thirty years ago.

So to summarize... this is a case where the less we do, the better off things will be... at least in our public image.

My "WTF" moment of the day....

And if you don't know what "WTF" means... then what the hell are you doing on a computer?

I follow Bob Barr, the 2008 Libertarian Party Candidate for President, on Facebook... he posted this a couple of days ago that's a real head-scratcher

In a little noted proposed regulatory decision issued in May by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (”CPB”), the administration is seeking to ban the import of any pocket knife that partially opens with a flick of the wrist.

The government is able to reach into the pockets of America’s millions of pocket knife users to limit the type of knife they can own, thanks to a novel and expansive interpretation of the 1958 “Switchblade Knife Act.” This half-century old law prohibited the importation into the U.S.of, or the interstate commerce in, automatic switchblade and stiletto knives.

Forget bin Laden, and screw Kim Jong Il... lets go after pocketknives!

Is it just me, or do you think there are some politicians in D.C. that really need to get lives?

Semantics Suck!

For the love of all that is holy and sacred... how many times do I have to tell you yahoos...

It's IH-talian... not EYE-talian!

The good people from the country shaped like a boot are not, repeat NOT, from EYE-taly!

SHEESH!

An open letter to Kim-Jong Il

Dear "honorable leader" of North Korea.

Sixty-four years ago, in the smal town of Alamogordo, New Mexico, scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer uttered these words after a successful experiment:

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

Less than a month later, the United States Army Air Force brought Dr. Oppenheimer's words to fruition on two Japanese cities... Hiroshima and Nagasaki.



With this in mind, and all the saber-rattling you've been doing, do you really think it's in your and your country's interest to be torquing-off a country that has nuclear weapons and HAS used them in an actual war?

I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Think about it.

Tech... No Logic

Guess what? I'm taking a break today from railing against the gang teaming up on my Harrisburg Basketball co-announcer. And I promse not to use FCC-unfriendly language today, too!

For as much railing as I did aginst Twitter, I now twitter... I'm such a sell-out! By the way, here's the shameless plug... http://www.twitter.com/jackrabit1

So with this neat little thing, I've decided that I'll keep the personal stuff on there and keep this more that are on a larger scale... especially things that pi- I mean torque me off (WHEW!)

I've also done some housecleaning. A few weeks ago, I got rid of my MySpace page. Frankly, I never go there anymore... there's too many bad memories, and I like Facebook a heck of a lot better. And frankly, MySpace has become too much of a "little kids" shill site. Sorry.... never was a fan of the Jonas Brothers and I never will be. Though if they do a set with Bruce Springsteen, I might develop a little respect for them.

So here's another shameless plug... http://www.facebook.com/jackrabit1. Boy*, it's a good thing I own this little piece of cyberspace... with all the shameless plugs, I'd have to charge myself advertising!

So there's the post, and no swearing either. Heidelberger would be so proud! :P

*I used the word "boy" as common means of expression or emphasis... nothing ethno- or peno-centric about it!

Don't be a dumb-ass

1)Don't be a dumb-ass.

2)If you want something done, do it yourself. Don't rely on the government to do it for you. They'll eventually screw it up and tax you for it. If you believe that government is the answer to everything wrong in the world, you're a dumb-ass. Roll up your sleeves and take care of your own damn problems.

3)Never underestimate the stupidity of dumb-asses in large groups... all you need to do is look at the Republican and Democratic Parties.

4)60% of all statistics are made up on the spot. Usually by dumb-asses

5)Most atheists are either a) rebelling against religion because they don't like being told there are such things as absolutes like Right and Wrong... or b) they are arrogant enough to believe that there is no greater being than themselves. They are dumb-asses.

6)Human beings are primal creatures. We claim to be “enlightened” and above pettiness, but when our values or thoughts are challenged enough, we end up reverting to those base emotions of jealousy and pettiness and self-loathing. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a dumb-ass.

7)I don't need scientific proof to justify my belief in a supreme being... it's called FAITH... get it? If you can't understand that and continue to mock my faith... you're a dumb-ass.

8)Other “Christians” who say the Catholic Church is “evil” and “wrong” are morons. Has it ever occurred to you where your particular Christan doctrine stemmed from? There's a reason it's called the “Catholic” church... it's derived from the Greek word katholikos, which means “universal”. So all you self-righteous Bob Jones-wannabes think on that and try not to get any nightmares tonight! Dumb-asses.

9)People who are narrow-minded ideologues (right-wing AND left-wing) tend to suffer from tunnel-vision and can't see the big picture and only pick and choose what to read and make their opinions off that (i.e. The criticism by the Left Wing blogosphere as of lately). Those who are too open-minded usually end up with their brains (or common sense) leaking out. Both are dumb-asses

10)I'm an independent Libertarian... NO ONE tells me how to think. And if you think you can tell me how to think, then you're a dumb-ass. Oh, and if you think you can change my way of thinking by calling me a dumb-ass, misogynist, racist, or an asshole, then you the world's biggest dumb-ass!

On the beating of a dead horse...

Boy, just when you think this whole STUPID blog war is over with between my Harrisburg basketball co-announcer and the rest of the left-wing blogosphere, the shit hits the fan again..

Todd, having calmed down, explained his rationale behind posting his pictures of beautiful women (by the way, love the Juliana Hatfield pic, she rocked the Lemonheads!). But most importantly, I liked what he posted...

I hope you read this blog. But if it makes you go crazy or pisses you off, then don't read it. I don't hang out with people I don't like, go to places I don't like, read things I don't like, watch TV shows I don't like, read blogs I don't like, or otherwise torture myself with things I don't like unless I'm getting paid to do so. Life is too short to be that miserable by your own hands.

So, read on if you like the MBS, stop now if you don't. And expect that when you stop here, you'll sometimes be pleased and sometimes confounded. Sort of like life.

However, some on the left can't seem to accept this and continue to blast Todd and his ideas, or at the very least, the sincerity of them... apparently he's now some great "traitor" to their cause.

What a bunch of bullshit.

One of the supposed mantras of Liberalism is "Diversity". We gotta have diversity. Diversity in the schools, diversity in the workplace, diversity uber alles! Apparently that idea of "diversity" ends in diversity of thought and opinion. And THEY call the right-wing "Nazis"?!?

But what bothers the hell out of me is their apparent hypocrisy. Case in point, the whole David Letterman-Sarah Pailin controversy. Where was the Madville Times, Dakota Women, and all the other left-wing blogs to rip Letterman a new asshole? To me, joking about someone knocking up someone's daughter, political figure or not reeks of poor taste and is a HELL of a lot more offensive than posting some pictures of beautiful women and calling them "babe". But maybe the fact that Palin is a Republican means they think that ripping on her family is okay.

If this makes me an asshole in their eyes, I really don't care. They're practicing a double-standard and their lack of response over the Letterman situation reeks of it.

Sacrifcing honest debate at the altar of Political Correctness

My Lake Herman friend put up an interesting post on his blog. It talks about how the publisher of the Madison Daily Leader was critical of an airport project on one of the Indian reservations in South Dakota, where there were far more pressing problems.

A pair of writers responded to Jon's editorial, basically accusing him of being racist. About the only thing they didn't do is ask for a copy of his membership card in the KKK.

Here was my response, in its entirety.

These two writers are basically taking issue with Jon's opinion, which is fine. I can see where airport improvements could be vital, especially for health care.

What I take issue with is the way they sling around the term "Racism". What? Because he points out some strong issues that are still on the reservations? Because they have nothing better to criticize him with, so they hang the "Racist" pejorative on him?

"Racism" or calling someone "Racist" with no good evidence to support it is cheap criticism. It's the label for people who feel they can't win an argument any other way. It cheapens the term, when so much legitimate examples of racism still exist in the world... the attack in Washington D.C. this week is prime example of that.

Bringing up legitimate concerns is not racism... these writers are being intellectually lazy at best... knee-jerk reactionaries at worst.

So in other words... bring up your concerns about racially sensitive issues, get ready to be called a racist. All part of sacrificing honest, intellectual debate at the altar of political correctness.