Resistance is futile!

The tale of the Truculent Turtle

Hey readers, if there are still any of you out there, check this out:

GullyDad has been working long and hard on researching and writing about an aviation feat that was vitally important, but is now largely forgotten.  The "Truculent" Turtle, a purpose-built P2V Neptune, set a distance and endurance record, flying non-stop from Australia to Ohio in 1946.  The link above is the result of his work.  Check it out, and consider a donation to help preserve this piece of aviation history.

A friend I never met - and never will

Tragedy in Oregon today.  Lisa Zielinski, an integral member of AM radio KYKN in Salem, was murdered in what appears to be domestic violence.

Lisa was one of my many facebook friends - one of many Oregon conservatives who shared her thoughts on the news and events with like minded Oregonians.  I have never met half of my facebook friends in person.  Now there is one I can never meet.  And that is a loss for me, for the community, and for Oregon.  I didn't "know" Lisa - but I read what she wrote.  I made a connection with a wonderful person.  Now that connection - that person - is gone, and I am sad I never got to actually KNOW her.

I am trying hard not to be political as I write this.  But with Arizona still on our minds, I can't help it.  Earlier today, before I heard this news, President Obama was on television giving a speech about the Arizona shootings.  I didn't watch it.  I didn't think the President needed to be there giving a speech in front of grieving family.

I don't have the figures in front of me, but I am guessing something like 20,000 people are murdered each year in this country.  As a general rule, the President doesn't respond directly to most of them.  In any given year, the President doesn't directly respond to ANY murders.  The President only did this because it seemed politically appropriate.

Then I got online, and learned what happened to Lisa.

The President will not speak out about Lisa.  But then, he doesn't need to.  Lisa will be loved by her surviving children, her friends and her community - always.  And Lisa is loved now by her Eternal Lord in Heaven.  Love and faith will heal and restore in ways no political speech ever can.

R.I.P. Lisa.

ignore this

Question of the day

What is the difference between Meg Whitman's former housekeeper and Barack Obama?

Economics 101

Here is the truth about tax cuts and revenue:

When taxes are low, the economy is strong. More people move money from one person to another, from one business to another. Moving money is the driver of profits, and profits are the source of tax revenue. When taxes are low, tax revenue is high.

When taxes are high, the economy is weak. People hang on to their money. Businesses hang on to their money. Worse, some businesses go out of business, and some people lose their jobs. That means fewer people and businesses have any income at all. When taxes are high, tax revenue is low.

Free market capitalists believe in economic freedom. Leftists, progressives, socialists, communists – in other words, most democrat politicians – believe in government control of the economy.

So then, why do democrat politicians appear – at least on the surface – to support tax cuts in the form of tax rebates and tax credits? Aren’t these “lower taxes” and shouldn’t that mean “more revenue” and “economic freedom”?

No.

First, go back to the big picture. In order to enact tax rebates and tax credits, you must begin from a baseline of high taxes. After all, if taxes are already low, what is left to lower further from rebates and credits? Therefore, democrats want the baseline to be higher taxes across the board.

Now, when taxes are high, the economy is bad. This creates an economic crisis. What does a crisis do? It gives the government an excuse to act – for your own good, of course. So the democrats propose targeted rebates and credits, as relief for the poor, to help the economy – never mind that the economy is bad because of democrat supported high taxes overall.

So, why give targeted cuts instead of just lowering taxes? The answer has two components:

First, targeted tax cuts allow politicians – and this applies equally to republicans and democrats – to buy votes. Need votes in the heartland? Give subsidies to farmers. Need votes in the rust belt? Give bailouts to automakers. Losing support among the poor? Give them rebate checks. This then allows you to create class warfare for political gain. Soak the rich; help the poor. Or the other way around. All political groups do this.

Second, targeted tax cuts allow the government to control what segments of the economy prosper, and which die out. They are not simply an economic tool, but a policy tool. Want to promote an environmental policy platform? Raise everyone’s taxes; then give tax credits to “green” industries. Want to support the LBGT alliance? Offer tax credits for health care for same-sex domestic partners, while opposing them for non-married heterosexual couples. By the way, that last one is current law. I am not making this up to bash gays. I don’t give a darn about sexual preference. But my wife and I did pay more in taxes before we got married because she put me on her employer’s insurance plan, while same-sex couples doing the same thing did not. But I digress.

And now, you can see just what it is that the left wants to do with tax policy: use higher taxes to cripple the economy, creating an economic crisis that requires government action, and allowing government to rescue only those segments of the economy that meet the political agenda of the left.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to just, you know, lower taxes for everyone, let the economy recover on its own, and then allow the people to choose politicians who advocate for policy choices independent of the economy? If you want environmental or civil rights or agricultural policies, then win elections based on the merits of your positions. Don’t use an artificial economic crisis that you yourself created to advance an agenda behind the scenes.

What the elitists really think

By now, you have probably heard a lot of GOP establishment elitists lamenting the primary victory of Christine O'Donnell.  Now they are attacking her with far greater zeal than they have ever displayed against actual liberal democrats.

What gives?

She is conservative.  She is pro-life.  She is pro-gun.  She is Christian.  She is small government.  She is anti-tax.  She is for free markets.  She is against Obamacare.  She is against stimulus spending.  She is against cap and trade.  On pretty much every policy, she is exactly where the GOP platform says a GOP candidate should be.

So why do they hate her?  Simple: she is not one of them.

Here is how the elitists - and by this, I mean the Washington insider elitists of BOTH parties, not the average voter, and certainly not the average conservative - see her:

She is an idiot.  She is a crazy, insane, fool.  She is a bible-thumping hypocrite who until last week was sacrificing babies to satan.  She is an ingnorant, stupid, uneducated hick who didn't go to a real university, and who barely even graduated at all.  She is white trash.  She is a redneck rube from poor breeding mouth breather bitter clingers and not from a nice old money establishment family.  She is a lightweight who can't win an election because she has made mistakes in her past, been involved in legal battles, and doesn't have a lot of her own money.  And worst of all, she is just a pretty face, a cute smile, pretty hair and fun glasses.  Kind of like that other horrifyingly bad candidate, Sarah Palin.

Oh, and speaking of witch which, Sarah Palin rushed in to endorse her and help her win the primary.  That bitch witch.

That is what the elitists think.  And that is why they hate her.  But it isn't why they attack her so much.  The attack her not out of hate, but out of fear.  And why?  Because her campaign is now a referendum on Sarah Palin.  And they fear Sarah Palin.

The elites dread one thing more than just about anything else, and that is Sarah Palin becoming President of the United States.  They don't fear it because they fear her policies or what she may do as President - well, except for one thing: flushing out all the elitists from power.

The elitists fear that the Tea Party movement will clean house, and all the elitists in power will no longer have power.  Plain and simple.  And to the elitists, Sarah Palin IS the Tea Party.  And Christine O'Donnell is Sarah Palin by proxy.  Defeat O'Donnell, and defeat Palin.

So whenever you hear some pointy headed certified smart person claiming to be a good conservative Republican and ranting about how horrific Christine O'Donnell is and how stupid the Tea Party is for nominating her and how she will lose her election, just remember what they are really saying: we hate Sarah Palin, you stupid ignorant bible thumping bitter clinger white trash idiot.

If you believe in what the Tea Party stands for, support Christine O'Donnell.  If you think Sarah Palin is your friend and not your enemy, support Christine O'Donnell.  If you think it is time to make good on Nancy Pelosi's pledge to drain the swamp, support Christine O'Donnell.  If you believe Washington is broken and the establishment elitists are to blame, support Christine O'Donnell.

If none of that applies to you... well... just come clean and admit you want to elect committed marxist and Reid lap dog Coon instead.  I'd respect you more if you were at least honest about it.

This chart says it all

In 2006, angry voters turned Congress over to the democrats.  Two years later, the White House to Obama.  What has happened since?

Now, what should we DO about it?

Listen to the birds

The Mrs. and I were watching TV when we heard a loud “thump” come from outside.  The sound was easily identified: it was the unmistakable thump of a bird strike on a window.  I ran over to the other room from which it sounded like the strike occurred, and looked down from the large window to the ground nearly two stories below, and saw what looked like a dead female goldfinch.

I ran down to see if it was dead, or worse, dying.  From a distance it looked dead.  As I got closer though, I could see it convulsing.  I thought I would have to put it out of its misery.  But even though the voices in my head were telling me to kill quickly and be done, another voice, a quieter voice, a softer voice, a harder to hear but at the same time crystal clear voice, said “don’t give up on her yet.”

I reached down and gently picked her up.  It looked like she was a goner.  One of her legs was curled up tight under her belly and rigid.  Her head was turned to one side.  Her eyes were shut.  She was breathing, but also convulsing.  “Put her out of her misery.”  “No, don’t give up on her.”

I very, very carefully looked her over.  No blood.  As gently as I could, I moved her wings.  No breaks.  With one delicate finger, I lightly stroked the side of her head.  It moved, but didn’t flop.  Not broken.  Then one eye opened up and looked at me.  Her beak opened and closed a little with her breaths.  It was almost like she was trying to chirp, but couldn’t.  I just held her softly and walked around the yard with her, keeping her secure and in the warm sun.

We walked like this for a few minutes, as I continued to wonder if she would die in my hands.  She was still shaking.  One eye was still closed.  One leg was still pulled in tight under her belly.  Then that leg moved, and her claw held gently on to my finger.  I could almost hear her say to me, “don’t give up on me.”

We went to the deck, where I sat with her in my hand.  After about ten minutes, she was sitting upright.  She was still clinging on, still doing nothing but breathing.  But her other eye opened back up, and she started moving her head a little from side to side.  The Mrs. came and sat with us in tears.  Very carefully, she slid her hands under mine, and I slid my hands out of the way.  She held the finch for another ten minutes or so, watching carefully.  Then I took her back.

We aren’t veterinarians.  We don’t know how to care for birds.  And we have two hungry cats inside the house.  Trying to bring an injured finch inside wasn’t an option.  And finding a vet on a Sunday would have been a challenge.  I decided the only thing to do would be to try to let nature be a healer.

I wanted to find a safe place for the finch where she could rest, and hopefully recover.  It had to be a place where all the local cats wouldn’t find her.  It also needed shade and cover from the crows and jays that would surely kill and eat her if they saw her.  I knew just the spot.  I went to our large rhododendron bush and found a branch about five feet up, with some dense branches under it to confound the cats, and plenty of canopy above to prevent death from above.

I placed my hand with the bird against the branch, and gently nudged her with my other hand until she stepped over.  Then I watched for a few minutes to make sure she wasn’t going to fall.  But she appeared to be clinging securely and breathing regularly.  And then I had to let nature take its course.

I spent most of the rest of the day doing tasks outside.  Every now and again, I went over to the rhododendron to see if she was still there and still alive.  Each time I checked, she was in the same spot, but still breathing.  Then, after a few hours, when I came to see her, she saw me coming and flitted up to a higher branch.  The next time I came, she flew out and disappeared into a neighbor’s yard.

I have no idea what became of her after that, but she was strong enough to fly away and alert enough to respond to my intrusion.  So I can only assume nature is healing her.  This much is certain: she would never have survived if I hadn’t helped her.  She was completely helpless at first, and would have been easy pickings.  But there is a bigger lesson here:

I didn’t give up on her, even though at first glance it looked like she was suffering horribly and in the throes of death.  I am sure many of you reading this would have also tried to save her – that is what compassionate humans do.  But I am also sure many of you would have killed her out of compassion.  We do it all the time when animals are injured.  We say we are putting them out of their misery.  We say it is the humane thing to do.  I was very tempted to do just that – but I didn’t.

What happens when we give up on little things?  What happens when we tell ourselves to just go ahead and kill and bury the injured little bird?  How far are we from doing the same thing – not to little birds, or pets, or wild game or livestock – but to people?  When we can’t spend a few minutes of time and make a small effort to stay with a little bird in what might be its final moments, how can we expect to spend months of time, thousands of dollars, endless hours of doctor visits and treatment and therapy on a person when “experts” say the person will never survive, or will never walk, or will never talk or eat again?

The lesson from the little bird is, don’t give up.  Everything can get better if you give it a chance and don’t give up.  Instead, we as a society are moving dangerously in the other direction.  Oregon has physician assisted suicide.  The FDA is threatening to pull the plug on medicines that may prolong life but are not “cost effective.”  How much further do we have to go before “death panel” stops being a shibboleth and starts being an official government office?

Some day, I will surely be in a situation where I have a difficult decision to make about myself or a loved one.  Continue the treatment, or accept defeat.  Pull the plug, or keep fighting.  Do, or do not.  Well I may not know what the future will bring, but I know this much: when decision time comes, I am not going to listen to the “experts” telling me to take the easy way out.  I am going to listen to the birds.

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