Wednesday, May 28, 2014



Warrior Clowns

The crowds stopped roaring 
And vacated the arena long ago. 
The spectacle had reached the point 
Where it no longer titillated, 
No longer shocked, depressed, 
Annoyed, or inspired 
Even the faintest semblance 
Of empathy, interest or concern.

Evening shadows lengthen 
Darkening the tarmac. 
The sky purples, then blackens. 
There is no moon tonight. 
She has taken refuge –– 
Along with the stars ––
Behind a thick blanket 
Of lowering thunderclouds.

And still 
The weary gladiators fight on –– 
Unaware that the sweet Release, 
The blessed Relief ––
The Peace
––The Joy––
Of Death 
Can never overtake 
Warrior-clowns 
Thrusting in futility
In the vast emptiness 
Of Cyberspace.
Their Agony shall be 
Eternal.

~ FreeThinke

Face of the blogosphere today



Sunday, May 25, 2014


An OPEN LETTER from ONE SKEPTIC to ANOTHER
 a man who, apparently, believes  in nothing that can't be weighed, measured, and palpably perceived by the senses.
Modern Man enthralled by Science


You appear to have no faith in anything other than data people other than yourself believe they have proven using the "scientific method." You appear not to believe such things as imagination, insight, intuition, inspiration have much-if-any value.
Now, that may not be true, but because it appears that way to me. and I believe it to be true, given our numerous exchanges over a period of years, that puts us continually at odds.
It isn't that I don't respect Science, I do. It has made awe-inspiring discoveries and astounding, brilliant, life-changing developments –– particularly in the past two centuries. However, its apparent absence of a moral compass [It never seems to consider the ramifications of what it is doing, it just keeps on and on like The Sorceror’s Apprentice regardless of any possible consequences], or consideration for human needs and feelings coupled with its abundant self-congratulatory nature causes doubt that Science could possibly be The Be All End All phenomenon –– The One and Only Road to the Ultimate End of Human Striving –– it believes itself to be.
I believe from the little I know of you you practically worship "facts." I am here to remind you once again, though it fall on deaf ears, that FACTS are NOT synonymous with TRUTH.
A great deal more is required to make good chicken soup than a bird, a quantity of water, salt and pepper, carrots, celery, onion and possibly a hint of garlic. Why some people can put those ingredients together to great good effect, and others cannot is a mystery that may never be solved, despite the pervasive mediocrity of mass-produced products such as Campbell's Soup, but the differences do exist –– and persist. To that I can only say, "thank God!"
Wonderful achievements are nearly impossible to reduce to mere formula. "Something Else" is needed. If Science ever provides a satisfactory explanation for what that Something Else really is, I may start to worship Science. Until then I remain as skeptical of your god as you are of mine.


A modern concept of Divinity


Wednesday, May 21, 2014



Dinesh D'Souza Pleads Guilty to Making Illegal Campaign Contribution

Dinesh D'Souza, political writer, filmmaker

The filmmaker behind "2016: Obama's America" faces up to two years in prison; the more serious charges are expected to be dropped.

Conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza has struck a deal with prosecutors over charges he used straw donors to give $15,000 more to a U.S. Senate campaign than is allowed under campaign finance laws, authorities said Tuesday.


D’Souza was to have started his trial this week in New York, but instead he pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of making illegal campaign contributions, which carries a maximum two-year sentence. He’s expected to be sentenced in about four months.




In exchange for D’Souza’s plea, prosecutors are expected to drop the more serious charge of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
D’Souza was indicted in January for asking some friends to donate money to the campaign of Wendy Long, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully against Democratic incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in New York in 2012, and allegedly promising to reimburse them for their donations.


From the beginning, attorney Benjamin Brafman characterized his client’s alleged transgression as “an act of misguided friendship,” and he and others have said federal authorities were engaging in payback for D’Souza’s movie 2016: Obama’s America, a hit documentary that portrayed President Barack Obama in a negative light.


“It’s a remarkably selective prosecution, considering Obama raised millions of dollars under similar circumstances and donors merely faced civil fines while D’Souza is charged with felony violation of federal law,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told The Hollywood Reporter in February.




Likewise, Gerald Molen, who produced 2016 and is also producing D’Souza’s next film, America, told THR last week that the arrest amounted to “political intimidation," and he called for the charges to be dropped. On Tuesday, Molen added, "Anyone who knows Dinesh knows that none of this will deter him from continuing to speak out about this administration or other public issues and making sure that our movie is released on schedule."


Brafman also filed papers claiming that the government "targeted" D'Souza because of his "highly publicized criticism" of the president, though a judge last week was unsympathetic to that argument.


On Tuesday, Brafman told THR that D'Souza did, in fact, urge two associates to donate $10,000 each to Long's campaign and then reimbursed them; therefore, "there was no viable defense" against the charges.




"We are hopeful that Judge [Richard] Berman will recognize Mr. D'Souza to be a fundamentally honorable man who should not be imprisoned for what was an isolated instance of wrongdoing in an otherwise productive and responsible life," Brafman said.


While insiders say the filming of America has been more difficult because of D’Souza’s indictment, Lionsgate is expected to open it wide on schedule July 2. One piece of fallout related to the arrest, though, is that Obama’s half brother, Mark Obama Ndesandjo, pulled out of an interview, with a representative writing in an email to the filmmakers: “Upon reconsideration, Mark has decided it would not be appropriate to join your project while the federal investigation of Mr. D’Souza is ongoing.”




Monday, May 19, 2014

Knight Without Armour

A POWERFUL ANTI-COMMUNIST FILM
A Romance to be Sure, but also a Deeply Affecting Indictment of Militant Despotism

Many thanks to Ducky for identifying this film thus enabling us to find it on YouTube, and share it here.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

__THE PASSING SCENE __
The Owner of this Nursery also runs 
a Lawn and Garden Service called
__YOUR BEDWEEDER __


Saturday, May 17, 2014



The TIMELESS WIT and WISDOM of WILL ROGERS (1879-1935)


Will Rogers, who died in a 1935 plane crash in Alaska with famed pilot Wiley Post, was known and loved for his Country Boy image in a world that then prized urbane sophistication and “polish.” His frank lack of gravitas, and unadorned examples of homespun wisdom prove him to have been one of the most endearing political sages in our history. His observations still seem fresh and pertinent.


1. Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco.

2. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.

3. There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.

4. Never miss a good chance to shut up.

5. Always drink upstream from the herd.

6. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

7. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back into your pocket.

8. There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.




9. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

10. If you're riding' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.

11. Lettin' the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back in.

12. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral here is: When you're full of bull, it's wise to keep your mouth shut.





Friday, May 16, 2014

Monday, May 12, 2014



PERPLEXING
INFURIATING 
ENGLISH!

Curiosities of the Past Tense

If it’s Drive, Drove, Driven, but Thrive, Throve, Thrived  (or rarely Thriven), why isn’t it Arrived, Arrove, Arriven, instead of  Arrive, Arrived, Arrived? Why too is it Live, Lived, Lived and not Live, Love, Liven

Then there is Dive, Dived, Dived. “Dove” may be popular, but it’s still incorrect, and frankly deplorable. Think how silly it would sound to say “Today I Dive, yesterday I Dove, and I have Diven all my life since the age of three.” 





Sunday, May 11, 2014






Obama and EPA Use “National Security” to Block Independent Investigations!


The executive branch has an enormous amount of power and thanks to President Obama’s time in office, that power has expanded over the past 6 years.


The result of this extended power is that an overbearing executive branch comes into conflict with individual rights and liberties as it continues its expansion. The IRS scandal is an excellent example of how executive bureaucracy will go to any length to protect and perpetuate its own existence.


While the President does have extraordinary power over the executive branch, there are safeguards in place to prevent fraud and abuse. Inspectors general serve as a watchdog element to stop these bloated bureaucracies from devolving into tyranny and lawlessness. But what happens when these Inspectors General are shut out? What happens when members of the President’s inner circle deliberately try to thwart investigations into the Executive branch bureaucracies?


That is exactly what is happening at the Environmental Protection Agency! EPA Assistant Inspector General Patrick Sullivan testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the EPA’s Office of Homeland Security, run by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, is currently acting as a “rogue law enforcement organization.” A unit run by Barack Obama’s political staff has been blocking independent investigations for years and preventing the Inspector General from doing his job.


Time and time again, when the Obama administration is forced to choose between transparency and opacity, it chooses the latter. This is corruption at its absolute worst! 




This isn’t just a story about the EPA. Yes, that part of the story is important and should serve as a smoking gun, showing just how corrupt the Obama administration has become. But the story is much larger than just this one agency. Across the board, government agencies’ corrupt elements are being revealed. Not through legitimate investigation, but through the Obama administration’s resistance to oversight efforts.


The greatest comedy over the past six years is that as lawless as the Obama administration may be, many of the checks and balances designed to curtail White House abuses happen to have a serious conflict of interest.


The DC Circuit Court of Appeals is charged with determining whether executive orders and bureaucratic regulations are constitutional. Last year, Harry Reid abolished the filibuster to allow Democrats to pack this court with Obama supporters. That check has been all but eliminated.


The Attorney General is supposed to enforce the law of the land. Unfortunately, Eric Holder has no intention of upholding anything. He refuses to enforce our immigration laws and has refused to defend laws passed by Congress when they come up before the Supreme Court. When Congress held Eric Holder in contempt, they turned the case over to… Eric Holder! As if this corrupt Obama appointee would ever police himself…


Now we have a branch within the Environmental Protection Agency that refuses to cooperate with independent investigators. The EPA already has a number of excuses that it uses to avoid oversight. The agency uses “public health” and “environmental protection” as excuses to explain away its actions. These latest discoveries show that the White House actually staffed the EPA’s Office of Homeland Security with Obama supporters for the sole purpose of blocking oversight investigations.


First of all, why on earth does the EPA need an Office of Homeland Security? The actual Department of Homeland Security is redundant enough as it is… why does the EPA need its own miniature, in-house version? The answer is simple. Now, whenever the Obama administration wants something to go away or for an investigation to stop, this small unit of Obama staffers can claim that a program or regulation is in the name of “national security.”


A lot of this is the Republicans’ fault. Both parties have contributed to the rise of national security justifications for illegal actions. We have been conditioned to just accept that whenever the goal is national security, the ends always justify the means. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.


The Obama administration’s politicization of this EPA unit shows just how corrupt our government has become. When confronted over environmental regulations and the EPA’s inner workings, the White House has actually tried to claim immunity and confidentiality by arguing the agency protects national security. The only things that the EPA protects are the wallets and bank accounts of the environmental lobby.




The Obama administration is out of control. But quite frankly, party affiliation has nothing to do with it. The Executive branch has grown to be so corrupt that it will stop at nothing to protect itself and shield itself from investigations. Even if it means claiming “national security” to stop investigations into the Environmental Protection Agency, the modern Presidency knows no shame.


This is completely absurd, but it is unfortunately our fault. We have allowed the Executive branch to become so bloated and corrupt. We have been conditioned by both political parties to accept “national security” as an excuse for practically anything. Enough is enough! We must regain the role of We the People in Executive oversight and force Congress to actually do its job!

It doesn’t have to be this way. Your voice is represented by Congress and it is Congress that is supposed to oversee the Executive branch. It is time to stop allowing the Obama administration to police itself (ridiculous, huh?) and FINALLY have Congress resume its role in overseeing the Executive! The only way to stop the Obama administration’s lawlessness is to ensure that the administration isn’t policing itself!




Sincerely, 

Joe Otto 

Conservative Daily


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Friday, May 9, 2014


Obama and EPA Use “National Security” to Block Independent Investigations!


The executive branch has an enormous amount of power and thanks to President Obama’s time in office, that power has expanded over the past 6 years.


The result of this extended power is that an overbearing executive branch comes into conflict with individual rights and liberties as it continues its expansion. The IRS scandal is an excellent example of how executive bureaucracy will go to any length to protect and perpetuate its own existence.


While the President does have extraordinary power over the executive branch, there are safeguards in place to prevent fraud and abuse. Inspectors general serve as a watchdog element to stop these bloated bureaucracies from devolving into tyranny and lawlessness. But what happens when these Inspectors General are shut out? What happens when members of the President’s inner circle deliberately try to thwart investigations into the Executive branch bureaucracies?


That is exactly what is happening at the Environmental Protection Agency! EPA Assistant Inspector General Patrick Sullivan testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the EPA’s Office of Homeland Security, run by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, is currently acting as a “rogue law enforcement organization.” A unit run by Barack Obama’s political staff has been blocking independent investigations for years and preventing the Inspector General from doing his job.


Time and time again, when the Obama administration is forced to choose between transparency and opacity, it chooses the latter. This is corruption at its absolute worst! 




This isn’t just a story about the EPA. Yes, that part of the story is important and should serve as a smoking gun, showing just how corrupt the Obama administration has become. But the story is much larger than just this one agency. Across the board, government agencies’ corrupt elements are being revealed. Not through legitimate investigation, but through the Obama administration’s resistance to oversight efforts.


The greatest comedy over the past six years is that as lawless as the Obama administration may be, many of the checks and balances designed to curtail White House abuses happen to have a serious conflict of interest.


The DC Circuit Court of Appeals is charged with determining whether executive orders and bureaucratic regulations are constitutional. Last year, Harry Reid abolished the filibuster to allow Democrats to pack this court with Obama supporters. That check has been all but eliminated.


The Attorney General is supposed to enforce the law of the land. Unfortunately, Eric Holder has no intention of upholding anything. He refuses to enforce our immigration laws and has refused to defend laws passed by Congress when they come up before the Supreme Court. When Congress held Eric Holder in contempt, they turned the case over to… Eric Holder! As if this corrupt Obama appointee would ever police himself…


Now we have a branch within the Environmental Protection Agency that refuses to cooperate with independent investigators. The EPA already has a number of excuses that it uses to avoid oversight. The agency uses “public health” and “environmental protection” as excuses to explain away its actions. These latest discoveries show that the White House actually staffed the EPA’s Office of Homeland Security with Obama supporters for the sole purpose of blocking oversight investigations.


First of all, why on earth does the EPA need an Office of Homeland Security? The actual Department of Homeland Security is redundant enough as it is… why does the EPA need its own miniature, in-house version? The answer is simple. Now, whenever the Obama administration wants something to go away or for an investigation to stop, this small unit of Obama staffers can claim that a program or regulation is in the name of “national security.”


A lot of this is the Republicans’ fault. Both parties have contributed to the rise of national security justifications for illegal actions. We have been conditioned to just accept that whenever the goal is national security, the ends always justify the means. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.


The Obama administration’s politicization of this EPA unit shows just how corrupt our government has become. When confronted over environmental regulations and the EPA’s inner workings, the White House has actually tried to claim immunity and confidentiality by arguing the agency protects national security. The only things that the EPA protects are the wallets and bank accounts of the environmental lobby.




The Obama administration is out of control. But quite frankly, party affiliation has nothing to do with it. The Executive branch has grown to be so corrupt that it will stop at nothing to protect itself and shield itself from investigations. Even if it means claiming “national security” to stop investigations into the Environmental Protection Agency, the modern Presidency knows no shame.


This is completely absurd, but it is unfortunately our fault. We have allowed the Executive branch to become so bloated and corrupt. We have been conditioned by both political parties to accept “national security” as an excuse for practically anything. Enough is enough! We must regain the role of We the People in Executive oversight and force Congress to actually do its job!

It doesn’t have to be this way. Your voice is represented by Congress and it is Congress that is supposed to oversee the Executive branch. It is time to stop allowing the Obama administration to police itself (ridiculous, huh?) and FINALLY have Congress resume its role in overseeing the Executive! The only way to stop the Obama administration’s lawlessness is to ensure that the administration isn’t policing itself!




Sincerely, 

Joe Otto 

Conservative Daily 

Monday, May 5, 2014

ISLAND in the SUN
Set on a small Caribbean Island the film takes a serious look at interracial romance involving three couples and a prominent family’s dark secret.

Made in 1957 and filmed in Jamaica this excellent movie, based on the 1955 novel by Alec Waugh, was very daring in its day, and hardly seems dated even now. 

The issues it probes haven’t been satisfactorily resolved yet.

The cast is first-rate. 
James Mason, Joan Fontaine, 
Joan Collins, Harry Belafonte, 
Dorothy Dandridge, Michael Rennie, 
Stephen Boyd and Diana Wynyard are splendid.


Don't miss this chance to hear Harry Belafonte tell Joan Fontaine, who is in love with him, that way down deep she thinks of him as a NIGGER
It's deeply touching.