The (new) Flomblog

The New Flomblog

2009-07-10T17:18:00.000-06:00

This is just a portal to the sites that I visit!

Space Planning at Auraria

2009-06-09T17:23:00.002-06:00

Obviously we're running out of space at Auraria. A committee - SPARC - has been organized to:

ensure that all voices are heard in the planning process, the membership of SPARC comprises constituents from different departments and different categories of College employees. (Seehttp://www.mscd.edu/~sparc/about/membership.shtml for a list of members.) After incorporating feedback from various constituencies with strategic planning goals of the College, SPARC makes recommendations for the use of space to the President’s Cabinet or the vice presidents.

The link is here: http://www.mscd.edu/%7Ecollcom/artman/publish/sparc_twv6061009.shtml It's also on the most recent Metro Connect

Guess which constituency has not been invited to take part in this?

Howie

I'm in a quandry

2009-04-23T12:12:00.004-06:00

Recently national events Have me deeply disturbed. In my humble opinion, our national lunge to the left has resulted in runaway spending and a move towards socialism. Our foreign policy has no direction and will invariably result in both the loss of American prestige and death of innocent Americans. I can support neither of these movements.

However to continue writing about this situation will turn me into a bitter critic, a position I refuse to adopt.

Therefore the Flomblog, in it's current form, will cease to exist. I will use this blog as a portal to the sites that I enjoy. If I do blog, I will concentrate on technical issues.

Let us pray for our Nation and Civilization

Howard Flomberg, The Flomblog

Stephen Hawking needs our Prayers

2009-04-20T11:32:00.002-06:00

Physicist Stephen Hawking is quite ill. Please join me in praying for this unbelievably brilliant and brave man!

2009-04-19T09:54:00.004-06:00

I'm a Vet. I served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. when I came home I was treated, shall we say, poorly. I now teach college. I have Veterans in many classes. As a whole - they are hard working, studious, well dressed and polite. I proudly say - They are better than we were!

Now the Department of Homeland Security is walking to beat of the same drum as the left-wing morons did when my generation came home. Not to be left out, the FBI has joined in the stupidity, as reported by the Wall Street Journal:

The aim of the FBI's effort with the Defense Department, which was rolled into the Vigilant Eagle program, is to "share information regarding Iraqi and Afghanistan war veterans whose involvement in white supremacy and/or militia sovereign citizen extremist groups poses a domestic terrorism threat," according to the Feb. 23 FBI memo.

Perhaps the Tea Parties have been influenced by the condemnation of traditional American Values by the Left Wing Party in Power?

OK, Lets give the President a chance now

2009-04-12T01:53:00.006-06:00

Warships move slowly. 30 knots (MPH?) is fast. The US Navy is moving the pieces onto the chessboard.

This is President Obama's first real challenge. So lets see what happens.

G-d be with him!

Update - 11:58 - Hotair.com

Second time’s the charm. Phillips jumped overboard again, and this time, the Navy was ready to take out the pirates. Great work, Navy!

UPDATE - 11:47 4/12/2009

Drudge Headline - Captain freed, 3 pirates dead, 1 pirate in captivity

MSNBC:

MOMBASA, Kenya - The U.S. Navy has rescued the American sea captain held by Somali pirates.
A senior U.S. intelligence official said hostage Richard Phillips was not hurt in what appeared to be a swift firefight off the Somali coast on Sunday. Phillips was safely transported to a Navy warship nearby.
The official said three pirates were killed and one was injured.'

SUMMARY:

Three dirtbags dead. One dirtbag in custody. The Captain and Crew safe.

There's an old Vulcan saying:

2009-04-02T21:22:00.003-06:00

"Only Nixon could have gone to China." Perhaps the funniest lines in all of the Startrek Movies. However the line had a lot of truth to it. Nixon made his "bones" as a fierce anti-Communist. This fact gave him credibility when he opened communications with Communist China.

Why is this relevant? Benjamin Netanyahu, the new Prime Minister of Israel just might be the present day incarnation of President Nixon - minus Watergate of course. Bibi Netanyayu is a hard line rightist. He will only bargain from a strong position. If there's anything that the 12th century denizens of the Middle East respect, it is strength. Perhaps G-d willing we might see peace in Eretz Yisrael?

Now, if only Bibi was born in this country.

Re: Protesters at G20

2009-04-02T13:15:00.004-06:00

Maynard: I'm an Angry Young Man
Dobie: Maynard - why are you angry?
Maynard: I Don't know [pause] Thats' why I'm angry

Income Tax

2009-03-27T21:55:00.000-06:00

April 15th is just around the corner. If I don't file can I get a Cabinet post?

A new link

2009-03-25T09:29:00.005-06:00

I added a new link to the right, err the left, but on the right. One Salient Oversight is a fascinating critique of our American society, coming from Oz. While I frequently disagree with him, I always find myself learning from our discourses. As an aside to OSO -- Mate, that's a good thing, right buddy?

Enjoy his stuff

Flom

It ain't my fault! My sister did it

2009-03-22T09:18:00.003-06:00

When my kids were young,they perfected the "Blame someone else" strategy for avoiding responsibility. It actually worked more than it should have. As adults, however, they look back and laugh at themselves.

As a nation, we have fallen into that trap. It ain't my fault. The evil banks made me take out a loan that I couldn't afford. The evil credit card companies made it too easy for me to collect a gazillion credit cards and accumulate a bazillion dollars in debt.

It's Bush's fault. No, it's Clinton's fault, no it's Reagan, fault. Hell it's all Carters fault.

Folks, it's our fault. We, as a nation, acted like children yelling gimme, gimme, gimme. We need to let companies fail when they act stupidly. People are going to lose houses that they should never have purchased in the first place. People will have to take jobs that are "Beneath Them". The old Chevy will have to last a bit longer.

We need to stand up and take the consequences for our actions! If we have a tough decade, let the chips fall as they might. We'll come out of it as the America we used to be.

How Dare You "GARDEN?"

2009-03-19T11:10:00.003-06:00

Nanny state keeps encroaching.

House Resolution 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 provides a fine for those miscreant who organically have the temerity to grow crops in their back yards. The details are Here

If this is true - How much longer do we have to put up with the move to socialism and rule by special interests?

We won the battle, but the war is still far from over.

2009-03-18T21:49:00.004-06:00

According to Fox, the president withdrew the Screw the Vets idea. Apparently he heard us. However notice that the MSM did not cover this at all. Please call your local TV stations when something like this occurs and ask them why they are not covering it?

Also - Thank You Matt Drudge for being one of the few journalists left.

Hey, screw the Vets!

2009-03-16T21:45:00.002-06:00

It's all over the internet. According to JoshuaPundit:

Currently, our wounded warriors get care free of charge the Veteran's Administration. The Chosen One wants them to pay for it themselves and go through their own private health care:

Apparently the President wants to offload the cost of caring for those vets with service connected disabilities to private insurers, or the vets themselves. Yahoo News also covers this. Perhaps you might check Hot Air

The last prominent Democrat to challenge the Veterans was... John Fn. Kerry. We all saw what happened to him.

Us Vets took a lot of crap from the liberals when we came home from Southeast Asia. I pledge that if this happens I will work tirelessly to see that President Obama is a one term president, as was his intellectual mentor, Jimmy Carter.

Rushbo; The New Jew

2009-03-06T17:07:00.006-07:00

Traditionally when leaders have to face a fiscal problem, they gain breathing room by finding a scapegoat. For centuries the traditional scapegoat has been the Jew. Well President Urkel has found a new scapegoat, Rush Limbough. Now apparently, all of us Republicans are marching in lockstep to the words and philosophy of El Rushbo.

Does the President understand that there are still some people who can actually think for themselves?

Note - the image was stolen from Michelle Malkin. Read Hot Air and Michelle Malkin!

This bears repeating today

2009-02-08T09:51:00.002-07:00

"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."

~~ Pastor Martin Niemoeller [specific quotations vary]

With a tip of the flomberg homburg to Lucianne.com

Hugo - the mental dwarf - Chavez has joined the Blame the Jews crusade.

Never Again!

Sometimes even the Pope has to answer for his mistakes.

2009-02-07T11:51:00.004-07:00

When the Pope un-excommunicated an antisemitic moron, Israel protested strongly. Apparently this newly-redeemed Prince of the Church did not believe that the Holocaust really happened. The Pope is now going to "Address the Jews" Perhaps it might take a few centuries for the Pope to apologize for the Church's inactivity during the Shoah, as it took for the Church to apologize for the Inquisition. After all, Pius XII was really a nice guy.

The miscreant bishop involved has promised to "examine" the historical evidence. The fool said:

"If I find proof I would rectify (earlier statements)... But all that will take time," Bishop Richard Williamson was quoted as saying by the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.

I'll bet that there are still a few Jewish folks wandering about with numbers tattooed on there arms, simply ask them!

Never Again!

Taxes? Hmm

2009-02-03T14:41:00.002-07:00

A third Obama nominee has been caught fibbing to the IRS. I wonder, Perhaps the real reason is that the tax code is garbage?

Obama's putting his foot into it -- real quickly

2009-01-30T14:36:00.002-07:00

I tried to be nice but the new administration won't let me. The new UN Ambassador, Susan Rice wants Israel to investigate itself for War Crimes. Apparently getting tired of endless missles being thrown at them is now a crime? Hey - we get to elect a new congress in two years - lets get to work?

Profanity!

2009-01-26T12:05:00.002-07:00

Senator Robert Ford (D - SC) is pushing a bill to:

outlaw lewd language and is pushing for a bill that would prohibit profanity.

I'm curious - who gets to decide what's profane? I have a recommendation. The most profane statement that I can think of is:

From each according to his ability to each according to his need.

Good Luck, Mr. President-Elect!

2009-01-18T20:38:00.003-07:00

If any of you has ever read anything that I've written, it's obvious that I'm a free-market, fiscal conservative. As I sit here under the storm of Pro-Obama television, I've go to think

I pray that I'm wrong! To wish ill of the new President would be to wish ill for our country. I also hope that President Obama doesn't face the undeserved trashing that President Bush received.

G-d Speed Mr. President-Elect and may Providence smile on you and our nation

Is it time to redefine Femininsm?

2009-01-11T10:35:00.005-07:00

Hillary Clinton, in a manner that I've never seen before, outmaneuvered "The Vice President Elect" and locked him in the clothes-closet, to be let out for weddings, funerals and bar-mitzvahs. For which, incidentally, I am grateful. While I have never been a Clinton fan, I begrudgingly admire her political ability.

Now. however, the press has two new targets - Ms. Palin and Ms. Kennedy.

Palin has been roundly criticized for comments that she did not make - Tina Fey (Elizabeth Stamatina Fey) made them. Tina Fey made the comment about seeing Russia from her front porch, or some-thing. Meanwhile the President Elect has visited almost all of our 57 states. Yes she does need some polish before she hits the national scene again. She also needs advisers who do not owe their allegiance to someone else!

Now, on the other frontier (sorry, I couldn't resist it) we have Caroline Kennedy. This un-glib, soft spoken lady has become a target as well. Like Sarah Palin, She had a disastrous interview and does need some polish, however according to many people that I respect she has a mind like a steel trap. Her knowledge and understanding of the constitution is awesome. If she has half of the grit and moxie of either of her parents that is sufficient.

There you have it - three women who are the future of American Politics. Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin and Caroline Kennedy. They are going to rewrite the book on our form of government!

In my humble opinion - It's about time!

The Princess?

2009-01-07T12:31:00.004-07:00

I know I'm going to get hammered for this - but give me a break!

I have been watching the "Media" condemn Caroline Kennedy for being inexperienced - and Obama's level of experience is???? In spite of his lack of administrative experience, Obama seems to be hitting the ground running.

I have read some of Ms. Kennedy's work. If anything should exclude her from the senate is the fact that she has read the Constitution and understands it! One might joke that she'd be the only one in congress who can say that. She is not glib. well - lets look at the Vice President elect? I welcome her into the spotlight.

And the worst president is?

2009-01-04T21:09:00.007-07:00

I've seen a lot of chatter about George W. being the worst president in history well lets look at a select few.

Jimmy Carter - the man is an acknowledged anti-Semite. He taught the Islamists that they could attack us at will. He pressed for extending home mortgages for all, whether they had jobs or not. We had double digit inflation, double digit unemployment, and like most Keynesian Economists - sent us flying into a recession.

Lyndon Baines Johnson - He made one of the most dangerous statements ever "I'll be damned if I'm the first President to lose a war." To insure that happened - he micromanaged the war to an unbelievable level. He was probably one of the dirtiest president in our history. There are tales of envelopes of money being dropped off at his desk.

Richard M. Nixon - He put the "P" on paranoia. He forgot who he worked for - us. He single handedly created a constitutional crises. His stupidity gave us Jimmy Carter.

Andrew Johnson - He did not have the foggiest idea what he was doing. He was the first president to be impeached - he survived by one vote.

Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson - proved that war heroes do not always make good president. He made Nixon seem sane and LBJ seem clean. He was directly responsible for the Indian Relocation Act which resulted in the "Trail of Tears". As a side note, he destroyed the political career of a young congressman who was destined for great things, David (Davy) Crockett. After seeing his political career get flushed down the toilet because he fought the "Indian Relocation Act", Crockett was heard to say - "They can all go to hell, I'm going to Texas"

Ayn Rand, Where are you when we need you?

2009-01-02T19:35:00.002-07:00

Miss Rand must be rolling in her grave. The only thing that she missed in Atlas Shrugged was the fact that she was simply too optimistic about mankind! According to a story in Reuters:

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Governors of five U.S. states urged the federal government to provide $1 trillion in aid to the country's 50 states to help pay for education, welfare and infrastructure as states struggle with steep budget deficits amid a deepening recession.

When does it stop? Can we assume that a Democrat House, a Democrat Senate and a Democrat President will ride their troika into total financial destruction for us? Call me an unfeeling oaf, but people who made stupid decisions should bear the responsibility for those decisions.

Murdering Son of a Bitch was a good guy?

2008-12-27T22:10:00.001-07:00

According to today's Fox news

Dec. 21: Communist supporters gather at the grave of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to mark the 129th anniversary of his birthday, in Moscow.

A nationwide Russian poll seeking to name the greatest-ever countryman is set to end Sunday, and former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin is in the running for No. 1, the BBC reported.

A World Turned Upside-down

2008-12-27T11:06:00.005-07:00

Every day, after school, you play ball in the schoolyard. Also, everyday, a little kid runs up, smacks you and runs away. Being a well mannered kid - you don't want to pick (?) on this smaller kid. How long will this go on before you deck the little miscreant?

Here in a nutshell we have the Middle East. Hamas, the current ruling party in the Gaza Strip, is occupied with throwing home-made science-fair caliber rockets at Israel. These rockets have no guidance system, therefore they fall wherever they choose. Israel, finally fed up, launches a raid on the Hamas' training facilities and police stations. Do you see the direction of my logic?

Anti-semitism, on a global scale, is once again acceptable. Despite the fact that Israel supplies 70% of the power that Gaza uses, In spite of the fact that Israel regularly sends humanitarian supplies into a population that has violated every peace agreement, it is the Jews fault!

You win a war, or any fight for that matter, by convincing your opponent that he does not want to fight you. This is done by hurting or killing him. This is not a "nice" concept, but it is the truth.

Am Yisrael Chai (Yet Israel Lives)

Caroline Vs. Sarah

2008-12-23T09:18:00.004-07:00

Y'know it's fascinating watching the sharks attacking these two ladies. Caroline the heir-apparent to the Kennedy Throne and Sarah Palin - whose major flaw is that Tina Fey can do an impression of her.

I've read some of Caroline Kennedy's work. The lady is quite good. While I do not agree with some of her positions, she is quite sharp. Now Governor Palin is another fascinating subject. She is a successful governor of our richest state and unlike most of the other 49 governors - she hasn't screwed anything up.

Hmmmm - Fascinating

2008-12-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

Enjoy

OJ, meet Bubba. Bubba meet OJ

2008-12-05T13:50:00.004-07:00

Guilty - 15 years with possible parole in 8. Go to any news blog and you will get the details. MSNBC has some fascinating video on the topic. One of these is the Judge actually handing out the sentence. BTW - The Judge has climbed to the top of my list of People I Never want to Piss-off.

OJ, enjoy your extended vacation in Nevada,

Blame the Jews

2008-12-03T18:26:00.002-07:00

Of course the Mumbai outrage is the fault of the Jews, or their puppet government, the USA. When we said Never Again, were our fingers crossed? Of course the liberal press has been subtly letting us know that the assholes who murdered the Chabad-niks were not affiliated with Al-Queda. Sheket! G'nuk!

(Shut up - Hebrew and enough in Yiddish) The Putzim who were involved, as a matter of fact - all of these morons who claim to be Islamists, are fruit of the same tree. They will force a nuclear war - if not between Iran and Israel, then between India and Pakistan.

Force! Answer force with force!

On a lighter note - much lighter

2008-11-30T11:40:00.002-07:00

I added a link to "Geekware". Their stuff is unique and reasonable. Plus it's fun!

Tragedy

2008-11-28T10:24:00.004-07:00

There is a prayer that all Jews say for the ones who have passed on, the Mourners Kaddish. In memory of all those who died needlessly in Mombai I offer the English translation. Please join me in saying:

Kaddish in English

Glorified and sanctified be G-d's great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen.

May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.

Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

Un-Fn-Believable

2008-11-22T08:09:00.002-07:00

Youve heard about Alpha-males and Beta=Males - well, here is the Gamma-Male!

Send in the Marines

2008-11-21T08:40:00.001-07:00

Or at least the Air Force. How long will a bunch of thugs (pirates) hold the world at bay? We've done it before (The halls of Tripoli) it's time to do it again!

Is a Nuclear Exchange Imminent?

2008-11-20T11:09:00.003-07:00

We know that Israel has nukes. We also know that Israel has the means of delivery. Now it seems that Iran has the ability(?) to create one atom bomb.

If Iran is foolish to launch an attack against Israel - Hell on Earth will result.

I'm confused

2008-11-12T13:04:00.002-07:00

Detroit Automakers (The Big 3) are crumbling - However "Detroit South" - Honda, Toyota, Nissan - are ALL doing well. VW is planning another plant in Tennessee. Now AMEX is standing there with its hand out. Our friends in the Socialist Federation of Europe (EU) are predicting our economic downfall because we acted like them. We are trying to help folks who spent their way into the gutter so that they can resume their spendthrift ways. We elected a Liberal President.

Is it me or have we gotten lost?

It's starting

2008-11-08T21:18:00.001-07:00

I did not vote for Obama, however I'm getting awfully sick of the comments being made about him by some. Are we going to do the same thing to the 44th president as we did to the 43rd?

Lets all be quiet and let the man do his job. If we disagree with him we can civilly protest. Haven't we learned our lesson yet?

Time to put it together

2008-11-05T08:44:00.001-07:00

The country has spoken and I humbly submit. I hope the transition is smooth. To my Democrat friends, congratulations.

G-d Bless these United States of America

McCain

2008-11-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

OK this is the final plea - John McCain!!!!

This is disgusting

2008-10-30T17:15:00.002-06:00

We have forgotten how to disagree. Cindy Sheehan's campaign headquarters were attacked. I find that a total disgrace. While I totally disagree with everything that she stands for, no one has the right to intimidate her or her staff.

Our society is based on free exchange of ideas. Without that we have totally failed.

I Guess I'm a Far Right-Wing Rascist

2008-10-26T17:48:00.002-06:00

I voted already. I must admit I voted for McCain-Palin. I do not believe in redistribution of wealth. I think that asking the Democrat VP candidate if the Marx quote was valid is a valid question.

I guess that we'll all be up late on Tuesday night

Liberal America? Yeah right

2008-10-16T02:42:00.004-06:00

When I returned home from a tour of duty in Southeast Asia there was a "squadron" of hippies waiting for us at San Francisco Airport. The names they called us were horrid. The signs were disgusting. There were some police guarding them from us. I went up to the police sergeant and offered to buy him and his men coffee if they could just leave us alone with these creeps. He replied, "I only wish I could."

I got home and I was told to "take off the uniform and forget it ever happened". I tried to go back to college in New York and was called a "baby killer" by a professor -- in class!

The liberal wing of the democratic party is staffed by the same people who degraded us when we came home. Their lies have become truisms. I've been told that the harassment and spitting never happened. I was there. It happened.

Look at the people supporting Barack Obama - They were there also - just on the other side of the police line.

There is a simmering anger among many of our vets that will not go away, ever.

Worth Repeating!

2008-10-07T08:27:00.003-06:00

Reading the news these days is an excersize in futility. The world has turned upside down.

Israel gave back Gaza to the "Palestinians". They reciprocated by starting a never-ending stream of rockets being launched at ISRAEL. Now after kidnapping and murdering Israelis, The MSM is reporting on how the poor little Pali children are frightened by the big bad Israeli tanks. All they had to do was leave Israel alone -- But that is too much to ask, I guess.

Now our loyal(?) opposition is telling us that the war in Iraq is an unfortunate move, we shouldn't have been there - After all Saddam Hussein wasn't all THAT bad.

Anyone who doesn't realize that Al-Queda, Hamas, the various and sundry Jihadi groups are all committed to he same goal is a fool. They want the imposition of Sharia through out the world. They hate the United States and Israel. We are at war for our lives. This IS NOT A NEW PHENOMENA _ Remember where the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem spent WWII? He was a guest of Hitler. Anti-antisemitism is an old story there. Peace is an anathema to them. A Neville Chamberlain approach did not work in the 30's. It won't work today.

The Iraqi's MUST be supported. Iran must be pacified and the regime dumped. Somalia must be taken care of. If we do not do that we will see blood shed here in the United States (G-d forbid). We will see Korean ICBM's tipped with Iranian bombs striking our homes.

The United States was found on a two party system. Unfortunately the Democratic party is divided as to whether it prefers suicide or treason. The party of Truman, JFK and FDR is gone. We now have a foolish former president from Georgia running around the world making a fool of himself. We have Teddy Kennedy, the brother of a great President displaying total lunacy.

When Cornwallis surrendered to Washington to end the American Revolution, his band played an old English drinking song -- The World Turned Upside Down. I wonder if we need to get the sheet music?

A call for assistance

2008-10-07T08:18:00.002-06:00

As you might know, I've written a book on Decision Theory. I am currently working on a second book. The working title is Incentive. I wonder if any of you might be interested in reviewing the book as it develops? Email me at hflomberg@gmail.com if you are interested.

The Flomblog is Back!

2008-10-05T08:43:00.004-06:00

I'm recovering from a minor heart attack and a few weeks in the hospital. No one ever told me that aging was such a pain in the ass (or in my case, chest). Anyhow, for those of you who haven't given up on me, Thank you, I'll try and make it interesting.

And there's soooo much to talk about these days. How about putting the blame for the financial situation where it belongs - the Clintoons and their Democrat congress. It seems that in their version of the constitution one of the basic rights is the right to own a house, whether you can afford it or not. They put pressure on the banks to give out those godawful mortgages. Of course Greed stepped in and pushed it over the line.

Remember - greed is NOT the property of any political persuasion. There are just as many greedy Dem's as there are "R's".

OK, quiz time - how many emails and snail-mails do you get daily asking you to open a credit account? How many TV commercials do you see pussing credit cards? That, my dear friends is the problem!

It's time to cut back on the credit binge. If you can't afford it DON'T BUY IT. I learned that the hard way. It seems that our nation will too.

A New Adventure

2008-07-24T19:49:00.002-06:00

Examiner.com is a mainstream news source, published at http://www.examiner.com/. I will be writing a regular column for that website as the "Workplace Examiner". If you look to the right you'll find a permanent link to my page. Please click and read it.

Just to save some time the link is here also.

An open letter to Senator McCain

2008-07-24T08:14:00.002-06:00

Sir:

In answer to all your myriad of queries (or at least the ones I have imagined). I must decisively make the following announcement.

If nominated for the Vice-Presidency I will not run.
If chosen for the Vice-Presidency I will not serve.

The Flomblog

What else can I say?

2008-07-24T07:54:00.001-06:00

A Legend in his own mind

2008-07-23T09:20:00.006-06:00

Howie Kurtz is a liberal ant-Bush columnist. In recent column attacking Senator McCains gaffes he said McCain referred to the "Iraq/Pakistan border"Kurtz wrote:

since there is no such border he must have meant Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Yes, McCain probably slipped. But Howie, really - go look at a map!

Remember, Howie - they used to be part and parcel of the same country - alongside Bangladesh.

So can we stop this crap now?

2008-07-21T11:24:00.003-06:00

OK, I looked the other way at 57 states - But this one is fascinating - Obama thinks he will be president for eight to ten years. If McCain had made any of the "slips" that Obama makes there would be blazing headlines.

But wait - if he has his OWN army - then perhaps?????

Can you say Brown Shirts?

2008-07-18T13:57:00.002-06:00

Read the BOLD text!
Copyright (c) 2008
Chicago Tribune

Is U.S. ready to serve?

Obama repeated his pledge to boost the size of the active military. But he said the nation's future and safety depends on more than just additional service members.

"It also depends on the teacher in East L.A., or the nurse in Appalachia, the after-school worker in New Orleans, the Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, the Foreign Service officer in Indonesia," he said.

Obama had outlined many of the proposals offered Wednesday during appearances in Iowa last December.

Goals set for students"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," he said Wednesday. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

He said he would make federal assistance conditional on school districts establishing service programs and set the goal of 50 hours of service a year for middle school and high school students.

For college students, Obama would set the goal at 100 hours of service a year and create a $4,000 annual tax credit for college students tied to that level of service.

In Chicago, meanwhile, billionaire investor Warren Buffett headlined two fundraisers to benefit Obama and the Democratic National Committee.

Let me make sure that you read that:

"We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.

"

What do we have going here - we have a candidate whose voting record is the most left wing in the senate. He is surrounded by people who have advocated violent overthrow of the US Government - and he wants his own private army?

Google it. With the obvious exception of the Main Stream Media - it's all over the net.

The man is not a socialist- He's a communist! Just like his weatherman friends William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn

Ayn Rand - Playboy interview - 1964

2008-07-12T08:16:00.001-06:00

Bear with me. This is worth reading. I welcome discussion.

Playboy Interview, 1964
Copyright (c), PLAYBOY

PLAYBOY: Miss Rand, your novels and essays, especially your controversial best seller, Atlas Shrugged, present a carefully engineered, internally consistent world view. They are, in effect, the expression of an all-encompassing philosophical system. What do you seek to accomplish with this new philosophy?

RAND: I seek to provide men -- or those who care to think -- with an integrated, consistent and rational view of life.

PLAYBOY: What are the basic premises of Objectivism? Where does it begin?

RAND: It begins with the axiom that existence exists, which means that an objective reality exists independent of any perceiver or of the perceiver's emotions, feelings, wishes, hopes or fears. Objectivism holds that reason is man's only means of perceiving reality and his only guide to action. By reason, I mean the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses.

PLAYBOY: In Atlas Shrugged your hero, John Galt, declares, "I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." How is this related to your basic principles?

RAND: Galt's statement is a dramatized summation of the Objectivist ethics. Any system of ethics is based on and derived, implicitly or explicitly, from a metaphysics. The ethic derived from the metaphysical base of Objectivism holds that, since reason is man's basic tool of survival, rationality is his highest virtue. To use his mind, to perceive reality and to act accordingly, is man's moral imperative. The standard of value of the Objectivist ethics is: man's life -- man's survival qua man -- or that which the nature of a rational being requires for his proper survival. The Objectivist ethics, in essence, hold that man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself. It is this last that Galt's statement summarizes.

PLAYBOY: What kind of morality derives from this, in terms of the individual's behavior?

RAND: This is presented in detail in Atlas Shrugged.

PLAYBOY: The heroine of Atlas Shrugged was, in your words, "completely incapable of experiencing a feeling of fundamental guilt." Is any system of morality possible without guilt?

RAND: The important word in the statement you quoted is "fundamental." Fundamental guilt does not mean the ability to judge one's own actions and regret a wrong action, if one commits it. Fundamental guilt means that man is evil and guilty by nature.

PLAYBOY: You mean original sin?

RAND: Exactly. It is the concept of original sin that my heroine, or I, or any Objectivist, is incapable of accepting or of ever experiencing emotionally. It is the concept of original sin that negates morality. If man is guilty by nature, he has no choice about it. If he has no choice, the issue does not belong in the field of morality. Morality pertains only to the sphere of man's free will -- only to those actions which are open to his choice. To consider man guilty by nature is a contradiction in terms. My heroine would be capable of experiencing guilt about a specific action. Only, being a woman of high moral stature and self-esteem, she would see to it that she never earned any guilt by her actions. She would act in a totally moral manner and, therefore, would not accept an unearned guilt.

PLAYBOY: In Atlas Shrugged, one of your leading characters is asked, "What's the most depraved type of human being?" His reply is surprising: He doesn't say a sadist or a murderer or a sex maniac or a dictator; he says, "The man without a purpose." Yet most people seem to go through their lives without a clearly defined purpose. Do you regard them as depraved?

RAND: Yes, to a certain extent.

PLAYBOY: Why?

RAND: Because that aspect of their character lies at the root of and causes all the evils which you mentioned in your question. Sadism, dictatorship, any form of evil, is the consequence of a man's evasion of reality. A consequence of his failure to think. The man without a purpose is a man who drifts at the mercy of random feelings or unidentified urges and is capable of any evil, because he is totally out of control of his own life. In order to be in control of your life, you have to have a purpose -- a productive purpose.

PLAYBOY: Weren't Hitler and Stalin, to name two tyrants, in control of their own lives, and didn't they have a clear purpose?

RAND: Certainly not. Observe that both of them ended as literal psychotics. They were men who lacked self-esteem and, therefore, hated all of existence. Their psychology, in effect, is summarized in Atlas Shrugged by the character of James Taggart. The man who has no purpose, but has to act, acts to destroy others. That is not the same thing as a productive or creative purpose.

PLAYBOY: If a person organizes his life around a single, neatly defined purpose, isn't he in danger of becoming extremely narrow in his horizons?

RAND: Quite the contrary. A central purpose serves to integrate all the other concerns of a man's life. It establishes the hierarchy, the relative importance, of his values, it saves him from pointless inner conflicts, it permits him to enjoy life on a wide scale and to carry that enjoyment into any area open to his mind; whereas a man without a purpose is lost in chaos. He does not know what his values are. He does not know how to judge. He cannot tell what is or is not important to him, and, therefore, he drifts helplessly at the mercy of any chance stimulus or any whim of the moment. He can enjoy nothing. He spends his life searching for some value which he will never find.

PLAYBOY: Couldn't the attempt to rule whim out of life, to act in a totally rational fashion, be viewed as conducive to a juiceless, joyless kind of existence?

RAND: I truly must say that I don't know what you are talking about. Let's define our terms. Reason is man's tool of knowledge, the faculty that enables him to perceive the facts of reality. To act rationally means to act in accordance with the facts of reality. Emotions are not tools of cognition. What you feel tells you nothing about the facts; it merely tells you something about your estimate of the facts. Emotions are the result of your value judgments; they are caused by your basic premises, which you may hold consciously or subconsciously, which may be right or wrong. A whim is an emotion whose cause you neither know nor care to discover. Now what does it mean, to act on whim? It means that a man acts like a zombi, without any knowledge of what he deals with, what he wants to accomplish, or what motivates him. It means that a man acts in a state of temporary insanity. Is this what you call juicy or colorful? I think the only juice that can come out of such a situation is blood. To act against the facts of reality can result only in destruction.

PLAYBOY: Should one ignore emotions altogether, rule them out of one's life entirely?

RAND: Of course not. One should merely keep them in their place. An emotion is an automatic response, an automatic effect of man's value premises. An effect, not a cause. There is no necessary clash, no dichotomy between man's reason and his emotions -- provided he observes their proper relationship. A rational man knows -- or makes it a point to discover -- the source of his emotions, the basic premises from which they come; if his premises are wrong, he corrects them. He never acts on emotions for which he cannot account, the meaning of which he does not understand. In appraising a situation, he knows why he reacts as he does and whether he is right. He has no inner conflicts, his mind and his emotions are integrated, his consciousness is in perfect harmony. His emotions are not his enemies, they are his means of enjoying life. But they are not his guide; the guide is his mind. This relationship cannot be reversed, however. If a man takes his emotions as the cause and his mind as their passive effect, if he is guided by his emotions and uses his mind only to rationalize or justify them somehow -- then he is acting immorally, he is condemning himself to misery, failure, defeat, and he will achieve nothing but destruction -- his own and that of others.

PLAYBOY: According to your philosophy, work and achievement are the highest goals of life. Do you regard as immoral those who find greater fulfillment in the warmth of friendship and family ties?

RAND: If they place such things as friendship and family ties above their own productive work, yes, then they are immoral. Friendship, family life and human relationships are not primary in a man's life. A man who places others first, above his own creative work, is an emotional parasite; whereas, if he places his work first, there is no conflict between his work and his enjoyment of human relationships.

PLAYBOY: Do you believe that women as well as men should organize their lives around work -- and if so, what kind of work?

RAND: Of course. I believe that women are human beings. What is proper for a man is proper for a woman. The basic principles are the same. I would not attempt to prescribe what kind of work a man should do, and I would not attempt it in regard to women. There is no particular work which is specifically feminine. Women can choose their work according to their own purpose and premises in the same manner as men do.

PLAYBOY: In your opinion, is a woman immoral who chooses to devote herself to home and family instead of a career?

RAND: Not immoral -- I would say she is impractical, because a home cannot be a full-time occupation, except when her children are young. However, if she wants a family and wants to make that her career, at least for a while, it would be proper -- if she approaches it as a career, that is, if she studies the subject, if she defines the rules and principles by which she wants to bring up her children, if she approaches her task in an intellectual manner. It is a very responsible task and a very important one, but only when treated as a science, not as a mere emotional indulgence. PLAYBOY: Where, would you say, should romantic love fit into the life of a rational person whose single driving passion is work?

RAND: It is his greatest reward. The only man capable of experiencing a profound romantic love is the man driven by passion for his work -- because love is an expression of self-esteem, of the deepest values in a man's or a woman's character. One falls in love with the person who shares these values. If a man has no clearly defined values, and no moral character, he is not able to appreciate another person. In this respect, I would like to quote from The Fountainhead, in which the hero utters a line that has often been quoted by readers: "To say 'I love you' one must know first how to say the 'I.'"

PLAYBOY: You hold that one's own happiness is the highest end, and that self-sacrifice is immoral. Does this apply to love as well as work?

RAND: To love more than to anything else. When you are in love, it means that the person you love is of great personal, selfish importance to you and to your life. If you were selfless, it would have to mean that you derive no personal pleasure or happiness from the company and the existence of the person you love, and that you are motivated only by self-sacrificial pity for that person's need of you. I don't have to point out to you that no one would be flattered by, nor would accept, a concept of that kind. Love is not self-sacrifice, but the most profound assertion of your own needs and values. It is for your own happiness that you need the person you love, and that is the greatest compliment, the greatest tribute you can pay to that person.

PLAYBOY: You have denounced the puritan notion that physical love is ugly or evil; yet you have written that "Indiscriminate desire and unselective indulgence are possible only to those who regard sex and themselves as evil." Would you say that discriminate and selective indulgence in sex is moral?

RAND: I would say that a selective and discriminate sex life is not an indulgence. The term indulgence implies that it is an action taken lightly and casually. I say that sex is one of the most important aspects of man's life and, therefore, must never be approached lightly or casually. A sexual relationship is proper only on the ground of the highest values one can find in a human being. Sex must not be anything other than a response to values. And that is why I consider promiscuity immoral. Not because sex is evil, but because sex is too good and too important.

PLAYBOY: Does this mean, in your view, that sex should involve only married partners?

RAND: Not necessarily. What sex should involve is a very serious relationship. Whether that relationship should or should not become a marriage is a question which depends on the circumstances and the context of the two persons' lives. I consider marriage a very important institution, but it is important when and if two people have found the person with whom they wish to spend the rest of their lives -- a question of which no man or woman can be automatically certain. When one is certain that one's choice is final, then marriage is, of course, a desirable state. But this does not mean that any relationship based on less than total certainty is improper. I think the question of an affair or a marriage depends on the knowledge and the position of the two persons involved and should be left up to them. Either is moral, provided only that both parties take the relationship seriously and that it is based on values.

PLAYBOY: As one who champions the cause of enlightened self-interest, how do you feel about dedicating one's life to hedonistic self-gratification?

RAND: I am profoundly opposed to the philosophy of hedonism. Hedonism is the doctrine which holds that the good is whatever gives you pleasure and, therefore, pleasure is the standard of morality. Objectivism holds that the good must be defined by a rational standard of value, that pleasure is not a first cause, but only a consequence, that only the pleasure which proceeds from a rational value judgment can be regarded as moral, that pleasure, as such, is not a guide to action nor a standard of morality. To say that pleasure should be the standard of morality simply means that whichever values you happen to have chosen, consciously or subconsciously, rationally or irrationally, are right and moral. This means that you are to be guided by chance feelings, emotions and whims, not by your mind. My philosophy is the opposite of hedonism. I hold that one cannot achieve happiness by random, arbitrary or subjective means. One can achieve happiness only on the basis of rational values. By rational values, I do not mean anything that a man may arbitrarily or blindly declare to be rational. It is the province of morality, of the science of ethics, to define for men what is a rational standard and what are the rational values to pursue.

PLAYBOY: You have said that the kind of man who spends his time running after women is a man who "despises himself." Would you elaborate?

RAND: This type of man is reversing cause and effect in regard to sex. Sex is an expression of a man's self-esteem, of his own self-value. But the man who does not value himself tries to reverse this process. He tries to derive his self-esteem from his sexual conquests, which cannot be done. He cannot acquire his own value from the number of women who regard him as valuable. Yet that is the hopeless thing which he attempts.

PLAYBOY: You attack the idea that sex is "impervious to reason." But isn't sex a nonrational biological instinct?

RAND: No. To begin with, man does not possess any instincts. Physically, sex is merely a capacity. But how a man will exercise this capacity and whom he will find attractive depends on his standard of value. It depends on his premises, which he may hold consciously or subconsciously, and which determine his choices. It is in this manner that his philosophy directs his sex life.

PLAYBOY: Isn't the individual equipped with powerful, nonrational biological drives?

RAND: He is not. A man is equipped with a certain kind of physical mechanism and certain needs, but without any knowledge of how to fulfill them. For instance, man needs food. He experiences hunger. But, unless he learns first to identify this hunger, then to know that he needs food and how to obtain it, he will starve. The need, the hunger, will not tell him how to satisfy it. Man is born with certain physical and psychological needs, but he can neither discover them nor satisfy them without the use of his mind. Man has to discover what is right or wrong for him as a rational being. His so-called urges will not tell him what to do.

PLAYBOY: In Atlas Shrugged you wrote, "There are two sides to every issue. One side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil." Isn't this a rather black-and-white set of values?

RAND: It most certainly is. I most emphatically advocate a black-and-white view of the world. Let us define this. What is meant by the expression "black and white"? It means good and evil. Before you can identify anything as gray, as middle of the road, you have to know what is black and what is white, because gray is merely a mixture of the two. And when you have established that one alternative is good and the other is evil, there is no justification for the choice of a mixture. There is no justification ever for choosing any part of what you know to be evil.

PLAYBOY: Then you believe in absolutes?

RAND: I do.

PLAYBOY: Can't Objectivism, then, be called a dogma?

RAND: No. A dogma is a set of beliefs accepted on faith; that is, without rational justification or against rational evidence. A dogma is a matter of blind faith. Objectivism is the exact opposite. Objectivism tells you that you must not accept any idea or conviction unless you can demonstrate its truth by means of reason.

PLAYBOY: If widely accepted, couldn't Objectivism harden into a dogma?

RAND: No. I have found that Objectivism is its own protection against people who might attempt to use it as a dogma. Since Objectivism requires the use of one's mind, those who attempt to take broad principles and apply them unthinkingly and indiscriminately to the concretes of their own existence find that it cannot be done. They are then compelled either to reject Objectivism or to apply it. When I say apply, I mean that they have to use their own mind, their own thinking, in order to know how to apply Objectivist principles to the specific problems of their own lives. PLAYBOY: You have said you are opposed to faith. Do you believe in God?

RAND: Certainly not.

PLAYBOY: You've been quoted as saying "The cross is the symbol of torture, of the sacrifice of the ideal to the nonideal. I prefer the dollar sign." Do you truly feel that two thousand years of Christianity can be summed up with the word "torture"?

RAND: To begin with, I never said that. It's not my style. Neither literarily nor intellectually. I don't say I prefer the dollar sign -- that is cheap nonsense, and please leave this in your copy. I don't know the origin of that particular quote, but the meaning of the dollar sign is made clear in Atlas Shrugged. It is the symbol, clearly explained in the story, of free trade and, therefore, of a free mind. A free mind and a free economy are corollaries. One can't exist without the other. The dollar sign, as the symbol of the currency of a free country, is the symbol of the free mind. More than that, as to the historical origin of the dollar sign, although it has never been proved, one very likely hypothesis is that it stands for the initials of the United States. So much for the dollar sign.
Now you want me to speak about the cross. What is correct is that I do regard the cross as the symbol of the sacrifice of the ideal to the nonideal. Isn't that what it does mean? Christ, in terms of the Christian philosophy, is the human ideal. He personifies that which men should strive to emulate. Yet, according to the Christian mythology, he died on the cross not for his own sins but for the sins of the nonideal people. In other words, a man of perfect virtue was sacrificed for men who are vicious and who are expected or supposed to accept that sacrifice. If I were a Christian, nothing could make me more indignant than that: the notion of sacrificing the ideal to the non-ideal, or virtue to vice. And it is in the name of that symbol that men are asked to sacrifice themselves for their inferiors. That is precisely how the symbolism is used. That is torture.

PLAYBOY: Has no religion, in your estimation, ever offered anything of constructive value to human life?

RAND: Qua religion, no -- in the sense of blind belief, belief unsupported by, or contrary to, the facts of reality and the conclusions of reason. Faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason. But you must remember that religion is an early form of philosophy, that the first attempts to explain the universe, to give a coherent frame of reference to man's life and a code of moral values, were made by religion, before men graduated or developed enough to have philosophy. And, as philosophies, some religions have very valuable moral points. They may have a good influence or proper principles to inculcate, but in a very contradictory context and, on a very -- how should I say it? -- dangerous or malevolent base: on the ground of faith.

PLAYBOY: Then you would say that if you had to choose between the symbol of the cross and the symbol of the dollar, you would choose the dollar?

RAND: I wouldn't accept such a choice. Put it another way: If I had to choose between faith and reason, I wouldn't consider the choice even conceivable. As a human being, one chooses reason. PLAYBOY: Do you consider wealthy businessmen like the Fords and the Rockefellers immoral because they use their wealth to support charity?

RAND: No. That is their privilege, if they want to. My views on charity are very simple. I do not consider it a major virtue and, above all, I do not consider it a moral duty. There is nothing wrong in helping other people, if and when they are worthy of the help and you can afford to help them. I regard charity as a marginal issue. What I am fighting is the idea that charity is a moral duty and a primary virtue.

PLAYBOY: What is the place of compassion in your philosophical system?

RAND: I regard compassion as proper only toward those who are innocent victims, but not toward those who are morally guilty. If one feels compassion for the victims of a concentration camp, one cannot feel it for the torturers. If one does feel compassion for the torturers, it is an act of moral treason toward the victims.

PLAYBOY: Would it be against the principles of Objectivism for anyone to sacrifice himself by stepping in front of a bullet to protect another person?

RAND: No. It depends on the circumstances. I would step in the way of a bullet if it were aimed at my husband. It is not self-sacrifice to die protecting that which you value: If the value is great enough, you do not care to exist without it. This applies to any alleged sacrifice for those one loves.

PLAYBOY: Would you be willing to die for your cause, and should your followers be willing to die for it? And for the truly nonsacrificial Objectivist, is any cause worth dying for?

RAND: The answer to this is made plain in my book. In Atlas Shrugged I explain that a man has to live for, and when necessary, fight for, his values -- because the whole process of living consists of the achievement of values. Man does not survive automatically. He must live like a rational being and accept nothing less. He cannot survive as a brute. Even the simplest value, such as food, has to be created by man, has to be planted, has to be produced. The same is true of his more interesting, more important achievements. All values have to be gained and kept by man, and, if they are threatened, he has to be willing to fight and die, if necessary, for his right to live like a rational being. You ask me, would I be willing to die for Objectivism? I would. But what is more important, I am willing to live for it -- which is much more difficult.

PLAYBOY: In your emphasis on reason, you are in philosophical conflict with contemporary writers, novelists and poets -- many of whom are self-admitted mystics, or irrationalists, as they have been called. Why is this so?

RAND: Because art has a philosophical base, and the dominant philosophical trends of today are a form of neomysticism. Art is a projection of the artist's fundamental view of man and of existence. Since most artists do not develop an independent philosophy of their own, they absorb, consciously or subconsciously, the dominant philosophical influences of their time. Most of today's literature is a faithful reflection of today's philosophy -- and look at it!

PLAYBOY: But shouldn't a writer reflect his time?

RAND: No. A writer should be an active intellectual leader of his time, not a passive follower riding any current. A writer should shape the values of his culture, he should project and concretize the value goals of man's life. This is the essence of the Romantic school of literature, which has all but vanished from today's scene.

PLAYBOY: Leaving us where, literarily speaking?

RAND: At the dead end of Naturalism. Naturalism holds that a writer must be a passive photographer or reporter who must transcribe uncritically whatever he happens to observe around him. Romanticism holds that a writer must present things, not as they are at any given moment, but, to quote Aristotle, "as they might be and ought to be."

PLAYBOY: Would you say that you are the last of the Romanticists?

RAND: Or the first of their return -- to quote one of my own characters in Atlas Shrugged.

PLAYBOY: What is your appraisal of contemporary literature in general?

RAND: Philosophically, immoral. Aesthetically, it bores me to death. It is degenerating into a sewer, devoted exclusively to studies of depravity. And there's nothing as boring as depravity.

PLAYBOY: Are there any novelists whom you admire?

RAND: Yes. Victor Hugo.

PLAYBOY: What about modern novelists?

RAND: No, there is no one that I could say I admire among the so-called serious writers. I prefer the popular literature of today, which is today's remnant of Romanticism. My favorite is Mickey Spillane.

PLAYBOY: Why do you like him?

RAND: Because he is primarily a moralist. In a primitive form, the form of a detective novel, he presents the conflict of good and evil, in terms of black and white. He does not present a nasty gray mixture of indistinguishable scoundrels on both sides. He presents an uncompromising conflict. As a writer, he is brilliantly expert at the aspect of literature which I consider most important: plot structure.

PLAYBOY: What do you think of Faulkner?

RAND: Not very much. He is a good stylist, but practically unreadable in content -- so I've read very little of him.

PLAYBOY: What about Nabokov?

RAND: I have read only one book of his and a half -- the half was Lolita, which I couldn't finish. He is a brilliant stylist, he writes beautifully, but his subjects, his sense of life, his view of man, are so evil that no amount of artistic skill can justify them.

PLAYBOY: As a novelist, do you regard philosophy as the primary purpose of your writing?

RAND: No. My primary purpose is the projection of an ideal man, of man "as he might be and ought to be." Philosophy is the necessary means to that end.

PLAYBOY: In your early novel, Anthem, your protagonist declares, "It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I respect." Isn't this anarchism? Is one's own desire or will the only law one must respect?

RAND: Not one's own will. This is, more or less, a poetic expression made clear by the total context of the story in Anthem. One's own rational judgment. You see, I use the term free will in a totally different sense from the one usually attached to it. Free will consists of man's ability to think or not to think. The act of thinking is man's primary act of choice. A rational man will never be guided by desires or whims, only by values based on his rational judgment. That is the only authority he can recognize. This does not mean anarchy, because, if a man wants to live in a free, civilized society, he would, in reason, have to choose to observe the laws, when those laws are objective, rational and valid. I have written an article on this subject for The Objectivist Newsletter -- on the need and proper function of a government.

PLAYBOY: What, in your view, is the proper function of a government?

RAND: Basically, there is really only one proper function: the protection of individual rights. Since rights can be violated only by physical force, and by certain derivatives of physical force, the proper function of government is to protect men from those who initiate the use of physical force: from those who are criminals. Force, in a free society, may be used only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use. This is the proper task of government: to serve as a policeman who protects men from the use of force.

PLAYBOY: If force may be used only in retaliation against force, does the government have the right to use force to collect taxes, for example, or to draft soldiers?

RAND: In principle, I believe that taxation should be voluntary, like everything else. But how one would implement this is a very complex question. I can only suggest certain methods, but I would not attempt to insist on them as a definitive answer. A government lottery, for instance, used in many countries in Europe, is one good method of voluntary taxation. There are others. Taxes should be voluntary contributions for the proper governmental services which people do need and therefore would be and should be willing to pay for -- as they pay for insurance. But, of course, this is a problem for a distant future, for the time when men will establish a fully free social system. It would be the last, not the first, reform to advocate. As to the draft, it is improper and unconstitutional. It is a violation of fundamental rights, of a man's right to his own life. No man has the right to send another man to fight and die for his, the sender's, cause. A country has no right to force men into involuntary servitude. Armies should be strictly voluntary; and, as military authorities will tell you, volunteer armies are the best armies.

PLAYBOY: What about other public needs? Do you consider the post office, for example, a legitimate function of government?

RAND: Now let's get this straight. My position is fully consistent. Not only the post office, but streets, roads, and above all, schools, should all be privately owned and privately run. I advocate the separation of state and economics. The government should be concerned only with those issues which involve the use of force. This means: the police, the armed services, and the law courts to settle disputes among men. Nothing else. Everything else should be privately run and would be much better run.

PLAYBOY: Would you create any new government departments or agencies?

RAND: No, and I truly cannot discuss things that way. I am not a government planner nor do I spend my time inventing Utopias. I'm talking about principles whose practical applications are clear. If I have said that I am opposed to the initiation of force, what else has to be discussed?

PLAYBOY: What about force in foreign policy? You have said that any free nation had the right to invade Nazi Germany during World War II . . .

RAND: Certainly.

PLAYBOY: . . . And that any free nation today has the moral right -- though not the duty -- to invade Soviet Russia, Cuba, or any other "slave pen." Correct?

RAND: Correct. A dictatorship -- a country that violates the rights of its own citizens -- is an outlaw and can claim no rights.

PLAYBOY: Would you actively advocate that the United States invade Cuba or the Soviet Union?

RAND: Not at present. I don't think it's necessary. I would advocate that which the Soviet Union fears above all else: economic boycott. I would advocate a blockade of Cuba and an economic boycott of Soviet Russia; and you would see both those regimes collapse without the loss of a single American life.

PLAYBOY: Would you favor U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations?

RAND: Yes. I do not sanction the grotesque pretense of an organization allegedly devoted to world peace and human rights, which includes Soviet Russia, the worst aggressor and bloodiest butcher in history, as one of its members. The notion of protecting rights, with Soviet Russia among the protectors, is an insult to the concept of rights and to the intelligence of any man who is asked to endorse or sanction such an organization. I do not believe that an individual should cooperate with criminals, and, for all the same reasons, I do not believe that free countries should cooperate with dictatorships.

PLAYBOY: Would you advocate severing diplomatic relations with Russia?

RAND: Yes.

PLAYBOY: How do you feel about the test-ban treaty which was recently signed?

RAND: I agree with Barry Goldwater's speech on this subject on the Senate floor. The best military authorities, and above all, the best scientific authority, Dr. Teller, the author of the hydrogen bomb, have stated that this treaty is not merely meaningless but positively dangerous to America's defense.

PLAYBOY: If Senator Goldwater is nominated as the Republican presidential candidate this July, would you vote for him?

RAND: At present, yes. When I say "at present," I mean the date when this interview is being recorded. I disagree with him on a great many things, but I do agree, predominantly, with his foreign policy. Of any candidates available today, I regard Barry Goldwater as the best. I would vote for him, if he offers us a plausible, or at least semiconsistent, platform.

PLAYBOY: How about Richard Nixon?

RAND: I'm opposed to him. I'm opposed to any compromiser or me-tooer, and Mr. Nixon is probably the champion in this regard.

PLAYBOY: What about President Johnson?

RAND: I have no particular opinion about him.

PLAYBOY: You are a declared anticommunist, antisocialist and antiliberal. Yet you reject the notion that you are a conservative. In fact, you have reserved some of your angriest criticism for conservatives. Where do you stand politically?

RAND: Correction. I never describe my position in terms of negatives. I am an advocate of laissez-faire capitalism, of individual rights -- there are no others -- of individual freedom. It is on this ground that I oppose any doctrine which proposes the sacrifice of the individual to the collective, such as communism, socialism, the welfare state. fascism, Nazism and modern liberalism. I oppose the conservatives on the same ground. The conservatives are advocates of a mixed economy and of a welfare state. Their difference from the liberals is only one of degree, not of principle.

PLAYBOY: You have charged that America suffers from intellectual bankruptcy. Do you include in this condemnation such right-wing publications as the National Review? Isn't that magazine a powerful voice against all the things you regard as "statism"?

RAND: I consider National Review the worst and most dangerous magazine in America. The kind of defense that it offers to capitalism results in nothing except the discrediting and destruction of capitalism. Do you want me to tell you why?

PLAYBOY: Yes, please.

RAND: Because it ties capitalism to religion. The ideological position of National Review amounts, in effect, to the following: In order to accept freedom and capitalism, one has to believe in God or in some form of religion, some form of supernatural mysticism. Which means that there are no rational grounds on which one can defend capitalism. Which amounts to an admission that reason is on the side of capitalism's enemies, that a slave society or a dictatorship is a rational system, and that only on the ground of mystic faith can one believe in freedom. Nothing more derogatory to capitalism could ever be alleged, and the exact opposite is true. Capitalism is the only system that can be defended and validated by reason.

PLAYBOY: You have attacked Governor Nelson Rockefeller for "lumping all opponents of the welfare state with actual crackpots." It was clear from his remarks that among others, he was aiming his criticism at the John Birch Society. Do you resent being lumped with the John Birchers? Do you consider them "crackpots" or a force for good?

RAND: I resent being lumped with anyone. I resent the modern method of never defining ideas, and lumping totally different people into a collective by means of smears and derogatory terms. I resent Governor Rockefeller's smear tactics: his refusal to identify specifically whom and what he meant. As far as I'm concerned, I repeat, I don't want to be lumped with anyone, and certainly not with the John Birch Society. Do I consider them crackpots? No, not necessarily. What is wrong with them is that they don't seem to have any specific, clearly defined political philosophy. Therefore, some of them may be crackpots, others may be very well-meaning citizens. I consider the Birch Society futile, because they are not for capitalism, but merely against communism. I gather they believe that the disastrous state of today's world is caused by a communist conspiracy. This is childishly naive and superficial. No country can be destroyed by a mere conspiracy, it can be destroyed only by ideas. The Birchers seem to be either nonintellectual or anti-intellectual. They do not attach importance to ideas. They do not realize that the great battle in the world today is a philosophical, ideological conflict.

PLAYBOY: Are there any political groups in the United States today of which you approve?

RAND: Political groups, as such -- no. Is there any political group today which is fully consistent? Such groups today are guided by or advocate blatant contradictions.

PLAYBOY: Do you have any personal political aspirations yourself? Have you ever considered running for office?

RAND: Certainly not. And I trust that you don't hate me enough to wish such a thing on me.

PLAYBOY: But you are interested in politics, or at least in political theory, aren't you?

RAND: Let me answer you this way: When I came here from Soviet Russia, I was interested in politics for only one reason -- to reach the day when I would not have to be interested in politics. I wanted to secure a society in which I would be free to pursue my own concerns and goals, knowing that the government would not interfere to wreck them, knowing that my life, my work, my future were not at the mercy of the state or of a dictator's whim. This is still my attitude today. Only today I know that such a society is an ideal not yet achieved, that I cannot expect others to achieve it for me, and that I, like every other responsible citizen, must do everything possible to achieve it. In other words, I am interested in politics only in order to secure and protect freedom.

PLAYBOY: Throughout your work you argue that the way in which the contemporary world is organized, even in the capitalist countries, submerges the individual and stifles initiative. In Atlas Shrugged, John Galt leads a strike of the men of the mind -- which results in the collapse of the collectivist society around them. Do you think the time has come for the artists, intellectuals and creative businessmen of today to withdraw their talents from society in this way?

RAND: No, not yet. But before I explain, I must correct one part of your question. What we have today is not a capitalist society, but a mixed economy -- that is, a mixture of freedom and controls, which, by the presently dominant trend, is moving toward dictatorship. The action in Atlas Shrugged takes place at a time when society has reached the stage of dictatorship. When and if this happens, that will be the time to go on strike, but not until then.

PLAYBOY: What do you mean by dictatorship? How would you define it?

RAND: A dictatorship is a country that does not recognize individual rights, whose government holds total, unlimited power over men.

PLAYBOY: What is the dividing line, by your definition, between a mixed economy and a dictatorship?

RAND: A dictatorship has four characteristics: one-party rule, executions without trial for political offenses, expropriation or nationalization of private property, and censorship. Above all, this last. So long as men can speak and write freely, so long as there is no censorship, they still have a chance to reform their society or to put it on a better road. When censorship is imposed, that is the sign that men should go on strike intellectually, by which I mean, should not cooperate with the social system in any way whatever.

PLAYBOY: Short of such a strike, what do you believe ought to be done to bring about the societal changes you deem desirable?

RAND: It is ideas that determine social trends, that create or destroy social systems. Therefore, the right ideas, the right philosophy, should be advocated and spread. The disasters of the modern world, including the destruction of capitalism, were caused by the altruist-collectivist philosophy. It is altruism that men should reject.

PLAYBOY: And how would you define altruism?

RAND: It is a moral system which holds that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the sole justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, value and virtue. This is the moral base of collectivism, of all dictatorships. In order to seek freedom and capitalism, men need a nonmystical, nonaltruistic, rational code of ethics -- a morality which holds that man is not a sacrificial animal, that he has the right to exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others, nor others to himself. In other words, what is desperately needed today is the ethics of Objectivism.

PLAYBOY: Then what you are saying is that to achieve these changes one must use essentially educational or propagandistic methods?

RAND: Yes, of course.

PLAYBOY: What do you think of your antagonists' contention that the moral and political principles of Objectivism place you outside the mainstream of American thought?

RAND: I don't acknowledge or recognize such a concept as a "mainstream of thought." That might be appropriate to a dictatorship, to a collectivist society in which thought is controlled and in which there exists a collective mainstream -- of slogans, not of thought. There is no such thing in America. There never was. However, I have heard that expression used for the purpose of barring from public communication any innovator, any non-conformist, anyone who has anything original to offer. I am an innovator. This is a term of distinction, a term of honor, rather than something to hide or apologize for. Anyone who has new or valuable ideas to offer stands outside the intellectual status quo. But the status quo is not a stream, let alone a "mainstream." It is a stagnant swamp. It is the innovators who carry mankind forward.

PLAYBOY: Do you believe that Objectivism as a philosophy will eventually sweep the world?

RAND: Nobody can answer a question of that kind. Men have free will. There is no guarantee that they will choose to be rational, at any one time or in any one generation. Nor is it necessary for a philosophy to "sweep the world." If you ask the question in a somewhat different form, if you say, do I think that Objectivism will be the philosophy of the future, I would say yes, but with this qualification: If men turn to reason, if they are not destroyed by dictatorship and precipitated into another Dark Ages, if men remain free long enough to have time to think, then Objectivism is the philosophy they will accept.

PLAYBOY: Why?

RAND: In any historical period when men were free, it has always been the most rational philosophy that won. It is from this perspective that I would say, yes, Objectivism will win. But there is no guarantee, no predetermined necessity about it.

PLAYBOY: You are sharply critical of the world as you see it today, and your books offer radical proposals for changing not merely the shape of society, but the very way in which most men work, think and love. Are you optimistic about man's future?

RAND: Yes, I am optimistic. Collectivism, as an intellectual power and a moral ideal, is dead. But freedom and individualism, and their political expression, capitalism, have not yet been discovered. I think men will have time to discover them. It is significant that the dying collectivist philosophy of today has produced nothing but a cult of depravity, impotence and despair. Look at modern art and literature with their image of man as a helpless, mindless creature doomed to failure, frustration and destruction. This may be the collectivists' psychological confession, but it is not an image of man. If it were, we would never have risen from the cave. But we did. Look around you and look at history. You will see the achievements of man's mind. You will see man's unlimited potentiality for greatness, and the faculty that makes it possible. You will see that man is not a helpless monster by nature, but he becomes one when he discards that faculty: his mind. And if you ask me, what is greatness? -- I will answer, it is the capacity to live by the three fundamental values of John Galt: reason, purpose, self esteem.

Enough already!

2008-07-11T08:25:00.005-06:00

Today's "News cycle" seems to reduce our presidential election to the level of supermarket tabloid gossip. Jesse Jackson said something nasty about Obama. You remember Jesse Jackson, he of the "Hymietown" phrase. Jackson is a tired old has been. His stupid remarks mean nothing!

When are we going to get some coverage of importance. How about a detailed analysis of the two candidates' economic policy? How about a discussion of the role of the Federal Government vs. the States? How about a discussion of the role of the Courts vs. the Legislature? These are important topics. Inane schoolyard bravado is of no value or importance.

News folk - INCLUDING Fox and the conservative talk radio. Lets focus on something important already?

Happy Independence Day

2008-07-04T06:26:00.003-06:00

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;

Just for fun!

2008-06-27T08:16:00.001-06:00

I've seen this around for years, I have no idea about the source. It Still makes me laugh.

50 Fun things to do in an elevator

1. Make race car noises when anyone gets on or off.
2. Blow your nose and offer to show the contents of your Kleenex to other passengers.
3. Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering: "Shut up, dammit, all of you just shut UP!"
4. Whistle the first seven notes of "It's a Small World" incessantly.
5. Sell Girl Scout cookies.
6. On a long ride, sway side to side at the natural frequency of the elevator.
7. Shave.
8. Crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside ask: "Got enough air in there?"
9. Offer name tags to everyone getting on the elevator. Wear yours upside-down.
10. Stand silent and motionless in the corner, facing the wall, without getting off.
11. When arriving at your floor, grunt and strain to yank the doors open, then act embarrassed when they open by themselves.
12. Lean over to another passenger and whisper: "Noogiepatrol coming!"
13. Greet everyone getting on the elevator with a warm handshake and ask them to call you Admiral.
14. One word: Flatulence!
15. On the highest floor, hold the door open and demand that it stay open until you hear the penny you dropped downthe shaft go "plink" at the bottom.
16. Do Tai Chi exercises.
17. Stare, grinning, at another passenger for a while, and then announce: "I've got new socks on!"
18. When at least 8 people have boarded, moan from the back: "Oh, not now, damn motion sickness!"
19. Give religious tracts to each passenger.
20. Meow occassionally.
21. Bet the other passengers you can fit a quarter in your nose.
22. Frown and mutter "gotta go, gotta go" then sigh and say "oops!"
23. Show other passengers a wound and ask if it looks infected
24. Sing "Mary had a little lamb" while continually pushing buttons.
25. Holler "Chutes away!" whenever the elevator descends.
26. Walk on with a cooler that says "human head" on the side.
27. Stare at another passenger for a while, then announce "You're one of THEM!" and move to the far corner of the elevator.
28. Burp, and then say "mmmm...tasty!"
29. Leave a box between the doors.
30. Ask each passenger getting on if you can push the button for them.
31. Wear a puppet on your hand and talk to other passengers "through" it.
32. Start a sing-along.
33. When the elevator is silent, look around and ask "is that your beeper?"
34. Play the harmonica.
35. Shadow box.
36. Say "Ding!" at each floor.
37. Lean against the button panel.
38. Say "I wonder what all these do" and push the redbuttons.
39. Listen to the elevator walls with a stethoscope.
40. Draw a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers that this is your personal space.
41. Bring a chair along.
42. Take a bite of a sandwich and ask another passenger: "Wanna see wha in muh mouf?"
43. Blow spit bubbles.
44. Pull your gum out of your mouth in long strings.
45. Announce in a demonic voice: "I must find a more suitable host body."
46. Carry a blanket and clutch it protectively.
47. Make explosion noises when anyone presses a button.
48. Wear "X-Ray Specs" and leer suggestively at other passengers.
49. Stare at your thumb and say "I think it's getting larger."
50. If anyone brushes against you, recoil and holler "Bad touch!"

Who are the uninsured?

2008-06-26T09:00:00.001-06:00

well, according to Doug Ross,

8,400,000 eligible for government programs
10,200,000 aliens
9,200,000 have incomes of $75,000 or higher
7,500,000 are aged 19-24, many of whom have elected not to be covered.

...Carry the one... the bottom line is that 35.3 million of the 47 million uninsureds fall into one of the four buckets.

Hmmm, Interesting?

G-d Bless this Lady!

2008-06-26T08:43:00.002-06:00

Irena Sendler - a name few, almost none of us, are aware of passed on recently. Get yourself a cup of coffee, sit back and learn the real definition of the word Hero. Click on her name for the story!

Antisemitism

2008-06-25T08:57:00.002-06:00

Perhaps our Muslim brethren are smarter that their elder brethren, the Jews? If you mock a Muslim or insult the Koran, there are Muslims who feel justified in taking physical action. Mock a Jew or make fun of the Torah and you can get a stand-up gig at you local comedy club.

I'm not going to start quoting or linking articles - that's what Google is for. There are weekly, almost daily, incidents of graphic and physical antisemitism. Something has to be done about it!

Some years ago there was rash of Jewish people being attacked. a Rabbi, Meir Kahane, started the Jewish Defense League (JDL). The JDL was turned into a political football, again check it out on Google, however it did have an effect.

The day of the little "yiddles" walking through the streets fearfully has finally got to stop. I'm not advocating violence, at least not physical violence, however there is always economic violence.

France has become a major hotbed of antisemitism. If every Jew stops buying french products, and lets the French government know why, they will understand that they must control their thugs! If some antisemitic act happens in your town, insist that the police take action.

We can NEVER sit by and say -- It will pass. It will not pass. Once a bully learns that he has an easy victim, he knows where to go.

Never Again!

A New Blog

2008-06-18T17:57:00.001-06:00

We have another denizen of the blogosphere, a colleague of mine has started blogging. His opinions will give you pause to think.

It's over on the right -- No Real Choice

I'll let him introduce himself

OK, just a fast question

2008-06-17T09:18:00.003-06:00

You're a GI on patrol and after a firefight the enemy surrenders.

Now - According to the Supreme Court decisions, as interpreted by your commander - you have to read them their rights and start collecting evidence.

Will you? or just move on, leaving them behind, dead?

Now that we take no prisoners, will our enemy?

What was accomplished?

Watch This Spot

2008-06-15T17:36:00.004-06:00

In about 2 weeks The Flomblog will return to active blogging. I'm taking the month of July off and I plan on spending a lot of it on my Mac.

The election is getting fascinating. I had the following interchange with a colleague recently

Colleague (C) You ARE voting for Obama, aren't you?
Me(M) no, I'm supporting McCain
C - Don't you think a black man can be president?
M - Sure, but not that one. I honestly don't agree with too much of his political philosophy
C - Would you agree with him if he was white?
M - (getting annoyed) I wouldn't agree with him if he was green-skinned .
C- You're just a bigot
M - Thank You.

Note: the person that I was talking to is a Political Science PhD and a college professor

ARGH

So, I'll be jumping back into the fray in July.

The Flomblog
G-d Bless These United States of America

You gotta watch this!

2008-04-27T08:15:00.001-06:00

Jimmy Carter's Folly

2008-04-18T09:16:00.005-06:00

Lest you think that Former President Carter is opening doors and trying to communicate with the poor misunderstood terrorists, Here are highlights from the Hamas Charter: [Source]

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. "

"There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."

"After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying."

Ami Isseroff

Jimmy Carter is at best a fool and a dupe!

We lost another Giant

2008-04-06T08:01:00.003-06:00

Charlton Heston has gone to his well deserved rest. An excellent discussion of the man and his career is here . I grew up watching his movies and loved every one of them. When I got older I realized that the man was as epic as the roles. He stood up for what he believed in. Agree or not, you always knew where he stood.

Charlton Heston, may you rest in peace

Now for some IMPORTANT stuff

2008-04-03T09:11:00.002-06:00

NBC will be running Knight Rider (The new series) on Wednesday nights at 8:00 p.m., I guess that means 7:00pm Denver time

Reverand Wright, Part II

2008-03-30T13:18:00.001-06:00

I've been told that Reverend Wright is a biblical scholar - How did he miss the Ten Commandments? Especially the one about Bearing False Witness?

The Reverand Mr. Wright

2008-03-29T00:51:00.004-06:00

OK, I think I've got it figured out. The reverend Mr. Wright is a love child of Archie Bunker and Fred Sanford. No, really.

At first I was listening to the "god Damn America" and the "Amerikkka" stuff incredulously. I mean, how could any Wright-headed person make these statements? Yes over 150 years ago some very evil stuff happened. There is no question about that, but today? Give it a break.

Then more information hit the air waves. Mrs. Obama let us know that White Greed is the devils spawn. Obama himself , speaking for his fathers family, reminded us how unfair the country was. After all - he, and his wife, had to suffer through that Ivy-League education with all that melanin pigment.

Then it started to make sense to me - I can imagine Obama, in the car after Sunday services, talking to his friends over the cell phone, laughing at "He said what?" "No, really" After all the cartoons are on Saturday morning, what humor is there on TV on Sunday Morning other than the talk shows? It Had to be a joke, Wright?

All seriousness aside, Reverend Wright, you are a ... what's the word ... No it's coming to me.

Reverend Wright - you are a Yutz. (Google the word Yutz, please)

Victimhood

2008-03-27T21:22:00.003-06:00

I'm so sorry that I'm white. or at least that i've been white since the civil rights act of '64. Before that law, the phrase was White people and Jews. Well I'm now officially white - Boy am I happy.

I grew up in Brooklyn in the 50's. WWII was not that distant. There were still many people in the neighborhood that had numbers tattooed on their arms. Hey - That entitles me to yell and scream "I'm a Victim." The World hates me because I'm Jewish. I deserve to be treated better. If someone offends me then I have the right, no - the obligation, to burn down their house.

The Religion of the perpetually offended is prepared to go to war over cartoons. Well, How about Shylock in the Merchant of Venus? How about Fagin in Oliver Twist. look him up in Wikipedia and you'll read

"Fagin is noted for being one of the few Jewish characters of 19th century literature, let alone any of Dickens' pieces. Fagin has been the subject of much debate over antisemitism. In an introduction to a 1981 Bantam Books reissue of Oliver Twist, for example, Irving Howe wrote that Fagin was considered an "archetypical Jewish villain."

How about the cartoons such as the one at the left? How about the Palestinians bring back the old nonsensical accusations of Blood Libel - "Jews use the Blood of Christian Children to make their matzo". Or the accusations this week about the Israeli's throwing Palistinean children in Ovens?

OK, whats the point that I'm trying to make? All of you victims -- Get Over it!

As long as you bask in White Guilt or refusing to take the blame for your own shortcomings, you are going to remain victims. Does that statement make me a bigot, racist or Islamaphobe, Well to quote Clark Gable "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn".

The American dream is phrased quite nicely in the Declaration of Independence: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness. There is no guarantee of happiness. We are guaranteed the right to pursue happiness.

So lets all get off of our collective butts and get to work, get an education and stop perpetuating victim-hood!

Antisemitism - a summary

2008-03-25T09:31:00.004-06:00

A delightful lady asked a pertinent question in reply to my blog about the Rabbinical Student being harassed in Brooklyn. "Is it that bad in New York?" BTW her blog is at Me-Ander.blogspot.com and is worth reading regularly. I'll be adding the link today.

The answer is No, It's worse. The world seems to be busily retreating to 1936, though. Here are some articles from the web. Please read them all. My comments are at the end of the blog.

France

reprinted with the permission of Haaretz Daily (English)

Shocked and angry, France is finding it difficult to mollify its Jewish citizens in the wake of hundreds of attacks directed at them during the past year. The heads of the Jewish organizations have been talking about a revival of anti-Semitism, and liberal Jews have been discussing the violence that has been directed toward them, the source of which is poverty. Most of the incidents, they say, have occurred in the poorer peripheral cities. Politicians and senior government officials have been whispering that Israel, because of it aggression toward the Palestinians, is the cause of this wave of anti-Jewish activity.

England

The brilliant Mark Styne's two cents:

However, it seems to me that that traditionally mild antisemitism is fast vanishing and being replaced by something much closer to the more virulent Continental forms. The sinister rootless cosmopolitan Jew reviled in Europe was never a big deal in Britain: the Wandering Jew has his work cut out wandering as far afield as the Wandering Englishman. But Israel is another matter. I happen to be reading Tom Bower's book Conrad And Lady Black, about my old boss and his wife Barbara Amiel. Barbara's sins are mostly the ones leveled by Brits at World War II Yanks - oversexed, overpaid and over here - but Mr Bower adds to them the following:

By 2000, Amiel had become a passionate supporter of aggressive Zionism... Barbara Amiel's writings in the Telegraph hardened the perception of the newspaper as an uncritical propagandist for Zionism...

Spain:
Spanish Jews knew there were hard times ahead. Prime Minister Zapatero has not disappointed them

Ignacio Russell Cano

Published: 07.20.06, 14:21 / Israel Jewish Scene

Madrid: Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain and Secretary General of the Socialist Party, arrived to power at a time nobody expected, not even inside the Party.

Keen on populist tirades against the United States "Dickhead Bush" and "Ketchup Queen Kerry", his whole campaign did not bring much attention until the moment Al-Qaeda decided to blow up Madrid trains, killing almost 200 people and bringing to an end Spain's membership of the West.

Canada - Our good neighbor:

Audit on antisemitism in Canada - 2004

On March 15, 2005 the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada released its 2004 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, an annual study on antisemitism in this country. The Audit documented an increase in the number of individuals acting out on their feelings of prejudice in a progressively less restrained way. The Audit also noted signs that a climate is being created in which open expressions of antisemitism are becoming increasingly acceptable.

Antisemitic activity has risen dramatically, with a 46.7% increase country-wide in 2004 compared to 2003. In total, 857 incidents were reported, the highest number in the twenty-two year history of the Audit. Since 2000, the total number of incidents has increased more than three-fold.

The highest increases were in the categories of both violence and vandalism, where the numbers doubled on average. In the category of harassment, one third of the year's cases involved threats of physical harm, including death threats.

The Audit also rings an alarm on relations between communities in Canada. In 2004, just as in 2003, the group responsible for the most antisemitic acts in Canada was made up of people apparently from Arab origin. In fact, the number of acts belonging to this category of people has increased 122%.

The Audit expresses hope that the Arab community will decide to recognize the problem instead of denying it and will implement strategies within it's own community and educational structures to improve the situation. One cannot remain silent anymore about the existence of antisemitism and hostility towards Israel within certain groups that commit acts against Jews.
Australia:
Between 1 October 2005 and 30 September 2006, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry logged over 440 reports of anti-Jewish violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation. Anti-Jewish propaganda in fringe publications and from extremist organisations remained a serious concern. During debates on a number of matters of public policy overtly anti-Jewish language, and/or inflammatory slanders, sometimes were part of the mainstream discussion. Conspiracy theories abounded on the internet and these included a disturbing proportion which were overtly or implicitly antisemitic.

And the list goes on!

My friends we stood here in 1936 and turned a blind eye. We cannot do that again. We WILL NOT do that again. When one Jew is fighting antisemitism, he is fighting for us all. We must stand by him.

Never Again my friends, Never Again

Antisemitism? in Brooklyn? Updated

2008-03-24T08:01:00.006-06:00

The American Press all but ignored this story, but according to the Jerusalem Post:

A 25-year-old Israeli rabbinical assistant was assaulted by a group of Arab teenagers screaming "Allah akbar" in Brooklyn on Tuesday evening.

Uria Ohana, originally from Kfar Chabad, entered a subway station in the affluent Park Slope neighborhood in Brooklyn Tuesday evening, on his way to a lecture in Manhattan, when he noticed a group of Arab teenagers congregated on a bench in the station.
Ohana did not exchange words or make eye contact with the group, but proceeded upstairs to his train On his way, he felt someone grab his kippa (Yarmulka) from his head and then heard laughter. Ohana decided to chase the boys to retrieve his kippa.
The 18-year-old boy who grabbed the kippa left the subway station and ran into the street, where he was hit by a car, breaking his leg.
While Ohana chased the boy, the other teenagers began chasing him, screaming "Allah akbar.

The entire article is here!

I wonder - would there have been any American Press Coverage if the victim was a Muslim?

By the way - I grew up in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is the home of the Lubervich movement - The Lubervich movement is a conservative Jewish movement that is nothing like the East European Jews who marched into the Gas Chambers. These Jews will defend themselves and their Jewish neighbors.

Some years ago, Rabbi Meir Kahane, of blessed memory, started a group called the Jewish Defense League. While the group is no longer as active as it once was- the roots still exist.

If any Islamists are reading this - Be careful about who you start with - be very careful.

Never Again!

Update:

CBS posted this:

Rabbi Alleges Attack: Men Chanted 'Allah Akhbar'

Victim: Stolen Yarmulke Prompts Altercation That Leads To Brutal Beating Inside NYC Subway Station

Reporting
Jay Dow

BROOKLYN (CBS) ― A Brooklyn rabbi is speaking out after a scary encounter with a man accused of snatching his yarmulke off his head.

Rabbi Uria Ohana's crash course on street justice -- and the justice -- system continues.

Continues: http://wcbstv.com/seenon/rabbi.arab.yarmulke.2.683833.html

Ms. Pelosi - Well Done

2008-03-24T07:40:00.004-06:00

Nancy Pelosi showed her finest side this week. She showed courage and patriotism!

According to Breitbart:

"If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in Tibet, we have lost our moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world," Pelosi said.

Ms. Pelosi, you done good! Thank you

McCain's VP

2008-03-23T11:53:00.002-06:00

Some Ideas:

Bill Clinton? Might make an interesting race?
Bob Dylan? He writes well, when he speaks, no one really understands him. But then again he (used to be/might have been) Jewish
Bob Denver (Gilligan, Maynard G. Krebs) Probably one of America's great philosophers
Harry Truman -- OK, he's dead but he is still eligible to be president
Pat Boone? (Nah - way too conservative)

Ideas?

A Logical Manner of Discrimination

2008-03-15T20:00:00.008-06:00

Let be realistic - Skin Color is a foolish way to discriminate. People aren't black or white, there's a continuum of shades and colors between the two hues. National origin is fleeting, after a generation or two differences just disappear, however as people we need a valid manner of keeping people in their place. May I suggest that one exists today -- Blood Type.

If we insure that there is no miscegenation, we can assure ourselves that we will breed true. A + A yields Another A. Plus the blood type gives us a rational and logical means of discrimination, one that can be checked in minutes by a simple blood test. The logistics are quite simple:

Type A people will form the Ruling class.
Type B people will be the artisians and engineers.
Type O people are the laboring class - they can work the fields and sneak over international borders.

Obviously the Positive and Negative subclasses will finely tune the system.

The only problem is the mongrel type AB people. They must be rounded up and sterilized. Just their existence confuses the issue.

So, call your congressional delegates and push for the Flomblog Amendment to the Constitution - Enabling Logical Racial Purity.

The Flomblog (Who is coincidentally an A+)

I Done It

2008-03-02T15:18:00.003-07:00

I bought an Ipod Touch. I really do not want an Iphone. I can barely stand my cellphone. However I am going bonkers over the ability to put a fairly decent palmtop computer in my shirt pocket.

I will be taking it to school tomorrow. It'll be interesting how well it works using the schools wifi.

I Love technology

What Really Happened in Israel

2008-03-01T08:58:00.002-07:00

This YouTube video is , or rather, should be required viewing for everyone. Please pass the link around!

William F. Buckley, Jr. is gone

2008-02-27T11:32:00.003-07:00

We just lost a giant. William F. Buckley was perhaps the only truly intellectually honest man who ever lived. Here are some of his comments taken from the pages of the website Brainy Quotes.com

A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!'
William F. Buckley, Jr.

All adventure is now reactionary.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Back in the thirties we were told we must collectivize the nation because the people were so poor. Now we are told we must collectivize the nation because the people are so rich.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

I get satisfaction of three kinds. One is creating something, one is being paid for it and one is the feeling that I haven't just been sitting on my ass all afternoon.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

I profoundly believe it takes a lot of practice to become a moral slob.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

I would like to electrocute everyone who uses the word "fair" in connection with income tax policies.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would affront your intelligence.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

It had all the earmarks of a CIA operation; the bomb killed everybody in the room except the intended target!
William F. Buckley, Jr.

It is not a sign of arrogance for the king to rule. That is what he is there for.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

It seems to me that the idea traditionally defended of endeavoring to maintain existing ethnic balances simply doesn't work any more.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Liberals, it has been said, are generous with other peoples' money, except when it comes to questions of national survival when they prefer to be generous with other people's freedom and security.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Life can't be all bad when for ten dollars you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for ten years.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed - different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgement of defeat.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

One must bear in mind that the expansion of federal activity is a form of eating for politicians.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Relate it to what should happen; fuse it into the long morality play that began, really, in the Garden of Eden.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Scientists are people who build the Brooklyn Bridge and then buy it.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Some of my instincts are reprehensible.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

The majority of the senior class of Vassar does not desire my company and I must confess, having read specimens of their thought and sentiments, that I do not desire the company of the majority of the senior class of Vassar.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

The more complicated and powerful the job, the more rudimentary the preparation for it.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

There is an inverse relationship between reliance on the state and self-reliance.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

To buy very good wine nowadays requires only money. To serve it to your guests is a sign of fatigue.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

We love your adherence to democratic principles.
William F. Buckley, Jr.

News You Need - February 23, 2008

2008-02-23T14:00:00.004-07:00

OK, TV time. NBC and their affiliates are going to stream some old classic TV shows - here's the List.

NBC.com

The A-Team
Emergency
Night Gallery
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Miami Vice
Battle-star Galactica (1978)
Buck Rogers

Scifi.com

Battle-star Galactica (1978)
Buck Rogers
TekWar
Night Gallery

ChillerTV.com

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Swamp Thing
Tremors
Night Gallery

SleuthChannel.com

Kojak
Miami Vice
Simon & Simon
A-Team
Night Gallery

What? - No "My Mother the Car?"

The greatest website I've ever seen

2008-02-19T08:43:00.001-07:00

Go Here!

This is a part of a website called lifehack.org

None of the ideas are original, but just seeing them in one place is superb!
I will be going here regularly!!

Ok, Where is Palestine?

2008-02-17T08:25:00.002-07:00

An excellent discussion of the history of the Palestinian mythos is linked here.

It is well worth reading!

I'm tired

2008-02-16T19:51:00.002-07:00

If you are going to just moan and complain, then I will delete your comments. It IS my blog.

I encourage positive solutions and creative thinking. But the negativity is over! I will review all comments before they are posted.

Is Obama the new JFK? Pshaw

2008-02-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

OK, similarities:

Both are/were excellent oraters
Both went to Harvard
Both are/were Senators
Both Have/had lovely wives
Both are/were considered extremely handsome

Ok, Differences:

JFK was a bona fide war hero, Obama never served
JFK was a strong Anti-Communist - Obama stood up against any military intervention after 9/11
JFK was a fiscal conservative - Witness his Tax Cut, one of the most effective in history
OBAMA Repeats the tired old saw - Tax Cuts for the Rich and will returnus the the Pre-Bush taxation levels

Many of 'us' conservative republicans started out as JFK Liberals. We did not change our political philosophy, but to poorly quote Ronald Reagan - We didn't leave the party, the party left us.

Let's evaluate Obama on his record, or lack thereof. He is NOT a reincarnation of JFK.

Why am I voting for McCain?

2008-02-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks. I had myself ready to vote for romney. I felt it was a matter of Heart (McCain) vs. Head (Romney). Well Romney is out of the race and it's eith McCain, Huck, or Paul. I will Support McCain.

I read a long coliumn written by Ann Coulter this morning - (Go to Coulter .com). Her feeling is that 4 years of Hillary will totally energize the party to come back and we will once again rule! I find Ms. Coulter 's acerbic wit magnificant, gotta disagree with her now.

I think that the war on terror is the most critical item since the end of WWII. John McCain has the Courage to stand up to anyone - and this has been proven. He has stood up to the North Vietnamese. He stood up to his own party when he felt it appropriate.

I do disagree with him on many issues, but the War is the most important one. The Archbishop of Canterbury has thrown in the towel, Most of Europe is fighting for its life. I refuse to go quietly back to the 14th Century.

Hillary is a socialist. She believes in redistribution of wealth. She has said it many times. Our society is based on INCENTIVE! If you remove incentive, we become a pale version of Europe. I don't think we have to get down into the dirt on Hillary, The political philosophy is enough to dissuade me.

I've yet to hear anything specific from Obama. He is (in my opinion) all image and no depth. Again IMHO, If Obama is elected we go another 4 years without a president. We are still recovering from President Carter's lack of ability.

So,my friends it comes down to one man - Senator McCain.

I will support the man - I will work for the man.

News you Need - Feb. 7, 2008

2008-02-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

1. Archbishop of Canterbury saith: Imposition of Sharia Law on Britain is "Unavoidable"
2. The tornados in the south were Bush's fault - We know that John Kerry would never lie
3. Michael Moore is bound by his religious beliefs to NOT vote for Hillary
4. An American Businesswoman was beaten and jailed for the unpardonable sin of "Sitting in a starbucks with a man who was not her husband." The hussy asked for it!
5. Heavy cell use can lead to poorer sperm quality.
6. Aren't we lucky we have landfills? We need more trash!

Now don't you feel better knowing all of this?

Freedom? we don't need no stinkin freedom!

2008-02-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

ELECTION 2008
Hillary suggests tapping wages
Clinton says income could be garnisheed if people refuse to buy health insurance

Posted: February 3, 2008
3:29 p.m. Eastern

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., appears today on ABC's 'This Week'

Will Hillary Clinton as president tap into workers' wages to achieve her goal of health insurance for all Americans?

The possibility exists as the candidate was pressed on the matter during a television interview today.

Speaking on ABC's "This Week" program, the Democratic senator from New York said she might be willing to have wages garnisheed if people refuse to buy health insurance.

"I think universal health care is a core Democratic value and a moral principle, and I'm absolutely gonna do everything I can to achieve that," Clinton said. "I think there are a number of mechanisms" possible, including "going after people's wages, automatic enrollment."

(Story continues below)

Host George Stephanapolous asked Clinton specifically about garnisheeing wages at least three times before she made the admission.

"What we've got to do is have shared responsibility. Everybody has to pay something, but obviously on a sliding scale," Clinton said. "I think you can automatically enroll people, and you will then say, 'You've got to be part of this.'"

"If you don't start with universal health care, if you don't say everybody's going to be in the system, we'll never get there," she added.

Clinton said such measures would apply only to workers who can afford coverage but refuse to purchase it, increasing the financial pressure on hospitals. She indicated her plan "will be affordable for everyone" because she'd limit premium payments "to a low percent of your income."

McCain or Romney?

2008-02-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

First of all as a free-market conservative I could never vote for a socialist like Clinton. I do not think that Obama has much besides style. Granted he DOES have style - perhaps after a few terms in the Senate?

Listening to Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter I am amazed at the invectives that they are throwing at McCain. I would vote for Ron Paul (shudder) before I voted for Clinton. My Liberal friends love to level THE QUESTION at me -- "Don't you think a woman can be president?" My stock answer is "Yes. but not that woman." I will vote for McCain if he get the nomination and here's why:

The most critical issue facing us today is Islamic Terrorism. This war is fundamental to our survival as a culture. McCain is a natural as a War-President. I do not care for the other baggage that he carries. I do not like the McCain-whomever bills that he co-sponsored, however all is moot if we lose this war.

Romney is an excellent administrator. I would vote for him in a heartbeat. I think he will be an excellent president, but one thing, Governor if you do win, in your cabinet:

VP - Lieberman (Really!)
Defense - McCain
Att. Genl - Guiliani
State - Bolton
Postmaster General (IS that still a cabinet post?) Kennedy (Get him out of the senate and put him somewhere where he can be harmless)

Then just sit back and run the government!

Thugary, plain and simple thugary

2008-01-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

In September, 2005, Israel pulled out of Gaza. Peace in our time reigned supreme, for a minute or two. The usual lawless thugs raped anything of value. Synagogues that were left, Greenhouses that were left. anything that could have helped build a productive economy was stripped by crowds of thugs. They thanked Israel by sending rockets across the border, Iranian and Syrian Rockets, aimed at civilians.

Now the Mainstream media glories in the plight of the poor Gazan's. They are oppressed by Israel's refusal to give them water, power and medicines. All because of a minor yet steady stream of Rockets aimed at Isreali civilians.

Now Hamas thugs have bulldozed down a fence seperating them from Egypt and stream across the border.

Giving in to tyrants and thugs has never worked. I didn't work for Neville Chamberline. It doesn't work today.

So lets go back to the pre-67 borders. The Gaza Strip -well that was Egypt, The West Bank -- That was Jordan. SO where was Palestine? It didn't exist. The Palestinians want their land back -- well, they sold the mosquito-laden malarial swampland to Jews back when the Brits were stuck with the Middle East problem. The Jews drained the swamps and made the land productive. The Pali's SOLD it to the Jews. Now that it is productive, they want it back.

So when the main stream media shows us pictures of poor Palestinians stealing food - they are thugs. They've never had to work and they hope they never will.

WWACD - What would Ann Coulter do?

You heard it here first!

2008-01-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

If the convention goes to the crowd. In other words no Republican has enough votes to win on the first ballot then anything goes. I Predict

President Ann Coulter!!!

How's this picture, Achmed?

OK, Who gets the credit for Civil Rights reform

2008-01-13T18:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Democratic candidates, Obama and Clinton, The Civil Rights act is the latest political football. Well - lets see how I remember it, I was there.

President Eisenhower federalized the National Guard to insure that black students could go to school in 1956
Some extremely courageous people sat in busses and lunch counters, risking their lives to publicize the movement
Bobby Kennedy got behind the Civil Rights movement and got his brother John involved.
Lots of kids started getting involved, including three, Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner, Two jewish kids and one Black kid. They were brutally murdered in Philadelphia Mississippi. I went to school with Andy Goodman
President Lyndon Johnson, who had a history of being for civil rights got the legislation through, over the protests of the congressional Democrats including Senator Robert KKK Byrd.
Martin Luther King, Jr was a prominent leader in the struggle
Even little Sammy Davis, Jr. Stared down Alabama Sheriff Bull Conner in Selma Alabama
Ministers, Priests and Rabbis marched arm in arm, repeatedly

And the List goes on. Look, Obama and Hillary. The Civil Rights act got through because it was an idea whose time had come. Most of the nation made it happen. A lot of innocent folk died, were beaten and attacked by police dogs in the struggle. Get your heads out. find something else to argue about. Too much American blood was spilled in this one for you to use it to your own advantage.

The Middle East Polka

2008-01-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

It seems that there is a new hobby for Presidents to keep them busy in their last year in the last year of their presidency - Try to solve the problems in the Middle East. Clinton did it and failed, now Bush is doing it. Is this going to become a trend? I have a few thoughts on that.

When has giving land, money, excess chicken fat to the Palestinians ever brought more than five minutes of peace? Remember the Greenhouses
If it's so important, why wait till your last year in office?

These Palestinians are the same ones who danced in the street when the twin towers came down. The only thing that's ever been done that provides a respite from armed hostility has been the fence. Perhaps I'm way too pessimistic?

Is Atlas shrugging yet?

2008-01-09T12:55:00.001-07:00

Over in the Peoples republic of California a new Idea. When the state deems it appropriate they will control your home thermostat.

California utilities would control the temperature of new homes and commercial buildings in emergencies with a radio-controlled thermostat, under a proposed state update to building energy efficiency standards.

Customers could not override the thermostats during "emergency events," according to the proposal, part of a 236-page revision to building standards. The document is scheduled to be considered by the California Energy Commission, a state agency, on Jan. 30.

So if it's hot, if it's cold - the State knows what's best for you. As for complaining to the courts? Well they are in the Wonderful 9th.

Where is the Confederacy when we need it!

New Hampshire, What does it Mean?

2008-01-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

Republicans - McCain over Romney 39% ro 31% - I gotta think that the R's are more concerned with Defense and the war than anything else - McCain's stand on gut issues such as the Border apparently did not make a difference. Looks like Huckabee is back at 11%, pretty much where he belongs

Democrats - Hillary and Obama neck and neck with Hillary edging Obama out 39% to 36%. Silky Pony, err Edwards is third with 17%. I do notice that Obama's skin color is not an issue except to the registered bigots. That is good. It's about time.

It's looking like a good old fashioned race between Liberals and Conservatives is shaping up. Ain't nothing wrong with that. As long as Huckabee and Edwards are out of the money I'm happy. BTW - The Bobsey twins - Paul and Kocinich are being relegated to a couple of bad jokes.

Next?

Hillary tears up, plays the race card

2008-01-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

This was the week that was ... something.
1. Hillary, after finding out that the cackle isn't working tries another one - she now cries at questions. - here
2. In one of the most pathetic statements in political history, Hillary and her pet husband invoke the memories of JFK and MLK (while a minor earthquake hit the DC are - obviously JFK turning in his grave) - here - (She also linked herself to LBJ ?????)

Now pardon me while I go put on another sweater - I'm freezing in all of the global warming

Now for the REALLY important stuff

2008-01-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

My Sunday Morning reading list!

An Athiest father is suing his divorced Catholic wife over lettign their son go to Catholic School -here
Some one won the Wyoming caucus yesterday, does anyone know who? - here
A reason to keep going - one of the finest of its type I've ever seen - Really! Thanks Mel - here
Just another brilliant piece by Mark Steyn - here
OOH - Hey - lets go tease an 350 pound wild animal that eats people - here
This guy almost makes me a Jane Fonda fan - almost - here

Have great week

Not bad, not bad at all

2008-01-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

First the good (very) news. A quiet man with a modest demeanor took Hillary down. Barak Obama is looking quite presidential, even to this old Conservative. Hillary, in her concession speech reminded me of a line from Hamlet:

Like a tale told by an idiot. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

The well coiffed scarecrow in search of a brain stood up and promised everything - A chicken in every pot, two cars in every garage, peace, prosperity and the end of greed. However he did neglect one point - who is going to pay for all this?

Over on the right, Huckabee pulled it off. Everyone laughed when he went on the Leno show, trouble was the voters were laughing with him, not at him. Thompson and Guiliani need to get going real fast or they are also-rans. He did take Romney down at the knees, quite nicely though.

Personally I still have doubts about Huckabee. As a Jew, I am still a bit perturbed by his far right wing religiosity - I will be listening. I am also not quite sure what his foreign policy will be.

OK, a point needs to be made. This is the first round of a 50 round match. Hillary ain't dead yet (figuratively speaking). Guiliani and Thompson's power base has not been tested yet.

But!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Republic is best served by two good candidates. We need people with honest, but opposing views running. I rejoice at the person that I consider the strongest Democratic candidate, Obama, making that move. I disagree with him philosophically on many points, but I do not fear for the nation if he wins. I cannot honestly say that about his two closest rivals.

One last note. Obama is getting the youth vote. People are looking at JFK (Kennedy, not the other guy) and commenting about how weak the effects of the youth vote was. All are missing one point.

In 1960 18 year-olds could not vote!

The Flomblog Predicts

2007-12-28T19:30:00.001-07:00

OK, it's time for end of year predictions. Here are mine.

Politics

An Open Republican Convention - Thompson gets the go-ahead
Hillary is humiliated - Obama gets the nod
President Fred - Would you believe Fred/Conde Rice ticket?
Third Party rips the Democratic party to shreds - Paul/Kocinich ticket
The UN moves to Africa. No one notices or cares.

The Middle East

Pakistan falls to the Islamists
Nuclear exchange between Israel and Pakistan. Millions die.
President Fred levels an un-named Islamic holy site.
Everybody is frightened into peace

Space/Science

Signals are received and interpreted from another Solar System
Ron Paul is hijacked by space Aliens -- No one notices or cares
Bigfoot is found - and is a Republican
Living Dinosaur found in Africa and is a Democrat
Life is found on Mars.

Music

The first Rap - Opera is written and performed. No one notices or cares
Resurgence of the Blues

Computers

Mac tablet
Vista becomes the fiasco of the century
Leopard runs on all Microsoft machines

What'cha think???

Huckabee & Ron Paul - What a wonderful potential ticket?

2007-12-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

In todays Drudge Report two items caught my attention

1. Huckabee spoke at a texas Church led by a Pastor Hagee. Hagee is a well known Anti-Catholic. Huckabee appears to be courting him.

2. On Meet the Press today "Paul said he wants to eliminate foreign aid to Israel and other nations. "Why make Israel so dependent?" he asked. "They can't defend their borders without coming to us."

And I thought that nothing could ever make me vote Democrat

Huckabee? - Flomblog is back

2007-12-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

Most of the Republican candidates want us to look at their accomplishments or their ideas. Romney is telling me, quite successfully, look at my personalvalues. Rudy is telling me, again quite successfully - I made personal mistakes, but look what I accomplished. McCain, IMHO, owes nobody any justification, he's proven his values and courage. However Huckabee seems to be taking a different tack.

If you've read my blog before you know that I'm Jewish. I have written of my affection for the American Christian. I've told you that in my opinion, it is because of the American Christian, Jews have more freedom than ever in history. I am using the word Christian inclusively and with respect.

Huckabee however seems to be using the name Christ, not as the anchor for his personal faith, but as a weapon. I have seen his commercials and heard his remarks. I fear that he is using his version of Christianity as a cover for Antisemitism and exclusionism..

We need to start listening to each other. And we need to listen to Mr. Huckabee and the folks that seem to cluster around him.

It's that time again

2007-12-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

The semester is almost over. I have to:

grade papers, [Done]
write tests, [Done]
grade tests [Done]
finish a freelance project that's hanging over my head, [Into the Editor]
Get my syllabi ready for next semester
Do some long overdue maintenance on my computer
Re-build the Flomblog

To those of you who come by and look for any new entries, I doubt I'll get anything done, blog wise, before early January. So, in short let me wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Wonderful Festivus, and any other holiday I missed.

I sincerely hope that 2008 C.E. will bring peace, prosperity and Republican leadership to the government.

Happy New Year as well

Howie "The Flomblog" Flomberg

Damn, we're in trouble

2007-11-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

I did not watch the debate last night, I had to teach a class. However I listened to the talkers and read the websites. What I heard and read scares the heck out of me.

Lines like Human Rights are more important than national security

A wimp-host

Obama totally folding

Kucinich crying - hey it's my turn

But what bothers me the most is Clinton. She was obviously the most presidential of the lot. Although Biden did look quite good. But Clinton is a socialist. I'm not going to get into all of the nasties about the lady - she's a socialist. I'm a capitalist. Our nation was founded on a capitalist platform.

For that reason alone I can never support Clinton. I do not (NOT) approve or want redistribution of wealth, and I ain't wealthy by a long shot. If we destroy incentive we're in deep poo.

Why can't the Democratic Party go back to it's roots. They need a person like Humphrey, Scoop Jackson, even (shudder) Truman. The party kicked out it's best person - Leiberman.

I can understand an honest Liberal. I may not agree, but that's life. A socialist is just pushing us over the edge.

So, through gritted teeth and massive dissatisfaction I say ... Biden.