Yeah; It's All About The Healthcare

I found this through Instapundit this morning.

And yet Washington wonders why we are urinated off at all of them.

Sometimes Language Is Not a Barrier to Communication

I was looking through Sippican Cottage's blog this morning and found this.

This little infomercial is a prime example of the idea that good products sell themselves. I didn't understand a word this guy said, but I want one of what he was selling.

For those of you looking for a last minute stocking stuffer, there are still 4 days until Christmas!

Time For a Second Bill of Rights

I am beginning to wonder if the Republican Party knows what it’s doing.

I don’t think they understand what the TEA Party movement is all about. I was listening to Hannity the other day and he was being criticized for saying ‘We need to take back the Republican Party’ while being registered as a Conservative. I was listening to a local morning guy who was recommending conservatives become precinct captains in the Republican Party and control the outcome of the election that way.

See? They don’t understand. We’re not just fed up with Democrats; we’re fed up with Republicans too. We’re fed up with every time some dipstick in Washington has “A PLAN” we lose some more of our money and our liberty. We’re fed up with being told that Washington is the answer, when we know Washington is the flippin’ PROBLEM!

Have you read the Constitution lately? If you haven’t, I urge you to take a few minutes and do so. It’s written in plain English and takes maybe an hour to read. While you’re reading, make note of which clause it is that gives the Federal Government the authority to regulate Health Care. Or look for the one that authorizes Social Security; Medicaid; Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae or any other number of government programs. Unless your copy of the Constitution has Obama’s signature on it, you won’t find them.

The Constitution gives the Federal Government ONE internal power; the Interstate Commerce Clause. Article I; Section 8, Clause 3: “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;”. This one sentence has been bastardized to mean that the Federal Government has the ability to regulate a single farmer, growing grain for his own use, because that use will mean he will not need to purchase grain from another state, which invokes the Commerce Clause (US Supreme Court; Wickard v Filburn, 1942). A great discussion of the history of the Commerce Clause is here if you want the details.

Why have I drifted here? Because we need to reform not just Congress, but the Constitution, because the Supreme Court has way over stepped the original intent of the Commerce Clause and has aided and abetted in the destruction of our liberty, not as a safeguard to it.

The Constitution spells out four paths for amendment:
• Proposal by convention of states, ratification by state conventions
• Proposal by convention of states, ratification by state legislatures
• Proposal by Congress, ratification by state conventions
• Proposal by Congress, ratification by state legislatures

We need to start working at the state level to amend the Constitution several ways. I would like to see these amendments:

Amendment 28: Balance Budget- Washington cannot deficit spend without the approval of 2/3 of the states.

Amendment 29: Congressional Term limits: two terms or max of 15 years for a senator; 3 terms or 7 years in the House Consecutive, may serve a second 7 year stint if out of office for 6 years; up to a total of 20 years in Washington in if you serve in both Houses.

Amendment 30: Outlaw Congressional pensions. Let the bums retire on their own dime, not mine.

Amendment 31: Repeal the 17th Amendment and go back to State legislature appointing the Senators.

Amendment 32: Federal Judge Term limits. 10 years in any given chair; 25 total service to the Federal bench, mandatory retirement at 70.

Amendment 33: Reform the Commerce Clause so Congress can only strike down items that prohibit commerce between the states, not pass laws to control it. And make it retroactive.

The political class will scream bloody murder when we try this; Democrats and Republicans alike. And that’s what I mean about Republicans not getting it.

They wanted to start a Revolution against the Democrats.

Instead, they started one against Federal power.

I hope.

Well, It Looks Like We Used To Have Free Country

News reports say the Dems have 60 votes needed to end the filibuster and put their "Health Care" bill to a vote.

Welcome to the end.

Merry Christmas to All!

This picture took me hours to get right. The model for this I posted a couple of weeks ago. That one was taken with just the lights up, and with an iphone.

I spent 2-3 hours trying to replicate that shot with an expensive Canon. And I think I nailed it.

if you look closely you can see the lights reflected in the polished doors, and glimmering off of the crystals in the chandelier.

Yeah, I'm proud of that shot.

While Doing a Little Surfing This Morning

One of the Blogs I read regularly is Michael Hasenstab. Today he has a bunch of good posts up, including this one that may resonate with those of us of a certain age.

Michael recently took his wife and his motorcycle on a little trip.

To the Artic Circle. And blogged about the trip. Fascinating reading.

Although I wouldn't have made the trip in a chauffeured motorhome.

The picture is from Michael's blog, taken when his shoes hit the Artic Ocean

Cars I Have Known III

This morning I have some time (FINALLY!!!) to blog a little. As soon as the rest of the house is awake I need to fire up the wood shop, but for now I have to operate something a little quieter than my table saw.

Way back in 1979 I got a call from a friend of mine. He had just bought a car and wanted me to give him a hand on a few repairs. It was a 1968 Ford Cortina, and it looked like a 3/4 scale model of a '68 Ford Falcon. This being North Dakota 30 years ago, parts were impossible to get. You couldn't even order them at the local parts house, and ALGORE hadn't invented the Internets yet, so this thing was a lot of fun to work on. Every other weekend.

I don't remember all of the things we did, but I do remember that the exhaust pipe rusted away from the header, and we had to basically create a new end for the pipe by laying a weld against the bracket that held the pipe to the header and then grinding it down so it would fit over the header mount.

We worked on this beast every payday weekend for 6 months, and when my Buddy asked me if I wanted to buy it - as he was getting a new car- and I figured I was getting a deal.

I was wrong. I just started spending every other weekend working on my car, instead of his.

When the brake master cylinder died, and I couldn't buy one for any amount of money, I drove the thing for 6 weeks by down shifting into first gear and pulling up on the emergency brake to stop.

What can I say? I was 19 years old for crap's sake!

I will say this; it was fun car to drive. It weighed a little less than a Pinto and had the same engine AND a 4 speed. It cornered like a slot car and because it was about half the size of a real car, I could slip it into parking spots that nobody else could use. And it got about 25-30 MPG, back when that didn't matter.

I finally had a friend offer me yet another car and I sold the Cortina to another airman on base who already had a '66 Cortina. (If you have ever watched Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, the flying car is a '66 Cortina.) Strange thing was, this guy really didn't seem like a masochist.

But he had to be.

I Have Been Trying To Figure This Out

Last weekend I spent some time in the presence of someone who knew Ronald Reagan.

Without a doubt, the highlight of my drab existence for the last (almost) 50 years. My brush with greatness.

But how to blog about it, without sharing details that probably shouldn't be made public?

This is probably the best I will be able to do, to give you a sense of what it was like.

While I was at the bottom of the Air Force's enlisted heap, she was working with Reagan to defeat the Russians. Last week we discussed Reagan's Cold War policies.

Absolutely mind blowing.

The context of our meeting was for a historical project I am working on- unrelated to the Cold War- so this was a bonus, not the main event.

It is incredibly frustrating to NOT to be able to blog about the year's highlight.

Mais alors, c'est la vie!

This Video Fulfills Two of My Passions

This video combines cars and history.

Made in 1943, it is a contemporary account of the start of the WWII Jeep.

If you have 10 minutes it's a fun little video, but you have to wonder how those soldiers stayed in during the hill hops. The original didn't have seat belts of course.

The jeep pictured is a modern restoration, but I had to include it. It is a USAAF Jeeep after all.

Who Are They Trying To Kid?

Proof New Yorkers are stark raving crazy.

$150k for the MAIDS QUARTERS!?!?!?!?

As Usual I was Listening To The BBC This Morning

And when the BBC ended NPR came on; what a crock that outfit is.

They interviewed a climatologist from the UN (he was an American) about the upcoming Copenhagen 'Summit'.

Not a WORD about Climategate. Like it never existed. This idiot kept up the spiel like nobody had ever seen or heard of the leaked emails.

Local radio interviewed a local Dem congressman this week. What an idiot. In the last 10 days he had not seen or heard a word about Climategate, so he couldn't comment; but he hates foreign oil and loves US coal. WTF? If that idiot keeps his job in Congress there is no way in Hell the counting was honest. They'll have to find a semi load of 'uncounted ballots' to make that work.

What does it all add up to?

They know Global Warming is not happening, at least as dramatically as they predict. They also know that this warming has happened before, and they know there is nothing we can do about it, just like if the Earth was cooling we could do nothing about it.

But they also know they need this crisis in order to have trillions of dollars to be able to skim the graft off of.

Also, they know we know what they are up to.

But until they can devised another way of ending up with the same result, but with a different scam, they need to keep acting like this one is working.

Apparently the Russians Know Obama

I found this video in my inbox, with this email:

Got this from a friend. I cannot verify if it is/was true.

Watch this 10-second attached video where a lineup of leading Russians refuse to shake his hand. Did you see this on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or
MSNBC?

This is "hard ball", Soviet Style. After the third handshake refusal, it becomes obvious. The facial expression is priceless.

"I guess we're no longer in Chicago."

And, how in the world did Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, Diane Sawyer, et al, miss this? If it had been Bush, think the media would cover it?

Anyone ever seen a Head of State snubbed like this? Speaks volumes.

It's gonna' be a rough ride, but the bloom is almost off the rose.


The only question I would have is why? Do they not respect him as a person; as a leader or as a black man? The first two I can understand, although I don't appreciate the snub of the office of President of the United States.

If it is the third option, I have some serious questions.

Obviously I can't stand Obama's politics or programs; none of my disapproval is based on on his color.

Maybe the issue for the Russkies is that Obama is giving Commies a bad name?