Today is the fifth anniversary.  The war on terror moves on.  The horror of September 11, 2001 is now recent history and the US population pays more attention to gas prices than to border security.  This is so sad. 

We may not be as good as we should but we still are the shining light that leads the rest of the world from the caves of suffering under tyrants and zealots.  Our country leads the world in may ways, and the countries that today live in freedom often owe us a great deal. 

We cannot afford the luxury of resting on our laurels.  The world gets more, not less, dangerous daily as theocracies and dictatorships work to acquire all manner of WMD.  We must put thought, passion and work into the job of ending the madness that spawns terrorism.  It cannot flourish if our children are to survive to adulthood.

It has been said, and I think that cool rationality will bear out, that we are not blameless for the current state of world affairs.  This is a result of blindness, poor planning and the tangled web of world intrigue.  So be it.  It is time for us to atone for our stupidity.  Not by self-flagellation, but by announcing to the world that we have a new agenda.  The agenda to stop self-deception and to stop allowing others to define us.  We can and must set our feet on the path to honesty, integrity and honor in world affairs.  Say what we are going to do, then do it.  Unswervingly, unapologetically and without rancor. 

The need for truth and honor in our relations must begin within each of us, only then can it extend to the greater good of the world as a whole.  Only when those who now hate us see us as honorable and respectable will we be able to use negotiation with any success.  Until then it will continue to be viewed by them as weakness.  For with our historical tendency to renege on promises, and our lack of will to finish what we started, the enemy rightly views us as confused and unable to concentrate on victory.

So, to start, we should toss out the whole idea of political correctness.  Call things what they are and quit hinting around like a bunch of ignorant schoolchildren. 

Next, say our prayers for the ones we have lost, both in the attacks five years ago and in the action since.  Ask their forgiveness for having had our heads in dark places.

Then we can say to the rest of the world - "Look, we aren't going to stand idly by and wait to be attacked again.  Either you are with us or against us.  Just remember how much we support your economy.  Now, we aren't going to send any aid to any country that isn't with us.  And all you third world wannabe countries, we are calling in the debts.  You owe us. Pay up, or shut up.  Maybe we won't come for you first.  All you petty tyrants trying to build nuclear weapons, here's the deal, if you get them, we will strike first to prevent you from using them. And, Kofi, get the h*ll out of our country. Take your despot loving UN somewhere where you still matter. You are no longer useful to us. And to those here, those who would give aid and shelter to our enemies, who publish secrets that harm our security, who succor illegal aliens, who whine that we are evil and at fault, who would appease madmen, all of you can follow Kofi. He's your hero, after all. Otherwise, shut the h*ll up.  We are not evil.  We have a right to live in peace.  And we will not stand idly by while you negotiate away both our freedom and security.  Enough is enough. No more nonsense."

Please don't allow 2966 deaths to become meaningless.  Take back your pride and honor.  Don'y worry about world opinion. We can fix that once we are safe.  Doing the right thing isn't easy, but the alternative is death and more senseless death.  Hurt feelings can be healed.  Human life is precious, we need to be the heavy and make it so for the whole world, whether they like it or not.

George, quit politicking and start leading.  You have nothing to lose by doing so.  We have everything to lose if you don't.

A macro view of my micro comments


I believe I heard thunder earlier.  Might have been a sick automobile, though.  Or kids with fireworks.  Not much rain, a little windy, no damage locally.  Power and cable (really!) still working.

Overprepared.  Happy.  Except for the one accident in the news.  High speed, rain, wind and an idiot behind the wheel of an expensive car.  One dead, one critical.  There's no going back, it's over for that one.   Wonder if given the chance, the same choices would be made by all involved.  Bad choices have bad outcomes.  Law of nature, that one.  Mother Nature can be terribly unforgiving of her creatures.  Gravity and physics are fairly exact sciences, with circumstances dictating outcomes with reliable certainty.  Coefficient of friction reduced below ability to steer,  choice was made to drive at a speed not consistent with safety of fragile human bodies. Then the inertia of thousands of pounds (I know weight isn't mass, so don't try to correct me) of metal is transferred to a few hundred pounds of those bodies' flesh and bone. A split second, and then sirens and flashing lights, ambulances and a helicopter, hospital and morgue.  All because of a bad decision.

Perhaps it was just time for that one to go.  Perhaps, if the storm had been worse, the death might have come from lightning, or drowning in a flash flood.  That could not have been avoided with human perceptions and reactions.  But there was no reason behind the death in an automobile whose driver was too stupid to realize the danger.  Yes I said stupid.  There is an incredible amount of information easily available on the hazards of driving too fast for conditions.  How did this moron get a license to drive? No, I'm not blaming society for the death, just wondering how much longer we will continue to allow incompetent people to have control over other's safety.  Is it our responsiblility?  Or do we just clean up afterward? 

Hurricanes are so messy.


BalD - Guitar Players Rock

The weather.  The climate. The environment.  Here I sit in Broward County, Florida.  I'm watching the weather predictions closely.  So is everyone else around here. 

The stores are out of bread, and milk is running short.  Gasoline is plentiful, says the media.  The gas stations have no gas, or lines stretch for blocks with one to three hour wait times. Purchases are limited. Somebody is either lying, or living in a dream. 

Generators rumble as neighbors test them.  No rain yet.  No wind, either.  The threat is a small tropical storm that just might, at worst become a category two hurricane, likelihood probably around 10 percent.  Gov. Bush has declared a state of emergency.  A little boy cried wolf and no one listened, then the wolf ate them all. 

Underreaction. Overreaction. Who will be the first to criticize?  No matter what is done, there will be things that should have been done. No matter what isn't done, there will be things that should not have been done.

Folks, it is up to us to analyze the situation using all the resources we can bring to bear to make the best possible decision as to our course of action for ourselves and our loved ones.  Use the information presented wisely, and remember that the media will make a story just to sell advertising space.  That's their business model, but we don't have to buy the hype.

But, you have to prepare for possibilities that seem remote when your very life might depend on your choices.  I'm prepared for a hurricane.  Even though I hope I'm overreacting.

BalD - Guitar Players Rock

The Islamofascists are not going away. Never.  We can only survive by constant vigilance and by destroying these civilization-hating sub-human murderous malcontents everywhere we find them. Every time we find them. No matter the name, the game or the shame, we must destroy them.  If we do not destroy this abomination on humanity, it will certainly destroy us.  The only way to respond to this type of hate is to destroy it completely.  One cannot debate or appease a murderer bent on a mission that he believes is desired by his maker.  You cannot talk an idiot into comprehension any more than you can talk a tomato into thriving at the North Pole.  Neither can you explain tolerance to an Islamic wannabe martyr. The only thing you can do to protect yourself is to kill them before they kill you.

Grow up and grasp the facts.  Look at history.  Get real.  War isn't fun.  Innocent people die.  Better fewer than more.  They blow up airplanes with innocent people on board.  We have collateral damage, usually because they hide behind innocent people. Then they blame those who want to protect themselves, rather than those who held people at gunpoint as human shields.  Disgusting.

You have a choice.  Live free and pay the price, or die paying someone elses.

I've made mine.

Peace, but only at the cost of their deaths.

I don't know about anyone else, but I am tired of terrorists and the governments that support them.  Real tired.  So tired, in fact, that I am suspending any vestigial pretensions of believing that there is a non-violent religion called Islam.  I don't hear condemnations of barbarities by Islamic terrorists from the rest of Islam, just some whiny little "bad boy's."  It is, plain and simple, time for the non-Islamic-terrorist rest of the world to shut up and put up their dukes.  Kill the Islamic-terrorist b*stards.  That is the only way to stop the insane loss of innocent life.

Once they are dead, wrap the remains in swine offal and bury it, thus insuring the denial of their virgins or olives or whatever it is they believe martyrdom entitles them.  The free world should be shipping arms and soldiers to Israel to show support for the only really good friend freedom has in that area.

Syria, North Korea and Iran need to be taught a lesson similar to the one Japan learned at Nagasaki and Hiroshima.  Hezbolloh, Al Qaeda, Hamas and all other similar organizations must be totally destroyed. No more diplomacy.  It will never work with these insane murderers. The sleeping giant must awaken and reap his harvest of liberty from petty little dictators and religious zealots who believe that killing someone who does not share their religion is tantamount to doing Gods will.

I do not give a toot what anyone else believes vis-a-vis religion.  My God has never told me to kill someone with different beliefs, but he did say that my acceptance of their errors will not harm my standing with Him. 

No matter what you believe, It is time to choose - Live in freedom, or support terrorism and die.  I don't care which you pick, but you know where I stand.

Bald - Guitar Players Rock!

The topic of immigration, both legal and illegal has been much in the news of late, as well as a hot blog subject.  Here's my take.

Immigration, terrorism, borders, and customs are inextricably linked.  As a country we have too many different agencies involved, each with their own piece of turf and fief, none of whom appear to share important data with other agencies in any rational way.  All too often it is just plain dumb luck that allows us to intercept, confine, tax and regulate all of these elements with any kind of consistency or efficiency.

Part of the problem is a myriad of laws, each aimed at a different facet, but sometimes conflicting with other laws aimed at another. 

Another part is the (to me) illogical view that we should reward the criminals already here by granting them any kind of immunity or amnesty for their crimes.  Not only are they here illegally, but they are also a burden on our society's infrastructure - healthcare, unpaid taxes, use of facilities (schools, roads, law enforcement, etc.) 

Since there are those who view these illegals as potential voters, and those who who think that the economy would collapse if they were gone, I suppose just kicking them out would be unworkable politically, as well as a further drain on our resources.

So why don't we just make citizenship available for purchase? Say for  $100,000.  Consider it a fine for their crimes  as well as restitution to our society.  Make it payable in yearly installments of $10,000 due on April 15.  When the last installment is paid, they get to vote.

While I am neither a lawyer nor a policeman, I am capable of understanding legal principles as they apply to the interactions between sworn officers and regular citizens. 

I became interested in this issue when I was almost arrested for "interfering with an investigation."  I had gone to the post office to check my post office box.  There was a yellow police tape cordon around the post office.  Not wanting to have to waste time driving back later, only to find the cordon still up, I wished to inquire when the investigation would likely be completed. 

There was an officer whose post was obviously crowd control, so I  thought that he would be  the logical one to ask my simple question.  Well this public servant, whose salary was paid by the good citizens of Dekalb County, Ga., including me, decided that I was totally out of line in requesting his attention and began to scream at me about arresting me for interfering with "his" investigation.  Rather ironic, since my intent was to leave and only return after "his" investigation was complete.

A plainclothes investigator, I presume a detective, came out of the post office during this officers high-decibel tirade and directed him into the post office, I guess on some make work assignment, because the plainclothesman then apologized for the uniformed officers behavior, which the crowd had become somewhat agitated over. There were calls for having the officer strung up by painful means since I was not the only one he had shown unwarranted aggression toward.

Well, I filed a complaint which was basically ignored, but it took a lot of energy and time, because the county's finest just didn't want to hear about it.  They had more important things to do, I suppose.  Like harassing other innocent, well meaning, non threatening individuals.

I decided that this could not be an isolated incident and began to research police brutality incidents. In the intervening years (this happened about 1994) I have read many police reports and newspaper accounts, watched videos on TV news channels, read transcripts from courts, and heard first hand accounts from people who have had frightening encounters with these public defenders.

While it is obvious that the great majority of sworn officers are good and decent human beings, it is equally obvious that some police officers are simply criminals with badges and guns.  Sometimes, the leadership is the problem, in which cases the problem is not only criminals with badges and guns, but with an establishment that either won't or can't correct it. 

It is up to us, the good citizens, to demand the highest in standards of behavior from our police forces and their leaders, and to demand changes when leadership fails to address the  problems of out-of-control  power freaks with the ability to injure or kill with impunity.

I propose that all officer involved deaths should be investigated as homicides with the same rules of law and  standards applied as in the investigations of non-officer involved homicides, with one exception - treat the blue wall of silence as interference with an investigation.

Celebrate Freedom - Live free of fear.