Fort Hood Tragedy

First, my condolences to the families of the fallen, and the wounded and their families as well. This was a horrific crime perpetrated on the innocent and unsuspecting, and there are not words to express how awful this is. God bless the victims and their families.

I was very surprised to find out that Fort Hood is a gun free zone in some respects. Like so many other massacres, (1, 2, 3, 4) this one took place in an environment in which most of the victims were not allowed to be armed. If military personnel were required to have their sidearms as part of their uniform, the death toll would almost certainly have been greatly reduced. (1, 2, 3).

I will note here an observation: This was apparently caused by a lone Muslim who felt it was his religious mandate to kill Americans. It seems to me an obvious observation that the great majority, if not all, terrorist activity in the last ten years or so is being instigated by Muslims who feel it is their religious mandate to kill Americans. Political correctness causes politicians and news media to pussy-foot around this fact, but – there it is.

I am not saying that all Muslims are like that. But given this trend, I think it would be wise to have a heightened awareness of what is going on with any Muslims you may know. Hasan, the murderer at Fort Hood (no, he’s not a ’suspect’ – he was caught in the act), apparently was quite open about his views and gave many clues that something was wrong.

This is not prejudice. This is situational awareness.

-Popgun

Brainwashing In Action

Dear Lord, this may be the scariest thing I’ve seen yet.

-Popgun

Message to Obama and Other Liberals

Regarding yesterday’s elections:

You ignored the Tea Parties. You ignored our voices, emails and letters. Have we got your attention yet?

We don’t want what you are pushing!

-Popgun

Jobs Saved by the Stimulus

The Democrats are counting it as a ’saved job’ if you receive an increase in salary. At your existing job. That was at no risk of layoff.

That’s Liberal Accounting 101.

-Popgun

Overheard At Work

Had a problem with a rotary airlock on a piece of equipment.

Looked up their phone number, called the rep up – “I’ve got a problem with this piece of junk. What you shipped us is not what we bought! I’m sick of this crap coming from your company!”

On the other end – “Well, which piece of equipment are you talking about?”

“The rotary airlock!”

On the other end – “We don’t sell rotary airlocks!”

Checked my number – realized I’d called the wrong guy. – “Do you know who I am??“

He said “No-”

I said “Good!” and I hung up.

<Snort!>

Real conversation, sometime in the 80’s.

-Popgun

Michelle Has it Right

Today’s blog by Michelle Malkin is right on the money.

Doug Hoffman lost in NY-23. He ran as a conservative – not Democrat, not Republican. The Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava, is a RINO – Republican In Name Only. When she saw she could not win, she dropped out of the race and endorsed the Democrat Owens. This probably cost Hoffman the election.

As Michelle points out, the significance is that Hoffman almost won. As an independent, he beat out the Republican RINO. He was the only true conservative in the bunch. The illustrious GOP spent almost $1 million of conservative donations trying to get Scozzafava elected – somebody who says she is a Republican, but who has socialist alliances and beliefs, supported card-check (unions), was pro abortion, and other liberal beliefs.

Just because the label on the box says Republican does not mean the box contains a conservative.

The fact that Hoffman, a true conservative, beat out the GOP, shows that the people want true conservatism to return. Enough of this liberal crap. The GOP will NOT succeed by emulating the Democrats.

This illustrates a very valid point. From here on out, I will never vote straight ticket again. I’m going to find out what each person believes, and vote according to my beliefs. That is to say, conservatively. I’m not necessarily a Republican – I am a conservative.

The GOP had better get its act together on this, or there will be a divided election in 2010 and another in 2012 – and conservatives may lose again because of the divisiveness. This is what the Democrats are counting on.

-Popgun

The Obscene Cap and Trade Bill

You know, I’ve opposed the Cap and Trade Bill ever since I heard about it. It stands to increase indirect taxes by an incredible amount. It will literally double your electric bill, and gasoline will go up around $2 a gallon.

This morning, I found out this bit that is in that bill. From Powerline:

“The cap-and-trade bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, for example,” Mark writes, “is a bold assault on property rights: in order to sell your home–whether built in 2006 or 1772–you would have to bring it into compliance with whimsical, eternally evolving national ‘energy efficiency’ standards, starting with a 50 per cent reduction in energy use by 2018. Fail to do so and it would be illegal for you to enter into a private contract with a willing buyer.“

Now, that, I didn’t know about. Wow.

I live in a pier-and-beam frame house built by Jim Walters about 30 years ago, which has had additions several times over the years. It’s clean, but all the windows are single pane, and the insulation is not the best. It’s true that we’re not planning on going anywhere – I expect I will die in this house. But here’s the thing.

When I do pass on, my sons will have to spend a lot of money to make this house compliant with these regulations, if they elect to sell it. I have not actually read this bill, but now I wonder if this provision extends to inheriting a home. If so, they would have to deal with it at the time they inherit.

It will probably be more cost-effective to destroy our home than to bring it up to their standards.

That is what the Democrats do for you when they are in power. These damned liberals take value created by hard work and a lot of payments, and destroy it with the stroke of a pen, all to support their social agenda. They can’t get voluntary support for this kind of thing, so they ram it down our throats, just like they are trying to do with health care.

This bill has passed the House already. If it passes the Senate, it will become law. We need to stop it.

-Popgun

Misinformation

The Obama administration’s talking heads (including Obama) frequently claim their opposition is spreading ‘misinformation’. Methinks that is like the pot calling the kettle black.

These days, finding the truth requires research. You sure as heck won’t find it by listening to Whitehouse spokes-heads. Or any other politician.

Sometimes, you can glean the truth by watching shows that pit persons of opposite viewpoints against each other in debate, such as Bill O’Reilly, or Huckabee, for instance. This requires critical thinking, however. Often you have to be careful to winnow out your own preconceived notions which distort your own view.

Quoting Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Notebooks of Lazarus Long”:

What are the facts? Again and again and again — what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what “the stars foretell,” avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable “verdict of history” — what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!

Without the facts, it is impossible to accurately make good decisions about anything.

-Popgun

Gold!

I keep seeing ads on TV by companies that want you to “invest in” i.e. buy gold.

Okay – I know I’m probably missing something here. If gold is such a great investment, and if this company has all this gold to sell – why aren’t they keeping it?

It looks to me like if it was a great investment, they’d hang on to all the gold.

Just sayin’.

-Popgun

2.24 Million $ per Word

Wow.

The House health care bill unveiled Thursday clocks in at 1,990 pages and about 400,000 words. With an estimated 10-year cost of $894 billion, that comes out to about $2.24 million per word.

From Politico.

That’s more than half as long as the King James Bible.

-Popgun