Eric Holder and the CIA

I can't believe that Eric Holder wants an investigation into possible abuses by CIA personnel during interrogations of terrorist suspects in bases overseas. Here it is, I just can't stop myself, "what the hell is he thinking?" And why is the president allowing this?

Let's look at a few things. First, if the interrogation is taking place in a foreign country, then that country's rule of law is in effect. So in other words, Miranda and the US Constitution don't come into play. In effect, a US law enforcement officer can use different techniques to obtain a confession that would not be legal in the US and the confession would hold up in an American court. If beating a prisoner is legal in, whatever country, then it can be used. Am I suggesting that we beat prisoners? Of course not, but what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

There is nothing good that comes from this. The bandits now know to keep their mouths shut and/or ask for a lawyer. The amount and quality of the intel that is gathered diminishes greatly. That only means one thing. We as a country will not be as safe. Why, you ask? Let me tell you. The CIA officers are not going to be as aggressive in gathering information. And why should they be? Especially if the threat of prosecution from our own government is hanging over their heads.

Who thinks this is just a political move? Anyone? Well I sure do. To me this is nothing more than another slap at George Bush. What more do these bleeding heart liberal hippies want? They have the white house, the congress and the senate. Just because they have a hard on for Bush they think that this is necessary. What a croc.

And guess who now interrogates the bandits? A combination of folks that doesn't include CIA. And the White House has oversight of this group. This is nothing more than Uncle Barack continuing his fundamental changing of our country. One from a rule of law and strong national defense to a country where we will have to say "please" and "thank you" to terrorist.

I for one refuse to coddle these scumbags. The only thing they deserve is to have every last bit of information gleaned from their minuscule brains and a last meal before their execution. If anyone takes up arms against the United States and they are not smart enough to surrender then they should be suffer a quick and painless death. No quarter should be given. Period.

Go figure I e-mailed the president and voiced my opinion. A lot of good it will do. After all, they won the election. As our march towards social justice continues, we have to suffer with a weaker national defense. Just so some folks with a smugger sense of self can feel better about themselves. Doesn't sound right to me.

How about you?

Terrorist Haven

The other day I saw what has to be one of the most disturbing images I have ever seen. It was the reception that the convicted murdering scumbag p.o.s. (after all this is a semi-family blog) terrorist Abdel al-Magehri received as he landed in his native Libya after being released from a Scottish prison. How could the Scots ever even consider releasing this guy after killing 270 people. And it was just to make a political statement. I make my statement here, not by killing innocent folks.

Ok, let's start at the beginning. In 1988 Pan Am flight 103 had a bomb explode in the luggage compartment causing the plane to crash and killing all on board and some on the ground. al-Magehri was convicted and given life in prison. Not quite good enough in my opinion, but no one asked me. Now this lowlife gets out on humanitarian reason because he is dying of cancer. I think a slow painful death at the hands of the UK health care system sounds like a reasonable punishment to me.

So he only does eight years and gets out. Do the math. It comes out to about 12 days for each count of murder. Here it comes, "What the hell are they thinking?" This clown kills 270 people and is given an early out so he can die at home? Who thought this was a good idea? Why should this guy be given any consideration for anything? How many lives were negatively affected by this one act?

Sure, who am I to lecture the Scots on anything? After all the plane crashed into their country and killed some of their citizens. But what about the Americans and the innocents from the other countries? Shouldn't these other countries be consulted about what happens with this murderer? I think so.

It's probably a good thing that I wasn't consulted about this. I'm sure that I would have voted for the guy to stay in prison forever and then some. But if the decision was made to allow this creep to return home, then I would have sent a couple of Navy fighters to run some missiles up the tailpipe of that plane and blow it straight to hell. Just where he belongs.

Then there's the reception. A convicted murderer, 270 times, gets a rock star's welcome. But then again when an entire population has been brainwashed by a corrupt government, what does one expect? But still it was disgusting, offensive, vile and just plain outrageous.

Too bad Ronald Reagan isn't still around to have witnessed this. I think that a few more planes would have flown over Tripoli and bombed the hell out of it again. It happened in the '80's and it killed one of Qaddafi's daughters. Too bad it didn't get him too.

Now Qaddafi is planning on coming to America to address the UN. Why would we even consider allowing this terrorist financier, trainer and abettor into our country? He should be told that the second his plane lands in the US he will be arrested and executed shortly thereafter. After the death of Yasser Arafat, Qaddafi is the world's leading terrorist. Giving him a chance to speak to the world is ridiculous.

Obama will probably shake his hand too.

Freedom

Today I attended the funeral of a man named Arden Rowley. He is the father of one of my sisters-in-law. I didn't know the man well and only saw him once or twice a year at family functions, but he was always nice to me and treated me well. One thing I didn't know about him until recently was that he was a veteran of WW II and served in Okinawa and the Philippines.

Now that resonated with me. Both of my grandfathers also served in the Pacific Theater during the war. Both saw their fair share of action and were fortunate enough to get out of there without a scratch. Just like Mr. Rowley. That's hard to imagine since the invasion of Okinawa cost plenty of brave men their lives.

Tom Brokaw called the folks that fought in the war, the greatest generation. They were certainly the bravest. The way 30k signed up the day after Pearl Harbor to the way they kept going until the the war was over. Even knowing how the Japanese and the Germans fought and then treated captured troops. They definitely had guts.

Today we are fighting another enemy that is just as vicious and has just a fanatical devotion to an ideology. And people still join the military voluntarily. My nephew Alex included. By the way, Alex is also the grandson of Arden Rowley. It seems that guts was handed down in this family.

About six years ago as my wife and I were moving from one house to another, Alex and his father Glen, my wife's brother and Arden's son in law, came to help us move. Alex, only 17 years old, divulged that he had just joined the Marine Corps Reserves. I immediately shook his hand, patted him on the back and told him how proud I was of him for joining. He had a grin from ear to ear. He told me that I was the only one in the family who had said something positive about his joining. The rest of the family thought he was nuts. After all, we were at war.

Guts.

When I married Alex's aunt and he joined the Corp, the legacy that he became a part of grew. Not only did both of my granfathers serve in the military along with Mr. Rowley, so did his paternal grandfather, Ted Mitchell. My father served as well. So did I. Now Alex and his cousin Joshua are the next generation to serve our country. Alex as a Marine and my son Joshua as a police officer.

I hated to have included myself in the last paragraph because of what I am about to type. If you enjoy the freedoms you have in this country, then you owe a debt of gratitude to people like Arden Rowley, Alex Mitchell and the rest that I have mentioned. And then to all the people that have fought along side us and of course to those that have made the ultimate sacrifice. Those that have died to protect our way of life can never be repaid. We must never forget any of these fine folks.

During this time of internal strife in our country, we must remember those that are standing up for us and allow us to continue to work out our problems.

The cost of freedom is human blood. These men have all being willing to spill theirs for the rest of us.

Thank God for them .

Clean Up Your Act Hollwood

I was on Facebook this morning and found this cause. I joined. You should think about it too. Especially if you are as tired of the crap coming from there as I am. Now don't get me wrong, I'm certainly no prude, but the movies being made today are just awful for the most part and I certainly don't want my grandchildren seeing most of it.

Case in point. Yesterday my wife and I took four of our grandkids to see the movie Aliens in the Attic. Now the premise was fine about an advanced team coming to earth to prepare for an invasion, but some of the content was inappropriate. One of the characters is a 16 year old girl. What I didn't get was why she needed to be running around in a skimpy bikini most of the time. And I mean skimpy. Not something that I felt comfortable with my six year old grandson watching. If the movie was geared more towards teenagers or young adults it wouldn't have been so bad, but come on, this movie's target audience is children.

My wife thinks I'm nuts. When the wee ones are at my house there is plenty that is on network TV that I will not allow them to watch. The reason why, it's because the content is no appropriate for the kids.

I've felt this way for the last 20 years or so. The language, the sexual content and the violence is out of hand. And this is just the "family" time viewing. Get to late night or cable channels and it gets worse.

I like some shows that are politically incorrect because I have a dry, warped sense of humor. Always have. But that doesn't mean that I watch these shows with the kids. And even some of these go too far and I am reconsidering continuing to watch.

If you don't like the permissive society we have turned into, then just look to the west aim your anger that way. Between Hollywood, the music industry, network TV and the mainstream media, we have become a country that allows just about anything.

And I blame the parents. Those of us that are in our mid 40's to mid 50's remember the hippie movement. The Summer of Love, Woodstock, burning draft cards and the burn your bra demonstrations all contributed to the atmosphere of today.

Those that sympathized with these movements brought up their children with some of these same values. Now those children are the middle aged, or past middle age because how many 90+ year old people do you know. They have raised their kids with the same attitudes. So free love, drug use and just doing what you feel without regard for the consequences seems to be prevalent in our society.

Don't believe me, just turn on prime time TV and tell me I'm wrong. Almost all the sitcoms just seem to be about people trying to get laid. It's nothing but locker room humor and innuendo. Then listen to today's top 40 music. If you can call it that. I can't. It's crap. Nothing but heavy bass lines and the "F" word three times in every line. Ok, maybe it's not every sentence, but quite a bit. Even the metal music that I like is turning that way.

A while ago Tipper Gore tried to censor the music industry. She was only partially successful. Albums with questionable lyrics now have to have a warning label. How about a rating system like we have for movies. Then a kid under 18 couldn't buy this crap. Who knows, it might help.

Now like I said before I hold the parents of today responsible for the things that their children are exposed to. After all they are supposed to be the responsible ones. But if the parents are permissive, liberal and/or dope smoking hippies, then our kids and grandkids wont have a chance.

So I will continue to boycott the crap that the entertainment and news media is trying to sell to our kids. I hope you might do the same.

Otherwise nothing will change.

Immigraton and National Health Care

I know, I know, here I go again running the risk of being called a racist. But come on, this insanity has got to stop. The latest that I hear that is in part of the health bill is that illegal immigrants will be given the same coverage as everyone else. Does anyone else think this is crazy? Anyone?

I certainly do. I don't have a problem with legal immigration. Notice that it's "legal" not illegal. If people want to come to this country for a better way of life and hopefully a better future for their children, then I say "welcome." But if folks that come here don't want to follow the rules and just want to sponge off of our charitable nature and suck up our government's resources, then I say, "get the hell out." That includes everyone.

I don't care if your from Mexico, Russia, Canada, Nigeria or anywhere else in the world. If you get here illegally then you are not welcomed to stay. Of course you should get to stay long enough to finish your prison sentence. Then you can go back to where ever the hell you came from. Naturally on your dime, not mine.

Of course most of the folks that come here are decent people. I'm sure that the American dream of a better life is what draws folks here. It's what brought my family here about 100 years ago. So if these decent people just want to live here and work and raise their families, then why don't they do what is needed to get legal status? And I'm not suggesting just having a baby so they can stay with their American citizen child. That's right, the child is a citizen, the parents still are not. But the child is immediately eligible for welfare benefits, including housing that the parents and other siblings are allowed to live in. Dare I say that others that can get here one way or another might find a place to sleep as well?

How about this. Instead of just another amnesty that the liberals want, why don't we come up with an idea that allows people to admit to their wrongdoing and then making an act of contrition with the outcome being that now they get to stay.

I propose this. Have the folks here illegally, come to the state government offices and apply to stay here. Have them pay a fine for their criminal conduct. Then and only then will they be allowed to stay without fear of deportation. Part of the application process is obtaining a real social security number so they can pay their fair share of taxes. Not a fake number that can be bought off the streets. Yeah, that really happens. There should also be the caveat, that if they commit certain types of criminal offenses then they can still be deported unless they have become an American citizen. Maybe requiring them to become citizens should also be a part of this. Who knows?

One thing I'm sure of though is that the illegal folks should not have any access to any of our social programs. If allowing illegal aliens to partake in any type of national health care happens, then just watch the flood of people coming to America for everything. After all we have the best medical care in the world here. Well, except for Cuba, if you believe some people in our government.

The children of the folks here illegally are in our schools getting an education. Some of the illegal folks are sitting in our jails and prisons. They are working and not paying taxes. I'm sure some are collecting welfare. How much more are we to allow? The way I see it, my tax dollars are doing plenty for them now. I'm not inclined to pay for more of their medical bills too. As it is now, all hospitals that receive medicaid payments are required by law to give anyone that comes in lifesaving medical care regardless of their ability to pay or their insurance status. It even provides for transfer to another facility if needed. No wonder aspirins in a hospital are ten bucks each.

Guess who pays for it.

We do.

American Nazis

I think the title says it all. The speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, said so the other day. When asked if the town hall meetings on health care showed a grass roots movement Mrs. Pelosi said that it was more like astroturf and that people were showing up with swastikas and other things. Now I have searched the net and can't find any instances of this happening. Is this another case of Nancy opening her mouth without having any facts and just trying to be inflammatory? Probably. What am I saying? Of course it is. Uncle Barack needs to put a muzzle on the woman.

Now does anyone know what the word nazi is short for? Anyone? Anyone? It's short for national socialist workers party. I can't remember the extremely long German word. So who does that more closely represent these days? Republicans or conservatives, or the current administration? I will give you two guesses and the first doesn't count. Give up? Of course it's the current administration. The key word is socialist. That is our president and the rest of the kool-aid drinkers. Nancy included.

Is she blinded by the president's stunning good looks, or his easy demeanor? Or maybe it's that she is just trying to curry favor from Uncle Barack. Or she is just so far left that she is rubbing elbows with the extreme right. Who knows exactly? She and people like her make me glad that I moved out of California.

I have heard people refer to California as the cereal state. Nothing but fruits, nuts and flakes. Nancy certainly falls into the nut category. And also as the People's Republic of California. Kinda like China only closer to home. Not too surprising when one sees what is happening there. I don't mind visiting for a day or two, but I'm glad when I get to leave.

Maybe she's had too many face lifts and the skin is so tight that it's cutting of the flow of blood to her brain. Ok, I'm only kidding. I apologize madam. Truth be told, in the right light she is actually not a bad looking woman. Hey, just because she is a completely out of her mind doesn't mean that she can't be attractive.

Ok, ok, I'll get to the town hall meetings. I agree that folks should be righteously pissed about what the government is trying to do, but yelling and screaming and continually interrupting can be counter productive. Let them speak, record their lies and then call them on the BS. Email Uncle Barack, Nancy, Harry Reid, Harvey Waxman and your local politicians early and often, just like voting in Chicago, and let them know just how you feel. I do. Who knows, maybe you too can get e-mails from our Uncle in Washington.

So all of you who don't want the government making your decisions for you on the most important issue in your life get up and say something. Write letters, send e-mails, inform yourself and let the world know that we are not Europe, we are not communist, we are a free people and will remain that way.

Then there is the issue of people being reported to the government that do not agree with and say disparaging things about the proposed health care takeover. That also sounds like 1930's Germany. Or in other words, UnAmerican. Inform on your neighbors and you will be rewarded. Didn't Stalin use this tactic too? Let it be known that I will turn myself in to the government and will continue to speak and type whatever I want concerning our current president and his gang of lunatics. Nancy included.

I'm no Nazi.

I"m an American.

Property Taxes

Last night I attended a public hearing with the local school district explaining why they need to raise my property tax by %40. No that is not a typo, it is being proposed that a %40 raise in my property tax is needed to balance the $33M deficit. This massive deficit was created when the Jordan School District was split to also create the Canyons District. The Canyons got the best of the tax base and therefor doesn't have near the problems.

The state legislature it appears passed a law that allows new districts to be created by cites that have a population of 100,000 or more or bordering cities that have 100,000 in population. So folks on the east side of the county voted to abandon the Jordan district and create their own.

None of the people on the west side of the valley were given the opportunity to vote or even voice their opinion. Now we are being told that we will pay for the split. I call this unfair, unjust and even taxation without representation. When this was first proposed the mayor of Herriman sued to block this happening. It is currently before the 10th Circuit Court awaiting a decision. I can't understand why this was allowed to go forward while we await this decision.

What I do know is that during the last two years my home has lost over $100,000 in value. Or in other words, almost all of the equity. In the last year alone the value dropped $83,600. My overall tax liability only dropped by $82. The amount of increase going to the school district is over $500. Doesn't seem right to me.

But back to the meeting. About 1,000 people showed up and over 200 registered to address the board, myself included. Before the public comments began an explanation of the current budget was given. Needless to say it did not sit well with the crowd. I call it a crowd..........an almost unruly mob may be a better description. People would hiss and boo and continually interrupt the board members as they spoke. I think this was counterproductive and most of the comments fell on deaf ears. That's too bad. Some folks had good points and presented them well, but the crowd didn't help us at all.

One point that was made was that it was partially our fault. That may be. After all not one of the board members has a background in business. They are all teachers. All of them. So during the next election what we need to do is find someone with a business degree and put them on the board to administer the budget and let the teachers worry about the curriculum and the like.

One person I saw at the meeting was State Representative Carl Wimmer. I caught up with him in an outer hallway as I was leaving. I put it to him that he should do something to help rectify this situation. I would think he would want to as this tax hike effects his family as well.

Hopefully the courts will settle this issue for us. My only worry about that is if this tax hike goes through, even if the court sees it our way, we wont get our money back. We all know that once the government gets it's hands on our money, we will never get it back.

One idea I have is to have a four day week with longer hours just like the state government. This could save some money. Also I saw on one of the explaining slides that a new school was going to be on a traditional year instead of year round. Does this save money? If it does then why the hell aren't all the schools going back to the traditional year? Only makes sense to me.

But what do I know?

After all, I'm only responsible for the bills.

And the Spending Continues

Today I heard on the news Senate Majority Leader Harry Reed announce that he has the votes to put $2,000,000,000 (two billion) more of our tax dollars into the cash for clunkers program. I hope he's mistaken about that. Another chunk of money for a social welfare program. Shameful.

In a time when the federal government should not even consider spending any more money, they have this brilliant idea to give some away. Go figure it was such a huge success in the first week. Who doesn't like free money? I know I do. But then again I don't need a new car. I like the cars that my wife and I have. So why would I want to buy a car payment, even at a discount?

That's right, buy a car payment. Now if you own you car(s) outright, no monthly payment is required to keep them, right? You might even have some extra cash laying around at the end of the month to squirrel away for a vacation, or a special night out or anything else you might desire. But if you fall into the government's trap, you now own an additional payment due on the first or fifteenth of the month. I would also venture a guess that it is more than you could have saved. And since the federal government now owns portions of an American car company or two, guess who gets your money. That's right, Uncle Barack.

But here's what got my blood pressure up to begin with. Since when is it okay to tax me so that I can help you buy a car? I don't think this is right. When I bought my last car no one gave me any money. If I remember correctly my lovely wife and I went to the dealer, looked around for a while, haggled a bit with the salesman and eventually wrote out a check on our account. We didn't get money from the government. Now I have to help someone that probably has the ability to do what I just described and the money to do it. What a crock!

Silly me. What am I thinking? This is the way now. To each according to their need, from each according to his ability. Marx would be so proud of our latest version of socialism. I bet our founders are spinning in their graves.

Then there's what's being done with the "clunkers". They are being destroyed. That's right, crushed and shredded with engines and drive trains intact. Now the most profitable parts of used cars are not even being harvested and parted out so folks that might need spare parts can't get them. What does this mean? Gather 'round and let me tell you.

It means that there will be fewer and fewer used cars. Not unlike the ones that most people drove as first cars or fixer uppers or just cheaper ones that for some folks are all that they can afford. Now those types of cars are going to be harder to find and more expensive. Exactly the same for spare parts. So let's just start the destruction of an entire industry right now, shall we? How many folks will lose their jobs over this Obamanation? It remains to be seen, but I will guess...................a lot. Thanks, Uncle Barack.

So let's review, the government wants to spend a total of $3,000,000,000 in tax dollars to get people to buy their cars, get them deeper in debt, eliminate and industry and put more people out of work. Did I get that right?

Here's an idea, how about we all let the government know just what we think of this idea of another welfare program. Especially one for folks who probably don't need it. And tell them that this insane spending must stop before it's too late.

If it isn't already.