A great way of spending July 4th

Today, with the celebration of Independence Day, the second wave of Tea Parties went underway nationwide, including at Fort Wayne. Unlike on April 18th, there were difficulties in arranging a location for this Tea Party; one Tea Party planned for today fell through because of this problem.

Eventually, Fort Wayne would have a Tea Party, hosted by the ArchAngel Institute. The program started at noon (I arrived a little over an hour earlier). Tea was served at the Tea Party (just seemed so fitting).

The site of the Tea Party

What's a Tea Party without our unofficial motto?

And for that matter, without this beautiful flag?

Out of the mouths of children.

Short, sweet and to the point; the man conveyed the message well.

One of the many people who spoke at the Tea Party.

There were somewhere from about 50-100 people in attendance; considering the scant (if any) publicity and the location problems, this was a good turnout.

Our own Boston Harbor; at the end of the Party, tea was distributed and poured onto the nearby street.

My own contribution.

The program consisted of ordinary people reading quotes from our Founding Fathers and a number of others (if only I had a video camera with me at the time). I was among the 30 or so Tea Partiers who read the quotes. After we said the Pledge of Allegiance, I read a quote from Ronald Reagan when he gave "The Speech" in 1964:

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children (America)*, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.

There was a brief break during which the tea was distributed for pouring. Afterwards, we resumed with the quotes, which also included specific parts of the Declaration of Independence. I started the second round of quotes by reading the immortal words of Samuel Adams:

If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; may your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

The experience was exhilarating. At the end, when the specific parts of the Declaration were read, we read along, including the final words of the Declaration:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

To listen and to read (and read along) the words of our Founding Fathers, to know what they risked and what they went through to ensure that I and the rest of this current generation could enjoy what we have is indeed humbling and motivating.

I hope you all have been enjoying this great day today, and may we never forget what this day means. Happy 4th of July!

*Ronald Reagan, in his quote, used the word this, referring to America, but because I wasn't reading the whole of the speech, I instead said America directly.

Whoa!

In a year filled with plenty of complete surprises, what happened yesterday took the cake.

Sarah Palin announced she would resign as Governor of Alaska at the end of the month. Rumors were flying about Governor Palin announcing her intention not to seek a second term in office, but the announcement of her resignation was a curveball nobody expected. I myself am still reeling from the news. The best word to describe my reaction is simply Whoa!.

Since the announcement, pundits, reporters, bloggers and "experts" have been opining on what the announcement means, and most believe it's a fatal move on Governor Palin's part, since they're assuming she will be running for President in 2012 . I don't.

After having gone through her remarks, the conclusion I've come to is simply this: Sarah Palin is going full throttle in her efforts with her political action committee SarahPAC, assisting like-minded candidates for public office. And because she could not do this as well as adequately serve as Governor of Alaska, she thus had to resign her position.

Whether she will ultimately run in 2012 or 2016 or beyond remains unknown. In the end, she has asked her supporters to trust her with her decision, and that is something I intend to do.

I wish the Lt. Governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell, all the best as he eventually ascends to the position of Governor, and I wish Sarah Palin all the best in her future efforts with SarahPAC and if she so chooses, her own bid for President. She has my full support.

P.S. Josh Painter at Texas for Sarah Palin has written a better assessment of the situation than I have. Go ahead and take a look.

Grassroots News Minute (July 2nd)

My gift: Intellect

Your Gift is Intellect

You are a big thinker, and you're always playing with new ideas. You are curious about the world. You enjoy learning and developing new theories. You enjoy researching, analyzing, and solving problems. Thinking hard feels good! You're the type of person who finds most mental tasks to be easy. You love to stretch your brain.

What's Your Gift?

Well, I always knew I had a big brain. Of course, if I weren't as lazy as I am, this would probably be 100% accurate.

RIP Mollie Sugden

It seems like celebrities are dying everywhere. Within the past month to six weeks, we've read about or heard of the deaths of David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Karl Malden.

Now I've just read about the passing of actress Mollie Sugden. For those who don't who she is, she was best known for playing Mrs. Slocombe in the classic British sitcom Are You Being Served? (it usually airs on PBS; if you can watch an episode, I recommend it).

She was well-known and much-loved as a character who could give the angriest look whenever insulted, who waged all kinds of battles with fellow co-workers (including a smart aleck rookie, a rival department head and a haughty floorworker) & the remote control display units featuring the latest products (she never saw anything awful in all her life), and who would cause near-endless laughter at the mere mention of her pussy (cat).

She was accurately compared by her former co-star, the late John Inman, to Lucille Ball, for not being afraid to do anything to get a laugh. From the changing colors of her hair (and I mean all colors) to needing to be "rescued" by a co-worker during fire practice, from not being able to hold her liquor to playing Little Alice, age four (and she was not four at the time), Mollie Sugden clearly wasn't afraid, just like Mrs. Slocombe, who when compared to herself, the rest of the staff was "weak as water! Weak as water!!"

Her career was primarily in television, of which she would appear on numerous British programs for over 40 years, but Mollie Sugden will always be remembered as a department store head named Mrs. Slocombe. Rest in peace, ma'am.

P.S. YouTube has videos of episodes of Are You Being Served?; just type the title in the search box to find them. They're very funny.

Lionheart: All charges against me "dropped"

That's the latest about Paul Ray's legal situation: it's over. Mr. Ray has the news at his blog linked below:

Lionheart: All charges against me "dropped"

Freedom of Speech has won, over the politically correct brigade who have tried silencing me, and members from their pet project British Islam who have wanted me prosecuted and silenced from speaking out against them and their religion.

However, just because Mr. Ray's legal battle ended with the charges dropped, other bloggers like Mr. Ray could easily be brought up on charges similar to his, because they spoke out against the dangers of an oppressive religion like Islam. The freedom of speech of all Britons remains in a precarious position. As Mr. ray also writes:

British Islam is a threat to every man, woman and child upon the British Isles, based upon 1400 years of experience and knowledge, and people like me, have a right and responsibility to talk about it openly, freely and honestly without fear of state persecution, prosecution or imprisonment.

That's the good fight being waged, to preserve the right to speak freely, to combat the threat of Islam, the dangers it poses to our freedom, our liberty, our lives. May people like Mr. Ray continue to fight the good fight in the British Isles, and may we here in America continue fighting that same fight.

Al Franken: The Senate's Bad Joke

When I first read about Al Franken making a serious bid for the Senate from Minnesota, I reacted as if I heard the funniest joke ever. Now that it is official Al Franken will be Minnesota's newest Senator, I'm not laughing anymore.

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in Franken's favor and his opponent, the soon-to-be former Senator Norm Coleman, conceded the election to Franken, ending a legal battle lasting over half a year.

In addition to Franken's victory becoming reality, so also is the 60 seats the Democrats need to override future filibuster attempts, and that's the bad news from this story.

In the end, Al Franken was a joke when he began running for the Senate, and he remains a joke as he ascends to his new position in the Senate. Hopefully, come November, 2014, Minnesotans will have woken up to realize their junior Senator is indeed that, a complete joke.

Welcome, The Tree of Mamre

Patrick Wallace and his blog The Tree of Mamre have just joined the Bloggers for Sarah Palin blogroll. Welcome aboard, Mr. Wallace, great to have you in the fight for Sarah Palin.

Also, I saw a fascinating post at The Tree of Mamre about the meaning of being civilized. Highly recommended blog post.

Now isn't that interesting, chapter 22

I haven't blogged about the appointment of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court to replace the retiring Justice David Souter as of yet, but with this interesting story from Michelle Malkin, it's as good a time as any.

Mrs. Malkin reported of a recent decision by the Supreme Court that overturned a lower court's decision, ruling white firefighters in New haven, Connecticut were denied promotion unfairly due to race. The interesting thing is that Judge Sotomayor was a member of that lower court, and she endorsed the lower court's ruling.

And considering she is now a nominee to the Supreme Court, it's not only interesting, it's also equally ironic.

As for the nomination of Judge Sotomayor, conservatives are not nuts about her appointment, regarding her as a judicial activist who leans to the Left. Her supporters, most notably President Obama, have claimed she is an objective judge who's more than qualified. Of course, they tend to cite a more important reason: if confirmed, Sonia Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. Here's my two cents on it:

1. It doesn't matter to me whether the justice of the highest court in the country, or any other judge for that matter, is a liberal or conservative. As long as that judge does what he or she is supposed to do, and that is uphold the Constitution without any prejudice or inclination to legislate from the bench, I have no complaints.
2. I don't like the motivation behind Judge Sotomayor's appointment, the attempt by some proponents to make history (as in 2008) or empathy being one of the things President Obama was looking for in a Justice. It leaves me suspicious of Judge Sotomayor's credentials, needless to say.

There's also another thing: even if Judge Sotomayor is confirmed, it won't have any short-term changes, as we'd look at one liberal justice replacing another liberal justice. Right now, I'm more worried what would happen should say Justice Scalia or Justice Kennedy decide to retire.

Well, that's it for my interesting punditry.

Coup? Takeover? Where?

Down south of the United States, in Central America, the nation of Honduras witnessed what has been called a coup. The President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, was removed from power by the Honduran Congress and transported to Costa Rica by the Honduran military. Leaders in other countries in the Western Hemisphere, including my own President, Barack Obama, and most notedly Hugo Chavez, the "President" of Venezuela (of whom Zelaya is an ally of), have denounced this apparent coup, which the media is already noting as the first "military takeover of a Central American government in 16 years".

But I'm seeing a problem here: Where has there been a coup? Where has there been a military takeover?

The President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, remarked of his impression that "the long night of military dictatorships in central America was over", but what military dictatorship is he talking about? The Honduran Congress remains in control, not the military. Zelaya's political party, the Liberal Party, is still in charge in the Congress and the new President, Roberto Micheletti (formerly head of the Congress & a Liberal) will be serving until the end of Zelaya's term in January. And the Honduran Congress voted to strip Zelaya of his presidential powers; so what coup or military takeover is the media and the leaders of the Western Hemisphere talking about?

The root of the problem apparently has to do with a voter referendum in Honduras involving an attempt to rewrite the nation's Constitution that would allow Presidents to serve more than one term, a referendum Zelaya supported, and even after Honduras's Supreme Court ruled the effort unconstitutional, Zelaya continued pushing for it.

To me, it seems Zelaya was trying to stay in power even after being told he couldn't, so the Honduran Congress kicked him out. This isn't a coup, this isn't a military takeover, this is simply a peaceful transition. Unfortunately, Zelaya wants back in, and he's got Hugo Chavez and much of the hemisphere to back him.

The question now is what happens next. I hope the new President Micheletti can hold on to the seat until January.

The thieves struck again (with some help)

Yesterday in the House, an infamous bill was narrowly passed, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. Known also as the Waxman-Markey bill and as a cap-and-trade bill, it has been described as the largest tax increase ever proposed.

Supposedly, the bill, if passed, will create more energy jobs, combat global warming pollution and achieve energy independence. It's a joke. The bill is simply one that would do more damage to the nation's economy and would bleed our wallets dry. Being it was based on questionable facts and research, it shouldn't have reached the floor of the House.

The Heritage Foundation gives you an idea of what the Waxman-Markey bill will do to businesses and families (particularly families of four). As the Heritage Foundation puts it, this bill is simply an energy tax, but it's a huge one that will increase year by year, if signed into law.

The bill was passed by a margin of 219-212, with all but 44 Democrats voting in favor and all but 8 Republicans voting against. To the 44 Democrats who voted against (and also to my Republican congressman), I thank you for voting not to impose this huge tax. To the 8 Republicans who voted in favor (Michelle Malkin has the names), you voted to steal my money, my family's money, my friends' money and my fellow Americans' money. You assisted a bunch of thieves with your vote. You are thieves because of your vote.

There is still hope the bill will not end up on the President's desk. It has to go through the Senate, and while it may be wishful thinking on my part, I'm enough of an optimist that I haven't given up just yet.

Grassroots News Minute (June 26th)

The video features news about the questionable activities of several BATFE agents and about the GAO's recent report about the Mexican drug cartels and where they supposedly get their guns.

I'm A Bicycling Man

You Are Bicycling

You are an energetic, driven person. You try to live a good life. You are industrious and determined. You happily and willingly do hard work. You are deeply philosophical. You are concerned with doing things the best way. You love freedom to explore and experiment. You don't like rules.

What Type of Transportation Are You?

I haven't done one of these quizzes in a long time. I do need to get back on a bike, though.

For Neda, the voice of Iran

She has become of the face of what has been happening in Iran. Doesn't matter what one calls it; protests, riots, unrest, rebellion, revolution, ever since Neda Agha Soltan was murdered in Iran four days ago by government militia troops, her name and, more importantly, her face have become the name and face of a movement in Iran which undeniably wants genuine change in their government.

What started out as a protest to the "re-election" of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad over the "alternative", Mir Hossein Mousavi, has also undeniably turned into something bigger, because you have Iranians who don't merely want a change of tenants in the President's house, they want liberty, freedom, democracy. Some still just want Ahmedinejad replaced by Mousavi, but many others much, much more than just a change of puppets.

As to what Neda was protesting in Tehran on June 20th, 2009, whether it was to protest the election results or the rule of the mullahs or both, I don't know. There was one little observational detail about her that caught my attention: she was 26 years old when she was killed. That's my age. And I have participated in protests recently in the form of Tea Parties (and will again within two weeks), against the growing, infringing power of the government.

If Neda were alive and in America, she would likely have been protesting the government at any one of the many Tea Parties held throughout the country and would be alright. But if I were in Iran, would I likely be involved in the protests going on in Iran, be willing to brave the dangers of assault, intimidation, imprisonment and death for the purpose of wanting real change, of wanting freedom and liberty?

When I see pictures of Neda Agha Soltan, I see a beautiful young woman who had the courage to face an oppressive, brutal regime and protest their egregious actions. And with her death, she has now become the defining voice (as her name meant) for a movement that I hope will not be put out by Ahmedinejad, Mousavi or their puppetmasters. May those Iranians who are fighting for freedom right now in Iran keep fighting the good fight.

And to Neda, rest in peace.

A note to fathers everywhere

To all you fathers out there, including my own dad, I hope you've been having a good Father's Day and are enjoying yourselves. Without you dads, what can we do, huh? Happy Father's Day.

Ohhhhh Brother No. 15: Guns! Guns! All these guns!

The new argument raised by gun control proponents the world over has been due to the "lax" gun laws in the United States, guns can get into other countries and cause untold and unspeakable violence. This argument was applied to Mexico with the violence from drug cartels down there, and now it is being applied to another country with similar problems of violence: Jamaica.

The big concern in Jamaica is over the gang violence that is apparently commonplace in the country. Mike Melia, in an article for the Associated Press, writes of the problem facing the Jamaicans in their efforts to stop the gun smuggling, but Mr. Melia also points out a few things:

1. Jamaican smugglers rely on "lax U.S. gun laws, corrupt customs inspectors and front men acting as buyers" (emphasis mine).
2. Florida's gun laws make it easy for Jamaicans to buy a legal gun and then smuggle it to Jamaica (emphasis mine).
3. "A vast majority" of the guns taken by Jamaican authorities are "submitted for tracing", and 80% of those than can be traced are traced back to the U.S. (emphasis mine).

Ohhhhh Brother! Actually, it's more than just an Ohhhhh Brother!, it's also a Good Grief! and a WTF! as well.

Instead of trying to focus all their efforts on trying to stop these smugglers, as well as enforcing the current gun laws in place in the U.S., somebody is playing a blame game with the so-called lax gun laws we have in America (specifically in Florida) and the easy accessibility to those so-called legal guns. And in addition, the same fuzzy math method used to get the statistic of 90% when arguing about the number of guns going into Mexico being traced to the U.S. is being applied to Jamaica as well.

How many of those seized by Jamaican authorities have actually been traced to the U.S.? How much enforcement of our current gun laws in dealing with Mexican & Jamaican smugglers is actually taking place? Do you see the agenda of the gun grabbers at work here, taking advantage of the horrible situation in those countries?

Grassroots News Minute (June 19th)

It's been a long time since I've embedded a Grassroots Minute video from the NRA-ILA via YouTube, so here it is:

While there is still something of a calm right now, a tidal wave of assaults on our individual right to keep and bear firearms is coming. In addition to Democrats in Congress and Attorney General Eric Holder, there's also the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the BATFE (not just on guns), and now the "objective" U.S. Conference of Mayors currently under the presidency of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, a member of Michael Bloomberg's so-called Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition. Wow, talk about objective right there.

Bottom line, this is another good fight we must keep fighting and not waver in, or we may lose it all on the domestic front.

What Hope Iran?

When I first heard of the elections in Iran between their current "President" Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and his opponent Mir Hossein Mousavi, I took about as much stock in it as I would have if it had been Raul Castro running for "President" in Cuba, or Saddam Hussein in Iraq, or (need I say it?) Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. As long as the mullahs remain in power in Iran, who gets "elected" to what office doesn't matter.

But recent news about riots and protests in Iran towards the so-called victory of Ahmedinejad to another term in "office" has led me to wonder what will become of the people of Iran. Mona Charen's recent column does a good job of explaining the situation in Iran, of the fact the mullahs (and Ahmedinejad) are very unpopular with the people, and of the support for Mousavi as the alternate to the mullahs' chosen candidate.

To see Iran removed of the shackles of the mullahs would be wonderful, to see a genuine regime change in Iran, a shift towards democracy there would be very much wonderful. The problem for me, as Ms. Charen also notes in her column, is whether Mousavi is actually better for the Iranian people. Unfortunately, I fear the people of Iran are putting their hopes in the wrong person, but I honestly don't know.

What I do know, or rather, what I know based on what I've read, is that the mullahs put their lot in with Ahmedinejad (and ensuring "victory" through possible fraud; should I be surprised here?) and are showing little to zero tolerance for dissent. What I also know is that my own President (or should it also be "President"?), Barack Obama, has cast his own lot in with the mullahs by not only expressing a wish for more "dialogue" with them, but also removing future funds for pro-democracy efforts in Iran.

Weasel Zippers has a post on the removal of funding in the upcoming 2010 State Department budget. There's the old phrase about being between a rock and a hard place, but with the Iranian people, it's like they're between multiple rocks and hard places. The title of Charles Krauthammer's latest (and equally superb) column describes their problem well: Hope and Change- but not for Iran.

Welcome, Uncommon Common Sense

Gary Wonning and his blog Politics, Common Sense and Other Rantings has joined the Bloggers for Sarah Palin blogroll. Welcome aboard, Gary, as we continue fighting the good fight for Sarah Palin. Also, one of Josh Painter's blogs, Mainstream Texas Conservative, had to be deleted. Sorry to see it go.

Targeted: Gerald Walpin

I saw Gerald Walpin appear on Glenn Beck's TV show yesterday, but I don't know for sure if this video features yesterday's interview. By all accounts, this guy was doing his job, and he ended up fired by the Obama administration, in an illegal matter. Then they tried to cover their bases by claiming Mr. Walpin is senile, something Glenn Beck was able to refute on the show. Watch this video.

I wish Mr. Walpin the best as he continue to fight the good fight against the machine. Also, if you want to know about the cause of Mr. Walpin's firing, Michelle Malkin has a column about it with links to more information.

Update (9:35 PM EDT): For some odd reason, I couldn't embed the video on this blog, so I've linked to the video. Also, this isn't from yesterday's show, but no less important.