Say Anything: Reader Blogs

U.S. Department Of Transportation To Allow Mexican Long Haul Truckers Into The U.S.

Pilgrim — 2007-02-27T19:01:00+00:00

This is getting ridiculous.

On top of all the disingenuous thumb-twiddling that the Bush administration has done over their complete and utter disregard for our southern border’s security they have decided, in their politically correct wisdom, to allow Mexican trucks to haul products deep into our country, starting in about 60 days.

What’s wrong with that, you ask?

Aside from the fact that many of the Mexican trucks are well below American safety standards, that there’s no way to determine how many hours the drivers have put on the road, that there’s no way to check the backgrounds of the drivers thus inviting, well, anyone to cross our borders without us knowing who they really are, that drivers in Mexico aren’t subjected to even the flimsy standards of the U.S. when it comes to obtaining a driver’s license, aside from all this and more there’s nothing wrong with it.

Bush has a puzzling case of tunnel vision when it comes to our borders. How is it that the man who preaches that the security of this nation is his responsibilty will all but ignore the tens of thousands who stream across our borders unchecked, swamping our law enforcement, hospital, and school systems with non-taxpaying people? Why is his Administration, more specifically the Department of Transportion Secretary Mary Peters, agreeing to let 100 Mexican trucking companies cross the border?

Of course the geniuses behind this plan are all reassurance, saying that every one of those trucks will be checked at the border to make sure that they all meet U.S. safety standards.

Yeah, right. We can’t hire enough Border Patrol and Customs Agents now to get the job done down there. Where are they going to find the additional personnel to make this whack-job of a plan work? If you cut the agents we have now in half they die. So that won’t work, either.

To be fair, Canadian and U.S. trucks cross our northern border back and forth with regularity. But that being said, Canada’s trucks are on a par with their U.S. counterparts. I’m not convinced that the Mexicans are as conscientious about their quality control. I could be wrong.

Another thing. Mexican trucks. Mexican insurance (if they have any at all, even though they’re supposed to be insured by U.S. companies.) Have an accident on a U.S. road with one of these trucks and try to collect your just desserts across an international border. Good luck with that one. How many reputable U.S. insurance companies are going to be eager to write policies for Mexican trucking companies?

Oh, yeah, one other thing…..those non-existent inspectors I mentioned above, the ones who are supposed to check all those trucks? They’re also supposed to interview the drivers to make sure they speak English. That’s almost funny in dark comedy sort of way. You decide if you think that’s gonna happen.

I may becoming cynical but I’m just not convinced that Bush - or any other politician - is going to do anything about our border, and this is just one more example of the situation getting so far out of hand that we may never get it back. Our elected cockroaches care more about votes and their own political survival than they do about the long term welfare of this country. Let’s not risk the ire of the politically correct crowd. We’ll lose votes.

Political correctness is fast becoming a suicide pact for this country and so is the total lack of spine on the part of the people we elect to lead us.

Now That’s Just WRONG!

Pilgrim — 2007-02-22T20:20:00+00:00

This is from Reuters:

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Two clowns were shot and killed by an unidentified gunman during their performance at a traveling circus in the eastern Colombian town of Cucuta, police said Wednesday.

The gunman burst into the Circo del Sol de Cali Monday night and shot the clowns in front of an audience of 20 to 50 people, local police chief Jose Humberto Henao told Reuters. One of the clowns was killed instantly and the second died the next day in hospital.

Drudge has the whole thing.

The suspect was last seen speeding away in a tiny car. It appeared that there were several other people in the vehicle.

We’re Becoming A Nation Of Shameless Peeping Toms

Pilgrim — 2007-02-22T14:38:01+00:00

When I turned on the news at 7AM this morning I was struck by the two lead stories. Were they the war in Iraq, or the economy, or radical Islam? No. The very first story was about how wannabe rapper Kevin Federline is taking his basket case wife, Brittney Spears, to court in a custody battle. And on the heels of that story was more of the ghoulish court battle for the corpse of Anna Nicole Smith.

After those two incredibly important stories the talking news heads got around to briefly reporting on the war and on the way-too-early presidential race.

Why are the train wreck lives of two drugged out, sleazed out women getting the kind of attention that qualifies them for being a lead story on national news? Why does the media think we care about Brittney Spears shaved head or lack of panties? Why are we innundated, saturated by the salacious details of Anna Nicole Smith’s death and the doped up, salacious behavior that led up to it?

Just the other day an Imam in the Washington area said that if we get in Islam’s way they would “burn America down.” Why is that not a headline in every paper in the country? Why are we prioritizing the Jerry Springer lives of two self destructive women who most of us wouldn’t even let anywhere near our families in real life? Why does the media continue to force feed us the nasty and sometimes downright obscene details of these non-stories?

Because we watch it, that’s why. We’re becoming a nation of peeping toms, peering through the windows of our televisions with sweaty palmed glee at these semi-celebrities who’ve trashed their lives through their own folly. Our sense of shame as well as our sense of decency is rapidly disappearing or being warped out of proportion by a media that tells us over and over again that we should care about these things.

Instead of reserving stories like this for the gossip mongers like Nancy Grace or Greta Van Susteren we get the salacious details of the train wreck lives of these two over and over again in our mainstream news.

A Roman emperor, when told that the population was becoming restive over social issues, was unflustered. He said to give the people bread and circuses, feed them and entertain them, and they would ignore all else.

Our bread is our high standard of living that we are beginning to take for granted, wanting better, bigger, more. Our circuses are brought to us every day, right into our living rooms through our televisions. We’re well fed, fat and entertained and we ignore or casually brush aside the serious issues of the day like the above mentioned Imam who flat out threatened us if we get in their way.

The puppet masters of radical Islam are paying more attention than we are, watching as we sink ever deeper into our fascination with celebrity sleaze. We’re ignoring them while we peep into some else’s window and they must be loving it.

Doing The Math On The Two Duke Rape Cases

Pilgrim — 2007-02-19T19:44:00+00:00

I’ll be standing by for the cries of “Racist!” on this one but, here goes:

Let’s do some math here. Duke University: Black female + accusations of rape by priveliged white males = outrage from all corners of the country, from the New Black Panthers to the liberal media. Everyone pounds the table and demands “justice” way before the facts of the case are presented.

Part two: Duke University (again) White girl + accusations of rape by a black male in a house very similar to the one occupied by the white fratenity = ……nothing. Nada. Harldy a peep beyond some “oh by the way” stories void of the seamy details of the first one. Is it just me or does this math formula not add up? Last week another rape occurred in one of the off-campus frat houses in Durham. This time, though, the coin was flipped to the other side. An 18 year old white female has reported that she was raped in a bathroom by a black male in circumstances strangely similar to the first case. There are striking differences here, though.

The media, who howled to the moon and wanted the white guy’s livers on a stick, are either coveniently leaving some stuff out of their reporting of this incident, like the little fact that the victim was white and the alleged perpetrator was black, or are touching on it briefly and then shying away from that fact like they’re embarrassed by it. The Duke University newspaper, the Chronicle, has been one of the only papers in the print media to mention this little tidbit. And much of the media also seem to have left their sense of outrage somewhere else on this one.

All things being equal I wouldn’t have given a second thought to this. But all things are apparently not equal. The print and broadcast media shrieked about the race of the first set of Duke perpetrators. Their self righteous outrage over that incident brought the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (the usual race pimps) into the fray along with the New Black Panthers and their half-wit spokesman, whatever his name is. (If you don’t think he’s a half-wit just watch an interview with him sometime. He makes me cringe, and I’m white. I can’t even imagine how responsible black Americans must feel when watching this buffoon.) All of them had those guys tried and convicted in the first days of that story. Had to be true. It was white guys and a black girl. The story couldn’t have been more perfect for the race panderers and their eternal attempts at self promotion.

I’m wondering if Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson will denounce the rapist as an embarrasment to the progress of their civil rights agenda? Don’t hold your breath. Ain’t gonna happen. I’m also wondering if the prancing, histrionic New Black Panthers will have an opinion on this one. Other than automatically defending the accused, that is.

Mike Nifong, that shining star of the judiciary system, has decided that he’ll let the police complete their investigation on this one instead of stepping in and taking over, like the lat one. The self promotional opportunities in a politically incorrect case like this must be limited, eh, Mike? It’s noted that nobody has released the alleged rapist’s name yet. By now the other guys’ names were in articles and print stories everywhere you looked, along with their personal histories and criminal records.

The uneven handling of this story is as clear as the nose on Barbra Streisand’s face.

And get this…I’m not saying that the press should butcher this story like they did the other one. Let the process work this time in fairness to everyone, victim and alleged perpetrator alike. Not like you did with the last one.

Do you think the media is handling this one differently this time because they’ve learned a lesson from the last time? I’d like to think so, but it’s more likely they’re more cautious with this one because it’s the politically correct thing to do.

Glad we can count on them.

Taxes, Taxes, And More Taxes

Pilgrim — 2007-02-17T11:47:00+00:00

I found this interesting and somewhat disheartening. Here’s a list of taxes that we pay right now on a daily basis:

The Inheritance Tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax,
Fuel permit tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Interest expense
Inventory tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road usage taxes
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone federal excise tax
Telephone federal universal service fee tax
Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes
Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax
Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax
Telephone state and local tax
Telephone usage charge tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

And the Democrats want more. Can we play “What’s wrong with this picture?”

William (Dollar Bill) Jefferson Gets A Seat On The Homeland Security Committee

Pilgrim — 2007-02-16T15:17:00+00:00

Just when you thought Nancy Pelosi’s dog and pony show in Washington couldn’t get any better, it just did. This from the Washington Post:

Rep. Jefferson Gets Seat on Homeland Security

Rep. William Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who’s facing an ongoing federal corruption probe, is being granted a spot on the Homeland Security Committee, according to Democratic aides.

The appointment will be announced Friday, according to one aide who requested anonymity because the decision isn’t yet official.

Jefferson was removed from his seat on the Ways and Means Committee, one of the most important panels in Congress, by Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) last summer in an attempt to show how seriously Democrats viewed the allegations of corruption.

But the move by Pelosi, who was still minority leader at the time, infuriated members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who said Jefferson shouldn’t be punished unless he is indicted; federal prosecutors have yet to bring an indictment, despite an FBI raid 18 months ago on his home that yielded $90,000 in cash in his freezer.

Other lawmakers were angling for the seat on Homeland Security, which was the last slot available on the panel, according to another Democratic aide.

The committee oversees the Homeland Security Department and its web of agencies designed to protect against terrorism on U.S. soil.

The committee has oversight of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was widely panned for its response to Hurricane Katrina in Jefferson’s hometown of New Orleans.

As a member of the committee, Jefferson will not have direct oversight of the FBI or the Justice Department.

A former Jefferson aide has already pleaded guilty to corruption in the ongoing investigation, as has a businessman who alleged in his plea agreement that he bribed Jefferson in order to win contracts with African nations.

When most committee assignments were given out two months ago, Jefferson was assigned a spot on the Small Business Committee, generally considered one of the least sought after panels.

Is this the freakin’ Twilight Zone? What in the name of the wide wide world of sports are these people thinking?

I’m sure glad Pelosi is draining that swamp of corruption she shrieked about. I feel better now, don’t you?

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!

Oh, This Is Just TOO Good!

Pilgrim — 2007-02-14T13:57:00+00:00

From Drudge:

HOUSE HEARING ON ‘WARMING OF THE PLANET’ CANCELED AFTER ICE STORM

HEARING NOTICE

Tue Feb 13 2007 19:31:25 ET

The Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality hearing scheduled for Wednesday, February 14, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building has been postponed due to inclement weather. The hearing is entitled “Climate Change: Are Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Human Activities Contributing to a Warming of the Planet?”

The hearing will be rescheduled to a date and time to be announced later.

Let’s see, how can I put this......oh, I know! Bwaahahahahaha!!!!!!

I didn't make this up. It on Drudge at http://drudgereport.com/

OH, AND CHECK THIS UPDATE OUT. ALSO ON DRUDGE:

SAVE IT FOR A SUNNY DAY: Maryville Univ. in St. Louis area cancelling screening of Al Gore's 'Inconvenient Truth' because of a snowstorm...

And once again I'll comment in a mature manner befitting Al Gore and his crowd of global warming doomsayers: BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

An Open letter To The National Organization Of Women (NOW)

Pilgrim — 2007-02-12T17:29:00+00:00

In my latest post to the Louisiana Conservative I ask NOW a few pertinent questions about their lack of interest in the bestial way women are treated in Islam:

Dear NOW,

I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me. I was just perusing your web site and I saw that you take a stance on many issues, from teen contraception to endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. I see that you’re calling for an end to the war in Iraq. I see that you endorse minimum wage and Roe vs. Wade. It looks to me that you champion women’s rights related to a variety of issues. That being said I have some questions:

I was just wondering why I don’t see you saying anything at all about the women of Islam. I guess that the only assumption would be that you don’t know they can’t vote. And, did you know that in many places they can’t own property? Did you know they can’t drive? Did you know that they themselves are little more than property in many cases?

Did you know that under the much touted Sharia law the woman has virtually no rights, not even to leave the house without being covered from head to toe and looking through a slit in a hood, a little like a cross between Cousin It and the Black Knight from Monty Python?

Did you know that punitive or revenge gang rapes are common, or that in Palestine right now if a man isn’t with the Hamas program his wife is stripped naked and forced to walk through the public streets to humiliate him. Not her. Him.

I give several more examples of the single minded misogynistic brutality women face every day in the Islamic world such as beatings and stoning, and the general degradation they're faced with, then I end up with this:

I haven’t heard one single peep from you on this stuff. What ever happened to “I am woman, hear me roar!” I’m not even hearing you squeak on this subject, much less roar.

Can it be that you save all your roaring for safer targets, like the white male majority of this country? They aren’t likely to call you racists or bigots if you speak out on behalf of their women, are they? They’re safe. Terrorists like to call targets that can’t or won’t fight back “soft targets.” Is the American male a soft target for you? Is Islam and its misogynistic, brutal treatment of its women too big and scary of a target?

Just asking.

Think anyone will answer me?

Read the whole thing at http://louisianaconservative.com/

By the way, Jeff Blanco just put up this site and he’s still working on it. It’s new, with not as many bells and whistles yet as some of the more developed sites. It’s gonna get better.

The Slow Suicide Of New Orleans

Pilgrim — 2007-02-11T13:27:00+00:00

I’ve started writing a regular piece for Jeff Blanco at the Louisina Conservative blog. This is an excerpt from my first column there:

People are murdered in New Orleans at an alarming rate and what’s even more alarming are these juicy statistics: Number of murders in 2006 – 162. (bear in mind that New Orleans has about half of its former population right now.) Number of those solved – 68. 17 of the subjects identified in these murders are dead themselves, victims of their own criminal folly. 4 others still remain at large. That means that out of 162 murders, 73 remain unsolved. 22 of the cases cleared by arrest in 2006 have yet to be charged by New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan.

Here’s a real kick in the head: So far in 2007 there have been 20 murders. Of that twenty, only FIVE (5) have been solved, and three of those because the killers themselves were killed by others of their ilk – no great loss there. Only two have been cleared by an arrest.

And then there’s this gem from the “can you top this?” file:

Another factor is the prevailing culture of New Orleans, one that has by and large replaced the culture of old, of which I’ll cite an example. Yesterday a 17 year old named Clarence Johnson got into a fight with another 17 year old boy and lost. Clarence went home and told his mother, 44 year old Vanessa Johnson. Did she empathize with him or scold him as parents have for thousands of years? No.

She gave him a handgun and told him to get revenge. He did. He went out, found the other boy, and killed him. A fine example of humanity, don’t you think? When police interviewed and subsequently arrested the mother (the boy is still at large as I write this), they found cocaine and a picture of the boy posing with money, drugs, and guns. It was hanging on her wall. Not exactly a Norman Rockwell picture, is it?

Read the whole thing at http://louisianaconservative.com/.

It’s sad but we’re eye witnesses to the rapid decline of a great city. The barbarians are at the gate.

Some Arguments For Legalizing Marijuana

Pilgrim — 2007-02-07T17:18:00+00:00

First off, let me start this by stating a simple fact:

The much touted “war on drugs” isn’t working. Never has. Never will. We spend billions of dollars each year enforcing our drug laws but marijuana still continues to pour across our borders by the truck load. And as we speak it is right now the country’s largest cash crop, easily eclipsing corn or wheat.

We put people in prison at a rate very few countries in the world match and many, many of them are there for simple drug offenses. A sad fact is that I will most likely do less jail time for hitting you in the head with a hammer than I will for selling an ounce of marijuana. Our priorities in things like this have become totally skewed.

And, no, no, I’m not endorsing the dealing of any drug, up to and including marijuana. We’re our own worst enemy when it comes to this, though. By keeping marijuana illegal we empower and enrich the dealers who smuggle and/or grow the stuff. Dealing large quantities of any drug is a high stakes game. Just this week two police stations in Aculpulco, Mexico were raided by dealers and policemen were killed. If profits are threatened in this deadly game somebody gets killed.

We can take that power away from those dealers. How? We have to re-think our strategy. And here is one possible answer.

First off the legalization of marijuana should be a state’s-rights issue. The federal government should butt out and leave it up to individual states whether or not marijuana should be a criminal offense.

Second off posession of a reasonable amount of marijuana should be decriminalized if not legalized. What’s reasonable? Each state could set those parameters by deciding the quantity that can qualify as “personal use”.

Third, it should be legal to cultivate your own marijuana, again with individual quantity limits in mind.

And, fourth, up the penalties for dealing. Make it just not worth it.

Would this not cut the dealers completely out of the loop? With no profit to consider wouldn’t that part of the drug world’s business dry up along with the accompanying violence and death?

Drugs are not going to go away simply because they are illegal. And more draconian laws aren't the answer. In countries such as China drug dealing is a capital offense. They still do it. Like Dennis Miller once said, if all drugs were to disappear people would go outside and spin around and around until they fell down.

We just need to re-think this whole thing, as I said. Is it a perfect answer? Probably not, but something, anything is better than the status quo. I’m tired of all the death and violence and the disruption of lives our “war on drugs” causes. Anybody have any other ideas?