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To a chemist, nothing on earth is unclean. A writer must be as objective as a chemist; he must abandon the subjective line; he must know that dungheaps play a very respectable part in a landscape, and that evil passions are as inherent in life as good ones.
-- Anton Chekov
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Last week, on September 10th, I tweeted: "America feels different tonight. Might be me, but this is the week, I think, that the tide turned." This week:The list could go on. I'm particularly enthusiastic about Jimmy Carter. The only thing better would if Al Gore would double-down on that charge.Oh, and by the way, the earth is still cooling. |
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I give you two some pictures. Judge for yourself the reliability of our nation's press corps. The first picture is an aerial shot of Obama's inauguration, which had an estimated attendance of 1.5 million. The second picture is an aerial shot of the 9/12 event, which had an estimated attendance of "tens of thousands." Decide for yourself whether you should pay any attention at all to the mainstream press corps.  (Source) CORRECTION I've had to replace the original second photo. Shortly after I posted the picture, a few folks caught that the pic I had was not of the 9/12 event, as was said on a few other web sites where I had seen it. (Apologies for posting an incorrect pic, but the great thing about the net is that you can get comments from anywhere to keep it straight, and so I am.) I give you some others instead, as you see below. These pictures are from the event, and they're the best I can find to display the crowd.  Notice that in the first pic of the 9/12 event the people go down the street on the right for quite a way. In the pics below, this is looking to the right and then to the left, taken by this guy.   And this is just the very front of the crowd... I'll keep looking for an aerial shot. Strange that there aren't any easily found. What I do know, from pictures and from those who were there, is that the event was filled from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, just as was shown in the Promise Keepers pic I had originally displayed (not the Million Man March, as someone suggested in the comments). ETC: I'll give you one more, this from a FoxNews screencap, closer to the Washington monument, which shows how packed it was this far back in the mall.  Compare this crowd density to the inauguration photo, and it's easily comparable. |
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The Best Tea Party Sign Ever |
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Today is 9/12, and will likely find most DC Democrats politicians hiding under their beds. Here's why:  Not far from the White House...  These from a person there.    This from Libertas1776.  This from LadyImpactOhio.  And finally, from an attendee getting dressed to go out:  ETC: Brian corrects me in the comments, so I've updated this to politicians, and not just Democrats. |
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For years, I've noticed that Google doesn't create doodles for patriotic events in America, despite its tendency to celebrate just about any event under the sun. Once again, on this anniversary of 9/11, Google pretends it didn't happen and says nothing. Others do pay tribute, such as Bing and Ask. For the last year, I've run Google Ads on my web site. I make under $10 a month by doing so. Seemed harmless enough to me, but given their obvious bias against anything "American," I'm abandoning Google. I'm currently owed about $70. The problem is that in order to get paid, I have to achieve a balance of $100. So I've posted the question about what happens if I stop running the ads. Will they pay me the balance? I'll soon find out... |
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Eight years later, in spite of physical and cultural attacks from outside and inside, America remains America. Eight years from now, it will remain America, because I believe mankind's innate craving for freedom will ultimately carry the day. People, in America, have a right to conduct their business and their lives in a manner they choose for themselves, just as the people at the World Trade Center eight years ago had the right to go about their lives without interference from a bunch of people who wanted to insist that others live according to their beliefs. From their desire to force their beliefs on others, they murdered so many people. Those murderers didn't believe in individual freedom. I believe it is our obligation to disassociate with those who don't believe in freedom, whether those people live outside the United States or inside the United States. Otherwise, we legitimize their pursuit to coerce others against their will, and in so doing, we make ourselves part of the problem. |
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Over the weekend, I've received a couple of forwards from people who know me tangentially through the tea party movement. In both instances, the content of the emails were preposterous at face value. I wrote back to the people who included me on them and urged them to not be lazy. If they forward bullshit, they dilute their credibility. Their choice, but that's the consequence. There's enough socialist crap going on in America that no one needs to manufacture crap easily disproved. The fodder is rich and deep - but it does take a little effort above hitting the Forward and Send buttons. Preserving liberty is certainly worth that investigative effort. |
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Watching squirrels from my back deck, I notice that they show up whenever we refill the birdfeeder. They skitter across the yard, climb the tree, and then gingerly descend onto a low branch until they make a small leap to the wire cage of the feeder. If there's food, they eat. If not, they scamper around until they find some food elsewhere. Earlier this year, Tamara and I went to Lowe's and we bought some tomato cages for the backyard, and wire fencing with stakes. We did this in anticipation of growing tomatoes as we did last year. A vendor at the farmer's market, back in May, had some plants started and sold them for $3 each. And so we bought seven plants. We came home, dug the holes, planted our seedlings, fenced them in, and watered them. Through the year, we cultivated them and helped them grow. Today, we eat homegrown tomatoes almost daily. The squirrels eat by luck. Only if they find the food do they eat. Us people, on the other hand, have a more planned and intentional approach to providing food for ourselves. Which is brainier? Which shows the higher intelligence? Commerce doesn't just happen. It's not like you walk by and stumble upon a business. The business started and grew with intention by someone with a dream who planned and pursued it. They cultivated it until it grew, and they expect to enjoy the harvest of their efforts. Liberals, on the other hand - like squirrels - tend to want to eat from what they find. And what they find was grown and gathered from the efforts of capitalists. So I ask you: which is brainier? Because it's laughable to me that Janeane Garofalo and people like her assert that right-wingers are dumber. If that were true, then why is it that the socialist society Leftists want can't happen and thrive without pilfering the proceeds of the businesses started and cultivated by capitalists? Super genius... |
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What is it to be an entrepreneur? Here's the recipe: - Look for things that people don't want to do, or offer a way to do things more efficiently.
- Let people know that you're willing to do it at a price that attracts them to what you offer.
It's not rocket science. Just takes a bit of initiative and persistence.I brought my youngest sons out into the back yard and walked them through the exercise of thinking this through. "Are we going to pick up poop?" Austin asked.
"No. I'm going to teach you a bit about business." He looked at me skeptically. We discussed why people pay money for things and how businesses make money. We talked about services. I then asked... "Are you excited to pick up poop?"
"No. Are you kidding?" Austin said. And then Jacob lit up. "But nobody else is either. They would pay to have someone pick it up." Connection! And off he ran. "So how much would you charge for picking up poop?" I explained that it depends on what seems right to the person doing the service and the person buying the service. If it feels right to both, then it's a deal. I then suggested that $5 for picking up poop would be a decent price. If they work methodically and with focus, it might take them, at most, 10 minutes to clean a yard. My ten-year-old son, Jacob, is good with math in his head. He immediately blurted out, "That's $30 an hour!" (I want to sidebar with you adults reading this: translated, that's potentially $60K a year, working full-time.) My neighbor hired Jacob. And, as predicted, he made $5 in ten minutes. She walked her yard afterward and found no poop. He did it right, and she commented that he's not only cute, but efficient. She would gladly hire him again. After he was done, I explained that if he found a dozen people who wanted that done on a regular basis, he could make $60 to $100 a month. For a kid in elementary school, that's serious money.  Seed sown. |
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