Grrrrr

This is Harry Reid on rights:

“What Republicans refuse to understand – or at least what they hope the people don’t realize – is that in America, we give our citizens rights. We don’t take them away. That principle comes first. It inspired this country’s founding, it has directed our evolution and it defines our promise."

Who gives citizens rights? Certainly not the government - we had those rights before it came along. God gives us our rights. Not Harry Reid and the rest of his ilk.

In other news, an illegal immigrant was told to "go to Mexico" for your surgery, as UTMB Galveston was not going to pay it. Too bad more hospitals do not do this. The story is here: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7416070.html. When people who are not Mexican citizens have emergency treatment in MX, they are told to pony up first, before they get the treatment. Not here.

I'm thinking quite a bit lately of "bread and circuses". What with what is going on in Egypt, Greece, etc. Because the gubmint doesn't give them enough. I'd imagine with hyperinflation here, people would be upset, but no civil unrest... until the TV shows Dancing with the Stars, and American Idol are interrupted, and other garbage on television. THEN people will riot, as they do not get their circuses.

I wonder about many people...why is this entertainment, and the lives of 'celebrities' so darn important to them? Its like they don't actually live in reality.

Back again...

The company we get our wireless from, came out and messed around with it yesterday... guess what! My net works! I can upload photos to flickr again, use Facebook, and actually send out email. Thank goodness for Yahoo messenger on my phone - it kept me connected at least. I started going through email yesterday, and found these few things:

The PCNAA bill (Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act) monster has come back to life. This horrendous thing was brought up last year, co-sponsored by Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tom Carper (D-DE).

From IT Professional Services, we find this:

“The bill would grant President Obama unusually broad power to declare a “national cyber-emergency” at his discretion and force private companies that "rely on" the Internet, the telephone system, or any other component of the US "information infrastructure" including Internet service providers, search engines, and software firms to take action in response. That could include limiting or even cutting off their connections to the World Wide Web for up to 30 days. Anyone failing to comply would be fined.”

In addition to this monstrosity, the government wants ‘private business’ to start making “Trusted Identities” for the internet.
The NSTIC ("N-Stick") proposal (National Strategies for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace), which was release in draft form last June, proposes the creation of an online identity "ecosystem," which the report defines as "an online environment where individuals, organizations, services, and devices can trust each other because authoritative sources establish and authenticate their digital identities."

Uh, guess what. The internet is not *that* important. What did people do for years previously? Its not a necessity. Its a want, not a *need*. Many things we have today are wants. Sure, it’s nice to have, but as soon as the goons start tracking everyone online, it’s only another step into the police state that this country is becoming. Don’t think so? Seen what is going on with the TSA? Nothing like breaking the 4th Amendment rights that we have, NOT the 4th Amendment rights that the government allows us to have. Our rights came before government.

From The Law, by Frederick Bastiat:

The law has been used to destroy its own objective: It has been applied to annihilating the justice that it was supposed to maintain; to limiting and destroying rights which its real purpose was to respect. The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish, without risk, to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others. It has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder. And it has converted lawful defense into a crime, in order to punish lawful defense…(t) law has been perverted by the influence of two entirely different causes: stupid greed and false philanthropy. ..(t)he nature of law is to maintain justice. This is so much the case that, in the minds of the people, law and justice are one and the same thing. There is in all of us a strong disposition to believe that anything lawful is also legitimate. This belief is so widespread that many persons have erroneously held that things are “just” because law makes them so.

Imagine that this fatal principle has been introduced (legal plunder).: Under the pretense of organization, regulation, protection, or encouragement, the law takes property from one person and gives it to another; the law takes the wealth of all and gives it to a few – whether farmers, manufacturers, shipowners, artists, or comedians.

HOW TO IDENTIFY LEGAL PLUNDER

But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Then abolish this law without delay, for it is not only an evil itself, but also it is a fertile source for further evils because it invites reprisals. If such a law – which may be an isolated case – is not abolished immediately, it will spread, multiply, and develop into a system.

LEGAL PLUNDER HAS MANY NAMES

Now, legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways. Thus we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, public schools, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on, and so on. All these plans as a whole – with their common aim of legal plunder – constitute socialism.

Okay. So much for the US of A not being a socialist country. Perhaps not socialist with a capital S, however we are well on our way.

You know how Amazon.com has their e-reader, Kindle? I found that it is free for the PC. You can download it, and all you have to do is register. How cool is that! You can read the rest of The Law, I think the price was 99 cents. Right now I'm currently reading FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression. Also New Deal or Raw Deal?. Both are very interesting. I also ponied up 19.99 for Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics, 4th ed. for my Kindle.

I learned that the gas lines that were so prevalent in the 70s, and basically KILLED OFF my beloved muscle cars, was the fault of governmetn meddling in prices. There was no less gas during that time than there had been previously, or after that. Sowell's book is easier to understand for economics than F.A. Hayek's The Road to Serfdom. Daniel Hannan (British MEP) has come out with a book The New Road to Serfdom. Don't know how that one is, but he has a youtube channel, and makes lots of common sense that is so lacking in today's overnments all over the world.

I also went over to Baen Books website, and got Monster Hunter International, and Monster Hunter Vendetta for my kindle. I'd read them in paperback, but I loaned those out, and still wanted to re-read them. They're books that are very hard to put down! Also to go outside in the dark afer reading them :) I was out by my car, and a cat came running up out of the dark. I almost screamed and ran to the house. They're darn good books. Larry Correia is the author, and Monster Hunter Alpha is due out this year...I'm really looking forward to it.

So ...

What would you do, if you were a child, and was stealing candy, and the store owner confronted you, locked you in the store, and (reportedly) pointed a gun at you? Would you be thinking "OH CRAP I'd better STOP what I'm doing and NOT do it again!", or would you be thinking "I'll keep up with stealing, and move onto larger things later on in life"?

In League City, a convenience store owner, fed up with children stealing stuff, putting it in their backpacks and walking out, has drawn a line in the sand.

Would it make a difference if it was adults stealing beer? Teens stealing cigarettes? Children stealing candy? And WHY would it make a difference?

Stealing is stealing, and it's just flat-out WRONG.

I'd imagine if the gun part is true, these kids got a good dose of scared-straight (if they were scared) and it didn't cost them a thing :P

New Year's Day at the beach

We stayed overnight at Karankawa Village down by the beach. Went out for a walk in the COLD weather - this was the first time I've seen the beach deserted.

Grrr I cannot upload any of the photos, but I did stop at McD's with my netbook and the flash drive and uploaded them while sitting and drinking a latte.

HERE are the photos.

It was about 50 that day at the beach.

Nutcase in the area

*edited to add - there will be a press conference live on KKHA at 2 pm central time today, January 6th 2011. *

There is some psychotic who is threatening one of the school districts in the county. The Superintendent of Schools received this letter during the Christmas break:

Mr. Brown

Kidds should have a quite classroom to learn in. That is all my child wanted when my kidd told some kidds to shut up in class one day. My Kidd was latter hurt by the talkers.
Now if my rules are not followed to the letter I will cut you youngest girl f****** head off and mail it to her mother and that is all you will have to put in the ground.
You F****** bleeding heart Liberals have let the piece of S*** kidds run your schools.
Now here are my rules. Break one and see what happens. Let me be clear if anyone breaks the rules I will punish there kidds this goes for School Board members and kids.
Rules:

1. All rules are to be followed. No rules are to be changed to avoid punishment by me.
2. No talking unless told to. No exceptions.
3. Staff are to enforce all rules or there kidds will pay. Staff is anyone in any way works for BCISD.
4. There will be no limit to staff in any way to give detention after school you call it A.S.D.
5. A.S.D. will be in one place for each school and run by you 2 days a week "high school" other 3 days for AP's. No teachers run A.S.D. you need to know who your s*** heads are. No teacher has A.S.D. in there room I will punish them or kidd. ADS will be one our long for each school
6. Student who get A.S.D. Has that day and next to serve A.S.D. No exceptions.
7. Student gets 3 days detention in one week gets 3 days ISS and must serve A.S.D. on those days. No exceptions.
8. Studet in ISS must have parent sign in and out studet from school each day of ISS or pay $20.00 for each day of ISS. No exceptions.
9. BCISD has until January 4, 2011 to have a meeting with all staff and give each staff a copy of this letter. Letter to each student on new A.S.D. and the rule to it. Parents must sign letter. Students who do not return letter 48 hr. after they get it gets A.S.D. until signed.

P.S. If rule 9 is not followed I will kill a random student because you 2 girls will be well garded by then. I will continue to kill random students until you do. Your lack of student control has hurt my child and I am termanal and will only be with them for 18 months. School will not be a nightmare for them. This is for the best. I know people will hide the joy of what I have done not to seem as hartless as some will think I am.

This was the letter sent to him - the FBI & DPS/Texas Rangers are involved in finding this lunatic who sent this.

Tuesday school attendance was about 50% of usual. When I went to pick up children for AWANA Wednesday night, there were very few that came. I was told several would not be attending because of what happened with school. Every parent in the school district got sent home the letter with more from the superintendent about what they were going to do.

Tuesday afternoon they held a press conference, and you can hear the press conference, and the interview with the superintendent at KKHA. The interview is quite interesting. Haven't listened to the press conference yet.

An update to what was current as of yesterday - An additional threat has been texted to students at the high school, basically '1 rule broken, 2 girls die at the jr. high and two from high school'.

This is VERY upsetting.

What kind of psychotic would do this? I don't get the mind-set that would think that these sort of actions are okay. I'm glad we don't live in that district, but if security at all county schools have been ramped up just in case. If we did, guess what, back to homeschooling! Would suck for kidlet, as she graduates this year, and is #2 in her graduating class. She just can't seem to get past the quarterback.

Would you send your child to school while this was going on? They say that Texas law requires no more than 3 unexcused absences per year... otherwise you get to go explain in court why your child was not at school - but the parents have to decide if to have to deal with that, or the terror of having their child go to school. I'd say the heck with the court, kidlet wouldn't be going if we lived in that district. Or else, I'm gonna go sit in each class with her and keep as close as white on rice to her.

Recipe post...politics in post below...

These are not your average potato pancake, the addition of onion, garlic powder and fresh parsley makes these different and so good! Make certain to squeeze out any extra moisture in the grated potatoes with your hands. The pancakes can be fryed hours in advance or even a day in advance and just reheated in the oven to crisp up. They freeze very well also, just layer between waxed paper. Yield is only estimated, depending on size of pancakes. This is one of the best recipes for crispy potato pancakes or latkes! For an extra crispy pancake, the grated potatoes must stay refrigerated totally covered in water overnight. Making potato pancakes requires a fair amount of oil, so make certain that you have enough oil to make this recipe.

makes 35-40 pancakes.

10 large potatoes, extra-large, peeled and coarsley grated (use Russets only for a crispier pancake)
1 medium onion, grated
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup oil

salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional or to taste)

cooking oil (for frying)

1. In a large bowl, place the grated potatoes and cover with COLD water.
2. Place in the fridge overnight.
3. The following day when ready to make the pancakes, in a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together eggs, oil, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder (if using) and chopped parsley; mix well to combine.
4. Drain the grated potatoes and then squeeze out as much moisture as you can with your hands.
5. Place the grated potatoes in a large bowl.
6. Grate the onion into the potatoes, and mix to combine.
7. Pour in the egg mixture into the potatoes; mix with a wooden spoon to combine well (I use clean hands for mixing).
8. Add in flour and more salt and pepper if needed; mix well to combine.
9. Heat a large frypan with enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan (you will most likely have to add in more oil when frying).
10. Drop by tablespoons into hot oil in the frypan, and fry until dark golden brown on both sides (there will be most likely liquid that gathers in the bowl as you are frying the pancakes, not to worry it's the juice from the potatoes, just keep mixing with a wooden spoon as you are frying).
11. Remove to a paper towel to drain.

I found this in the Frugal Gourmet's christmas cookbook..and tried it.. being I had been trying to find a recipe that TASTED like grandma's latkes. I finally found a recipe while scouring the local library. Serve with sour cream and/or applesauce. You can freeze what's leftover.

The big dilemma - applesauce or sour cream?

Not surprisingly...

my internet still stinks. Blah!

On the political side, there are a few things of note:

Ezra Klein, who thinks highly of himself, and very lightly esteems the Constitution, bleats this screed:

that it (Constitution) was 'confusing' because it was written more than 100 years ago [He must be a product of the public education system!-D] and what people believe it says, differs from person to person, and ALSO depends on what they want it to say.

Also! (aghast look) that 'the Constitution has no bearing on anything'. WHAT? this guy, who supposedly went to college (guess where - CAL) and has a political science degree, must've slept through all his classes, or was the favorite provider of stuff for the bongs. And I'm not too sure that he didn't drink the bongwater, being *so* bright. So who gives this guy a job as a political blogger on a newspaper site? The Washington Post. Hmm.. I have a 2x4 that needs a job...perhaps put an application for it into the WP. Good chances of getting a job considering this guy they have.

I heard that the new Republicans are going to have the Constitution read on the floor, and entered into the record. It is quite possible that for many congressmen, senators, and other policy dweebs up there, the first time they've actually heard/read/know what's in it. Although they swear to 'uphold the Constitution', dollars to doughnuts, most don't know what's in it. Perhaps with this new crop, some sense will come in.

I was listening to the radio Thursday night, coming home from Houston, and heard about the amounts of disposable income relating to several income levels. Here is the chart:



I'd say this pretty much speaks for itself, and yet we hear, that we aren't doing enough for 'the poor'. How much is enough? How large does the welfare state have to be, when liberals can say "Okay, this is a large enough size"? I have a book hereabouts (not exactly sure which bookstack it is in at the moment), called "Never Enough: America's Limitless Welfare State". It's available at Amazon. If you have a kindle, I'd still suggest getting the hard copy, as it has quite a few charts in it, and unless you have a good magnifier, your eyes are going to scrunch up really bad trying to read the text on the bottom of those charts! (I'm having to use a magnifier on the charts on John Lott's book "More Guns, Less Crime" on my kindle.

You know, I always kind of wondered, why 'the poor' have internet, computers, cell phones, regular phones, large flat-screen TVs, all the goodies.

I hope ya'll had a great Christmas and New Year's Eve. For New Years Eve we stayed at Karankawa Village B&C (bed & cookies), in the Roseate's Roost. Man, that mattress was like laying on a cloud, that you could sink into! Walked on the beach the next morning, picked up lots of scallop shells, had to run from the water a couple times, and saw a blue-ish jellyfish laying in the sand. It was still inflated, and had some water swirling around in it. It looked almost plastic-y. Being it was in the 50s, the beach was deserted. No one even out on the pier fishing.