Self Defense Video

Justified Lethal Force Self Defense Training

"Insider look at multi-day live training for agents at Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in New Mexico. "

But catch it soon as there's no guarantee it will be up for long.

Florida: What Were You Thinking?

MIAMI - Sen. John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida Republican primary Tuesday night, edging past former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and seizing precious campaign momentum for next week's string of contests across 21 states.

Oh, please no.

What were they thinking?

I've never sat out an election in my life. If McCain gets the nod, would it even be worth it to go to the polls????

Maybe it's just been called too early?

Primary Blues

While I probably wouldn't have put it as Paul did, I just can't get worked up over these political campaigns either.

On the Left, we have the same message. Diversity, in this case, is merely different faces. Obama just seems the nicest and most sincere.

On the Right, it's clear who the media thinks we should vote for. McCain the Maverick or Huckabee--the two least likely to give the Left any competition on issues and ideas. McCain v. Hillary. What kind of race would that be? I don't see a lot of excitement among conservatives with McCain on the ticket. I heard or read somewhere that "Evangelicals don't like [McCain] because he's not one of them". Isn't that deep? Such insight! Apparently that "journalist" doesn't think the past has any bearing on the present. No mention of the fact that McCain was openly hostile to Christians a couple election cycles ago, or of any of the other betrayals of conservative belief he's committed over the years--McCain-Feingold and Amnesty to name two.

Huckabee can amuse, but can he govern? Probably as well as any liberal, I suppose.

Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney don't enthuse the base much either. And Ron Paul doesn't seem to get much attention. I talked with a Ron Paul supporter the other day who was very upset that Paul is painted as isolationist. Her reaction was the first bit of passion I've seen on the right for quite a while.

It doesn't look good for us.

Bill and Ted Meme

Anyway, on to the meme portion of this post. In the movie, Bill and Ted bring back eight historical figures for their history report. They are, Billy the Kid, Socrates, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Sigmund Freud, Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc, and Ludwig von Beethoven.Which eight other historical figures would you bring back? Then tag five people, because it's the typical number for these things.
-Jokers to the Right

I've been tagged! I've been debating whether to begin blogging regularly again and still haven't quite decided, but I'll play along. And if Alan Levin can debate within himself whether to run for governor for an extended period of time, then I can debate about blogging for a while, I figure. Shame about Levin, though.

Anyway, as difficult as choosing is, here goes...

George Washington (truly an incredible man)
John Adams (I love that irascible guy!)
Charles Martel (Europe needs him!)
Winston Churchill (Europe needs him, too)
Ronald Reagan (the world needs him)
Queen Elizabeth
Moses
Apostle Paul

Fire Safety

Fire In Kitchen - The most popular videos are a click away

Here is the explanation.

h/t: Mt. Pleasant Classical Academy

Inner European

This is scary. Obviously this quiz is flawed, very flawed.

Your Inner European is Russian!

Mysterious and exotic. You've got a great balance of danger and allure.

Who's Your Inner European?

Russian? Russian????

I don't think so.

h/t: Duffy

Wah-hoo!

Well, this is good news....

The federal government should be making immigration policy, and that's what I'm going to do as president again
-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

"again." Again? Again!!!!!

Pulling out my trusty copy of the Constitution of the United States, I find that the 22nd Amendment says in part:

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.

Granted, Hillary was never actually elected. However, since Hillary admits that she has acted as President--groan--for eight years worth of term(s) to which some other person was elected President, the worst that can happen is that Hillary serves only one term as an actual elected President of the United States. That would severely limit the havoc she could create.

Just think, she would be a lame duck after just two years!

Wah-hoo! The worst case scenario just got a whole lot better.

Where Were They?

From Breakpoint:

Since late September, the crackdown on pro-democracy forces in Burma has brought unwelcome attention to one of the most oppressive regimes on Earth. For many people, the defining image of the Burmese struggle for human rights has been Buddhist monks in red robes staging demonstrations. Reports about Burma focus on the plight and plans of the estimated 400,000 Buddhist monks in the country.

Given the coverage, people might be surprised to learn that Burma not only has a substantial Christian population, but that these Christians have long been the junta's preferred target.

Late last month, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called on China to use its influence with the Burmese government to promote democratic reform. Aside from the unintentional irony of China promoting democratic reform anywhere, I could only wonder of the French foreign minister, "Where were you when Burma's Christians needed you?"

For instance, the U.K. Telegraph reported about a Burmese government document describing a plan for eradicating Christianity in that country. The document began with the words "there shall be no home where the Christian religion is practiced."
What followed were "point by point instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state." While the junta denied authorship of this specific document, it "made no public attempt to refute or repudiate its contents."

It could hardly do otherwise—its persecution of Burma's Christian minority is well-documented. Christian churches have been torn down and replaced by Buddhist pagodas; and Christians have been forced to financially support Buddhist projects and festivals.

It gets worse: Christian children have been removed forcibly from their homes never to be seen again. And members of largely Christian ethnic groups—the Chin, Lachin, and Karen— have been tortured by the Burmese army. Christian women are gang-raped by soldiers, killed, and their mutilated bodies placed on display as a warning to others.

Read the rest

I applaud the media's attention to the plight of Buddhist monks. But where were they when Christians were (and are) being ruthlessly persecuted?

A man ahead of his time....

Woman Found; Red Tape Delayed Search

This makes me sick.

A woman fails to return home from work; the husband reports her missing. The cops can't do anything because she's not missing long enough, it's not in their jurisdiction, it is long enough but now hubby is a suspect....Ugh. This unfortunate man went crazy for eight days wondering where his wife was and if she was okay while fending off suspicions from police while the poor wife lay in some ditch too injured and dehydrated to move.

Why do the police need so many hours to pass when it is clear that someone is not following her routine? Time delays such as these could have cost her her life. And the attitude of the police could only have made her husband's nightmare even more surreal and unbearable.

Sometimes "standard procedure" sucks.

DSU Shooting

Poor Delaware State University! After the horrible execution style murders this past summer of three of their promising young students, now this (from delawareonline):

The Delaware State University campus remains closed after two students – one of them reportedly a cheerleader – were shot on campus early today. One suspect is still at large, officials said....

The two students -- one male and one female -- were shot near Memorial Hall about 1 a.m., officials said. Both were taken to hospitals. The male was said to be in stable condition but the female's injuries are considered serious.

So far there don't appear to be any leads as to the identity of the shooter or the motive.

May both these young people make full recoveries.

Carpool Fun

Transporting a carload of kids home today, I noticed that the busload of girls directly in front of us were looking and waving at us--or to be more exact, at my son, Venger Jr., seated beside me in the front of our vehicle. Once the girls had our attention they started holding up their fingers to communicate numbers---seven fingers, then three fingers, etc.

"Oh, look guys, those girls are giving Jr. their phone numbers!"

Laughter all around, and one rather embarassed boy...

On a hunch that one of the girls would know a little sign language since girls are always fascinated by it, I pointed to my son and signed "cute".

Ah, one of the little cherubs did indeed know a little sign. "Yes," she nodded.

Laughter on the bus and one girl pushed the head-nodder.

More teasing in our car.

But all good things must come to an end. We approached the on-ramp to the interstate, and I switched lanes. The mass movement on the bus to the starboard (right) side would surely have capsized a boat, but being in a bus they were safe. Sensing an additional opportunity to pester my son further, I put down my window, slowed down as we passed, and called out, "He's cute, huh?" and the girls all vociferously agreed while the carpool continued to laugh and to tease my poor boy who was actually a very good sport about the whole thing.

Was I ever that young?

A Pennsylvania man, searching for a cure for cancer utilizing radio waves, found that radio waves can cause the hydrogen in salt water to be released and to ignite. If salt water really can be used for our energy needs, we should pursue this immediately. Oh, to be energy self-sufficient and to kiss oil good-bye! What an amazing serendipitous discovery!




H/T: Paul

Ebola in the Congo

Ebola has struck fear in my heart ever since reading The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. (Demon in the Freezer was excellent also.) Now there's been another ebola outbreak in the Congo. Over 100 people have died since August. The disease kills fairly rapidly which does make it harder to jump from person to person, but apparently it has managed to kill quite a few recently which is worrisome. With travel from continent to continent so easy, ebola could be anywhere in the world within a day. "Bleeding out" from absolutely every conceivable orifice of one's body has got to be a most horrible way to go. (If you haven't read the book, you'll have to use your imagination. Shudder.) Hopefully, terrorists won't decide it's a bright idea to weaponize ebola.

h/t: Reformed Chicks Blabbing

9/11 Remembered

Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of 9/11. My heart goes out to those who lost family and friends and to others whose lives were personally changed forever by the 9/11 murders. In my prayers, I lifted up the victims' families who must still carry so much pain in their hearts. May God bring true healing and also justice in their lives.

On the one hand, we cannot become paralyzed as a nation every 9/11. Yet on the other hand, we cannot ever forget that horrible day when America was attacked as innocent men and women were just going about their day. Three thousand died on 9/11 for being Americans.