A Red State Update.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
"There Would Be No One Left In Ghana!"
Recently I spoke with a man who came to America from Ghana. He first came to New Jersey, then to Colorado, where he has lived the last five years. He told me, "If Ghana were as close to America as Mexico is, there would be no one left in Ghana!"
I asked him if there were a lot of abandoned children in orphanages. He said, "Not in orphanages. They are in the streets."
It was great to hear him express his love for America. He expects to become a full U.S. citizen in two years. He has been taking classes on U.S. history. We talked about this 2008 election. I told him I would not be supporting Obama, and mentioned Obama's association with America-haters like Bill Ayres and Pastor Wright. I told him how excited I was that McCain had selected Sarah Palin as his running mate.
He said that he finds it weird that our candidates ask for money, explaining that in Ghana, the candidates give you money to vote for them!
I asked him if there were a lot of abandoned children in orphanages. He said, "Not in orphanages. They are in the streets."
It was great to hear him express his love for America. He expects to become a full U.S. citizen in two years. He has been taking classes on U.S. history. We talked about this 2008 election. I told him I would not be supporting Obama, and mentioned Obama's association with America-haters like Bill Ayres and Pastor Wright. I told him how excited I was that McCain had selected Sarah Palin as his running mate.
He said that he finds it weird that our candidates ask for money, explaining that in Ghana, the candidates give you money to vote for them!
Raisin McCain
Gecko links us to Meghan McCain's blog, which is rich with photos of the Palin family, and the Jon Rich band, as they travel with the McCain family on the Straight Talk bus.
Palin versus Biden on the most important issue facing our country: our energy policy. Let's get it on, big boy.
Joan of Argghh! links to a recent CNBC interview with Sarah Palin. Asked about Alaska's oil reserves, Palin says it is time to "unlock" them. Palin noted that a Senator named Biden voted against the pipeline that has been supplying America with 20% of its oil needs.
Palin points out that it is in the Alaskan constitution that the residents of Alaska own their resources.
Palin: "Our nation is in a world of hurt if we continue to be so dependent on the Middle East."
Palin on our our energy policy: "America has no energy policy."
Palin on Obama and Biden's naievete regarding renewable energy: "It is a naieve notion to believe we can jump right into renewable sources of energy."
Palin points out that it is in the Alaskan constitution that the residents of Alaska own their resources.
Palin: "Our nation is in a world of hurt if we continue to be so dependent on the Middle East."
Palin on our our energy policy: "America has no energy policy."
Palin on Obama and Biden's naievete regarding renewable energy: "It is a naieve notion to believe we can jump right into renewable sources of energy."
What Makes Democrat Leaders Happy?
Mrs. Who has posted an astounding video revealing a conversation on an airplane between the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Dan Fowler, and South Carolina Congressman John Spratt, in which the two talk gleefully about the possibility of hurricane Gustav ruining the GOP convention.
Good Judgment Equals Good Consequences
JammieWearingFool brings us good news, indeed. He reports that the Rasmussen poll is out, showing Obama got no bounce whatsoever from his big show in Denver. Moreover, McCain's approval rating from unaffiliated voters has jumped ten percentage points to 63% since he boldly selected Sarah Palin.
Good News
The nation's economy is on the upswing. Even the Denver Post is reporting the good news. However, you have to go to page 25A to read the good news in a story that is three paragraphs in length. The gross domestic product rose 3.3 percent in the last quarter.
Insulting Our Intelligence
There are two stories in the above-the-fold front page of the Denver Post today. One is about Hurricane Gustav. The other is by a New York Times writer named Jackie Calmes. Ms. Calmes writes about John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin. There are 24 paragraphs. 2 paragraphs had positive comments about Palin. 13 paragraphs were negative about McCain and Palin. 7 paragraphs were neutral.
The Post decides to use a story by the most biased newspaper in the United States (biased toward the Democrats), The New York Times, to discuss the V.P. choice of Sarah Palin. Who do they think they are fooling? Both the Times and the Post in recent years have been laying off huge percentages of their workforce. This blatantly biased front page story is a prime example of why that is happening.
The Times may get by with insulting the intelligence of its readers in New York. However, here in flyover country, we are not that easily bamboozled. McCain's pick is brilliant. The Times and the Post will do their best to get Obama elected, but the people of the United States will elect the McCain/Palin ticket, and those two blatantly biased newspapers will continue to lose readership. It is a natural consequence for their continually insulting the intelligence of their readers.
With the Democratic Convention being held here this month, Coloradans have been bombarded with story after story in the Post this year about the Democrats. Now it is time for the Republican Convention in St. Paul, and this is what we get from the Post. It is overkill, and I, for one, am fed up with trying to sift though the daily onslaught of bias.
The Post decides to use a story by the most biased newspaper in the United States (biased toward the Democrats), The New York Times, to discuss the V.P. choice of Sarah Palin. Who do they think they are fooling? Both the Times and the Post in recent years have been laying off huge percentages of their workforce. This blatantly biased front page story is a prime example of why that is happening.
The Times may get by with insulting the intelligence of its readers in New York. However, here in flyover country, we are not that easily bamboozled. McCain's pick is brilliant. The Times and the Post will do their best to get Obama elected, but the people of the United States will elect the McCain/Palin ticket, and those two blatantly biased newspapers will continue to lose readership. It is a natural consequence for their continually insulting the intelligence of their readers.
With the Democratic Convention being held here this month, Coloradans have been bombarded with story after story in the Post this year about the Democrats. Now it is time for the Republican Convention in St. Paul, and this is what we get from the Post. It is overkill, and I, for one, am fed up with trying to sift though the daily onslaught of bias.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Late Summer Farm Activities
Peaches ripening and cascading all the way to the ground.
Gobblers and Cornish Rock Crosses
Gobblers and Cornish Rock Crosses
Last Night's Sunset
There is still a lot of smoke in the air from wildfires in the mountains.
A shark or dolphin with her baby on her back?
A shark or dolphin with her baby on her back?
Some More Interesting Tidbits About the Palins
Palin's husband, Todd Palin, is part Yup'ik Eskimo. He works on oil rigs and is also a commercial fisherman. He is a four-time winner of the Iron Dog, a nearly 2000 mile snowmobile race.
Sarah Palin is a lifetime NRA member, was a point guard on her high school basketball team, and also a hockey player.
Do you know that a Colorado blogger named Adam Brickley was the first person to start getting the word out on the web about Palin being the best choice for V.P.? He researched all of the possible candidates, then became convinced she would be a great choice, so he started a blog at www.palinforvp.blogspot.com in 2007. Friday he got 350,000 hits!
Brickley lives on the high plains east of Colorado Springs with his mom, who raises goats! I have not met him.
Brickley says he has gotten an increasing number of emails from former Hillary supporters looking for an alternative to Obama. I believe there will be a sizeable number of those voters who will now vote for McCain-Palin, or who will just not vote, which is almost the same thing.
Brickley is soon to return to his internship with Townhall.com in Washington D.C.
All of these facts about Brickley are lifted from a Rocky Mountain News article by Ed Sealover, who suggests that if Palin becomes America's first female vice president, she might need a staffer with an eye for talent, and choose Brickley, whom she has never met.
UPDATE!
I went to Brickley's blog, and learned that he did receive a phone call from Todd and Sarah Palin, and he thanks them for their kindness.
Sarah Palin is a lifetime NRA member, was a point guard on her high school basketball team, and also a hockey player.
Do you know that a Colorado blogger named Adam Brickley was the first person to start getting the word out on the web about Palin being the best choice for V.P.? He researched all of the possible candidates, then became convinced she would be a great choice, so he started a blog at www.palinforvp.blogspot.com in 2007. Friday he got 350,000 hits!
Brickley lives on the high plains east of Colorado Springs with his mom, who raises goats! I have not met him.
Brickley says he has gotten an increasing number of emails from former Hillary supporters looking for an alternative to Obama. I believe there will be a sizeable number of those voters who will now vote for McCain-Palin, or who will just not vote, which is almost the same thing.
Brickley is soon to return to his internship with Townhall.com in Washington D.C.
All of these facts about Brickley are lifted from a Rocky Mountain News article by Ed Sealover, who suggests that if Palin becomes America's first female vice president, she might need a staffer with an eye for talent, and choose Brickley, whom she has never met.
UPDATE!
I went to Brickley's blog, and learned that he did receive a phone call from Todd and Sarah Palin, and he thanks them for their kindness.
More Interesting Tidbits about the McCains
John McCain still talks every day with his former cellmates from the Hanoi Hilton. He is obsessed with cell phone usage, but does not surf the internet, and does not use email. He is an early riser, and has so much energy that in Congress he earned the nickname "White Tornado" by working a relentless schedule. He is into fruit trees and birds. He keeps binoculars and bird books at the ready in Sedona. His pet collection includes two dogs, two turtles, a cat, a ferret, three parakeets and 13 saltwater fish.
Cindy McCain is also a bit of a maverick. She visited Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh, and came home with McCain's seventh child, without talking to McCain about it ahead of the decision! (That sound like something my wife would do, except that nowadays it's just goats she brings home, for the most part).
Even in prison, McCain played to the bleachers, shouting obscenities at his captors loudly enough to bolster the spirits of his fellow captives. He was elected by his fellow captives to be the entertainment officer, chaplain, and communications officer. Medal of Honor winner, Bud Day, was a former cellmate. He says McCain's POW experience "took some great iron and turned him into steel."
All of these tidbits were lifted from a lengthy AP story in today's Rocky Mountain News
Cindy McCain is also a bit of a maverick. She visited Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh, and came home with McCain's seventh child, without talking to McCain about it ahead of the decision! (That sound like something my wife would do, except that nowadays it's just goats she brings home, for the most part).
Even in prison, McCain played to the bleachers, shouting obscenities at his captors loudly enough to bolster the spirits of his fellow captives. He was elected by his fellow captives to be the entertainment officer, chaplain, and communications officer. Medal of Honor winner, Bud Day, was a former cellmate. He says McCain's POW experience "took some great iron and turned him into steel."
All of these tidbits were lifted from a lengthy AP story in today's Rocky Mountain News
Friday, August 29, 2008
Hangin Out
Chuck follows Colleen and Sara all over the place. Some girls have dolls they dress in their bedrooms. Sara prefers to dress Chuck. (For the caseworker who reads my blog, don't worry, the goat was in the house only long enough for me to take this picture).
My New Hangout
This pond with lily pads is close to where I now work. Let this be a warning: you will no doubt be seeing this pond from many angles in the days to come.
Yesterday was the worst day of air pollution I have seen in Denver in many years. At first I thought I could blame Hertz, Avis, and Enterprise for renting cars to 15,000 journalists and all the Democrats. Later, though, I learned that the haze was from wildfires in the mountains. Just as the sun set, the mountains reappeared.
McCain's Pick: Sheer Brilliance
This morning I am hearing that Sarah Palin is in Dayton, Ohio, where McCain is going to reveal his choice for V.P. Romney is not there, and neither is Pawlenty. If she is the pick, I think it is absolutely brilliant.
She recently gave birth to a Downs Syndrome baby. She looked at her baby and said, "I am looking at the baby right now, and I see perfection!" She and her husband knew full well that the baby would be Downs Syndrome. She is a champion snowmobiler, and is a hunter and ice fisherwoman. She has fought to clean up the Alaska corruption. She is ardently prolife. She is ardently anti-illegal immigration. She is attractive. She has a son heading to Iraq. She has a 90% approval rating in that wonderful western state. She has always been against wasteful spending and corruption. Gutsy, she ran for governor with no support from the Republican party, and defeated the incumbent Republican governor in the primary. She is very knowledgable about energy, including drilling in ANWR.
The press will surely be asking her to name all the presidents of the "stans," and she will have to bone up on foreign policy.
I really like this pick. There are many women still angry about Hillary being completely snubbed by Obama when he considered V.P. picks. We'll see if those women can recognize that McCain has chosen a superb member of the female gender, or will they cling to the failed socialist policies of the Democratic party?
This a pick that is beyond brilliant. I am very excited. Bless that maverick's heart!
She will chew up and spit out Joe Biden. You ought to hear her talk about how idiotic it is to "lock up" safe and secure energy.
Palin is plainspoken. Homespun basics. Grow our economy, not hamstring our economy. Brains and guts. Tough, feminine, smart: what is not to like? Grit, no nonsense, pro military: what's not to like? Did you know she sold the "governor's jet" on EBAY for $2.7 million dollars?
This will energize the entire Republican base. It will take the air out of the Obama balloon.
Mr. McCain, you have just made the most brilliant V.P. decision of any candidate who has run for president in my lifetime.
She recently gave birth to a Downs Syndrome baby. She looked at her baby and said, "I am looking at the baby right now, and I see perfection!" She and her husband knew full well that the baby would be Downs Syndrome. She is a champion snowmobiler, and is a hunter and ice fisherwoman. She has fought to clean up the Alaska corruption. She is ardently prolife. She is ardently anti-illegal immigration. She is attractive. She has a son heading to Iraq. She has a 90% approval rating in that wonderful western state. She has always been against wasteful spending and corruption. Gutsy, she ran for governor with no support from the Republican party, and defeated the incumbent Republican governor in the primary. She is very knowledgable about energy, including drilling in ANWR.
The press will surely be asking her to name all the presidents of the "stans," and she will have to bone up on foreign policy.
I really like this pick. There are many women still angry about Hillary being completely snubbed by Obama when he considered V.P. picks. We'll see if those women can recognize that McCain has chosen a superb member of the female gender, or will they cling to the failed socialist policies of the Democratic party?
This a pick that is beyond brilliant. I am very excited. Bless that maverick's heart!
She will chew up and spit out Joe Biden. You ought to hear her talk about how idiotic it is to "lock up" safe and secure energy.
Palin is plainspoken. Homespun basics. Grow our economy, not hamstring our economy. Brains and guts. Tough, feminine, smart: what is not to like? Grit, no nonsense, pro military: what's not to like? Did you know she sold the "governor's jet" on EBAY for $2.7 million dollars?
This will energize the entire Republican base. It will take the air out of the Obama balloon.
Mr. McCain, you have just made the most brilliant V.P. decision of any candidate who has run for president in my lifetime.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
"A City Transformed"
NBC anchor Brian Williams described Denver as a "city transformed," where "giant SUVs roam the streets with men in black with automatic weapons on the running boards." Brian, pepperball guns are not automatic weapons. They are essentially paintball guns filled with pellets that contain a powder that is like a "combination of cayenne pepper and baby powder," according to the manufacturer. They are not available in an automatic version. The city purchased 88 pepperball guns for the DNC, hardly enough to transform the city.
Anarchists Have it Tough This Week
From the Rocky Mountain News:
A self-proclaimed anarchist was trolling the perimeter of the Pepsi Center Tuesday. He saw a heavy police presence, and whipped out his video recorder. A policeman yelled, "No pictures." The anarchist asked, "Why not?" The policeman replied, "Because the Secret Service says so." The anarchist scoffed, "You're not my mom." The officer retorted, "Then go home to your mommy."
A self-proclaimed anarchist was trolling the perimeter of the Pepsi Center Tuesday. He saw a heavy police presence, and whipped out his video recorder. A policeman yelled, "No pictures." The anarchist asked, "Why not?" The policeman replied, "Because the Secret Service says so." The anarchist scoffed, "You're not my mom." The officer retorted, "Then go home to your mommy."
Boo Hoo, Cry, Cry Cry
Dennis Kucinich cried about pharmaceutical companies taking over drug-pricing. I guess he hasn't heard about Wal-Mart's $4 dollar prescriptions, which have been matched by all of the other major chains, like Kroger, Safeway and Costco here in Colorado. Those evil corporations need to be taken over by compassionate government bureaucrats, I guess.
Ommissions
Did you catch the ommission in Hillary's speech Tuesday night? She was "here as a proud mother, a proud Democrat, a proud Senator from New York, a proud American, and a proud supporter of Barack Obama." Not a proud wife of an ex-President of the United States?
One more thing about that speech. "No Way, No How, No McCain" doesn't sound right. I think it sounds better this way: "No Way, No How, Nobama!" Get that one ready for 2012, Hillary.
One more thing about that speech. "No Way, No How, No McCain" doesn't sound right. I think it sounds better this way: "No Way, No How, Nobama!" Get that one ready for 2012, Hillary.
Last Night's Magnificent Sunset
All the media was in Denver last night. This is what they could have shown you with their high tech cameras. Which would the American people have enjoyed more, watching the sunset over the Rockies, or listening to Bill Clinton?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Dems Last Bash?
Will this party be the last bash for the Democrat Party? Denver attorney Dan Caplis thinks so. He points out that the Dems have allowed people like George Soros and Daily Kos to set their agenda, and that agenda on core issues is way to the left of the American people...
National Security (too weak)
The economy (won't drill and will tax)
Gay Marriage (will force it on states)
Abortion (condemned ban on partial-birth abortion, Obama opposed law protecting babies born alive after failed abortions)
National Security (too weak)
The economy (won't drill and will tax)
Gay Marriage (will force it on states)
Abortion (condemned ban on partial-birth abortion, Obama opposed law protecting babies born alive after failed abortions)
Tribute
I know Michelle Obama is not popular with my fellow conservatives. However, as I have written before, I find her story very inspirational. She and her brother came from very humble beginnings. They had solid parents. Her father had MS, but still made it to work every day. The parents convinced Michelle and her brother that education was the way to success. After graduating from Princeton and Harvard Law School, she returned to Chicago, where she met her future husband.
To see what she has accomplished is a great tribute to her and to our country.
To see what she has accomplished is a great tribute to her and to our country.
Two Items From the News This Week
Harrold, Texas became the nation's first school district to allow teachers to carry concealed guns. This rural community near the Oklahoma border has got common sense.
Most cows align their bodies north to south when resting - no matter what continent they are in. Two-thirds of cows do this, but one-third do not. Are they aligning themselves with the magnetic field of the earth? Why aren't the other third doing it?
Most cows align their bodies north to south when resting - no matter what continent they are in. Two-thirds of cows do this, but one-third do not. Are they aligning themselves with the magnetic field of the earth? Why aren't the other third doing it?
Do the Olympics Promote Freedom in the Host Country?
Dave Krieger, superb columnist on the sports pages of the Rocky Mountain News, says that the Olympics were a great success, if your measure of success is limited to televison ratings. What about the "massive forced evictions,the surge in the arrest, detention, and harrassment of critics, violations of media freedom, and increased political repression?"
One farmer heard about Olympic protest provisions, and thought this might be his opportunity to speak out against communist repression. He was wrong. He was beaten and jailed.
Krieger wonders if "a grand commercial enterprise governed by the rules of expedience" is what the Olympics have become. Those who say that hosting the Olympics will promote freedom in the host country appear to be overly optimistic, to put it mildly.
One farmer heard about Olympic protest provisions, and thought this might be his opportunity to speak out against communist repression. He was wrong. He was beaten and jailed.
Krieger wonders if "a grand commercial enterprise governed by the rules of expedience" is what the Olympics have become. Those who say that hosting the Olympics will promote freedom in the host country appear to be overly optimistic, to put it mildly.