Protests Peril for Obama by Dick Morris

"The fact is that Obama is less a socialist than a corporatist. His objective is not government ownership, but government management. To control the economy — and all of our lives — he needs to get rid of small banks and small business and consolidate it all in a few big banks and big corporations; hence his friendliness to Goldman-Sachs and General Motors. When wealthy tycoons go to dinners and give Obama $35,000 donations, they know what they are doing. It is not liberal Democratic masochism at work, it is a conscious investment in central planning where big labor, big government, big business and big banks meet and divvy up the pie, just as they do in Germany and France. That is Obama’s game."


Dick Morris in Protest Peril for Obama

Schools Eye Bus Service Cuts | The Journal Gazette

Sunday's Journal-Gazette included a story about schools already strapped for cash and under ever increasing budget pressures now looking for ways to make parents responsible for busing costs.

"Charging for transportation isn’t unique. Thousands of school districts across the country already do it, and dozens more have started charging for bus rides as they deal with shrinking revenues, said John Musso, executive director of the Association of School Business Officials International in Reston, Va. But it’s a new phenomenon in Indiana, where school districts have traditionally provided free bus service to and from school even though the state doesn’t require districts to provide transportation."

I didn't know that Indiana law does not require school districts to provide transportation to school for students. This news story reminds me of what my Dad said years ago. I struggle to remember exactly when this discussion took place but I suppose it was when Fort Wayne was closing Central High School and realigning many school districts and began large-scale busing of students to schools outside their neighborhoods. He was complaining about all the money wasted on busing kids all around the city to different schools. He said it should be the parents' job to get their kids to school.

And then he took it another step. He said that we should have just built larger and more schools downtown and made it clear to parents that they had to get their kids there to school. If you wanted to live five miles away from downtown and the schools, that's fine. Just know that we aren't going to build a new school in your neighborhood so you better figure out a way for you to get your kids to school downtown. On the face of it, the complaint and proposal seem funny, just the ranting of a man complaining about things he didn't like. But if you step back and think about it for a minute, how different Fort Wayne would be today.

Now I am not advocating his idea because it is not feasible for too many reasons to count. And I think it is true that schools can be too large so I don't think a large mega-school complex would be in the best interest of education. But if his idea had been implemented decades ago, think about how much more valuable property downtown near schools would be.

Think about how much less urban sprawl we would have and wonder how much if any the suburbs would be different or smaller or not exist. Think about how different our streets and highways and transportation systems would be. Think about how much downtown might have continued to thrive through the decades and not require all the efforts to rejuvenate it.

I am not sure how we would be different and if the differences would all be for the better, but it is fun to consider and contemplate how a seemingly crazy idea would have changed things.

Schools eye bus service cuts | The Journal Gazette

Don't Raise Taxes or Cut Defense: Opinion from Yahoo! Finance

If we don't have adequate national defense in an ever more dangerous and threatening world, then eventually nothing else will matter.

Don't Raise Taxes or Cut Defense: Opinion from Yahoo! Finance

In Foreign Affairs, Obama Needs Respect, Not Love

Michael Barone makes some valid observations about our foreign policy in this column with a couple highlights quoted here.

"Obama seemed to think that the replacement of an uncouth Texan by a nuanced African-American would convert determined enemies of the United States -- a supposition that is one of those irritable mental gestures that pass for thought in the faculty lounge."

"Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, like his predecessor Robert Gates, does his best to proclaim that American resolve is firm and can be counted on.

They seem to understand what Obama may not yet accept, that as the world's leading economic and military power the United States is unlikely to be loved, regardless of whether our president is a baseball team owner from Texas or a community organizer from Chicago.

The best we can expect among many of the elites and peoples of the globe is to be respected. And as Machiavelli argued long ago, if you have to choose, it is better to be respected than to be loved."

In Foreign Affairs, Obama Needs Respect, Not Love | RealClearPolitics

Saturday We Babysat Buzz Lightyear and Tenderheart Bear

Michael Moore, Hypocrite and Liar << Commentary Magazine

Draw your own conclusion.

"The filmmaker Michael Moore was on Piers Morgan’s CNN show a couple of nights ago and was asked (via Twitter) how he squares the fact that he’s benefited enormously from capitalism while turning into one of its leading critics. In the exchange that followed, Morgan asked (rhetorically, he thought), “You’re in the top one percent, right?” To which Moore replied, “I’m not in the top one percent. No.”

Now just for the record, the latest data shows that the top one percent means you’re a person with an adjusted gross income of roughly $380,000. Michael Moore’s net worth is estimated to be around $50 million. Which means he’s closer to being in the top one-tenth of one percent of earners in America. But no matter. Moore had a lie to tell, and tell it he did, and several more times. Piers Morgan, knowing Moore was misleading him and his audience, said, “I need you to admit the bleeding obvious. I need you to sit here and say, ‘I’m in the one percent.’ Because it’s important.” To which Moore said, “Well, I can’t. Because I’m not.” "

Michael Moore, Hypocrite and Liar « Commentary Magazine

Tully: Colts' Poor Season Has Good Aspects via Indy Star

I enjoyed this alternative viewpoint of the disastrous season so far by the Colts through 0-7 by Indianapolis Star political writer, Matthew Tully. You can follow him on Twitter as @matthewltully.

Tully: Colts' poor season has good aspects via The Indianapolis Star

Racism Claim Won't Silence Obama Critics - Detroit News

As one who has been called a racist for disagreeing with almost every policy of our president, I can say it doesn't bother me any more. Nolan Finley is right that the charge has lost its sting. The race card has been so over-played that it has become a joke. Republicans who support Herman Cain are now being called racist because it is claimed they only support a black man in an effort to show that they aren't racist. This is crazy!

The bottom line is this. Any person who resorts to name calling has run out of ideas or arguments and has nothing else of logical or intellectual value left to use. So I basically consider the source and move on. It is no wonder that our political discourse is so useless when you have to deal with this.

Columnists | Racism claim won't silence Obama critics | The Detroit News

Richmond Tea Party Wants Refund

I am not one bit surprised at this. Who can blame them for being upset and trying to get their money back. But good luck with that.

I'm pretty sure that I would have to pay a pretty good sized rental fee to take over Headwaters Park for weeks on end.

Richmond Tea Party wants refund after seeing Occupy Richmond protesters camp out for free - BaltimoreSun.com

Mastodon Volleyball Breast Cancer Awareness Saturday Night

If you have never attended an IPFW Mastodons Women's Volleyball match then you have at least three good reasons to get out to the newly-renovated Gates Center on the IPFW Campus this Saturday night for the 7:00 pm match against Oral Roberts University.

Prior to matches on Friday Oral Roberts has a Summit League conference record of 12-1 which currently puts them in first place. IPFW has a conference record of 9-3 for third place in the conference. One of those three losses was suffered earlier this season in Tulsa where IPFW took a 2-0 lead in sets only to fall to ORU 3-2.

This is a crucial rematch and it is almost certain that both teams will be at IPFW on November 18 and 19 when IPFW hosts the Summit League championship where one of four teams will win an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. The fact that Oral Roberts announced this week that they are leaving the Summit League in July 2012 to join the Southland Conference might add even more drama to the match.

It is also an opportunity to see two IPFW juniors who this week swept the Summit League Players of the Week awards for IPFW. "IPFW juniors Megan Steenhuysen and Tessa McGill swept the weekly Summit League awards this week, with Steenhuysen being named the Offensive Player of the Week, and McGill the Defensive Player of the Week."

IPFW Volleyball Sweeps Weekly Conference Awards

And Saturday night is IPFW Women's Volleyball annual Pink-Out for Breast Cancer Awareness in partnership with the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. $1 from every ticket sold from Saturday's contest will go directly to the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. One lucky fan at Saturday's match will win a Vera Bradley bag. Wear pink!

Mastodon Volleyball to host Breast Cancer Awareness Night on Saturday

UPDATE: With Friday's 3-1 win over Southern Utah the Mastodons are now 10-3. Oral Roberts however was upset at Oakland 3-0 so ORU is now 12-2 and tied for first place with North Dakota State with the Mastodons still in third place. Go Dons!

The Secret to Living Well on $11,000 a Year from Yahoo! Finance

Here is the story of a 42-year old man who lives in an RV on $11,000 a year. You know, I could probably retire now if I could talk my wife into trading in our house for an RV.

No, wait. I was just kidding!

The Secret to Living Well on $11,000 a Year from Yahoo! Finance

Judge Blocks Florida's New Welfare Drug Testing Law

Okay, I admit it. I am having trouble understanding this ruling. I am subject to random drug testing as an employee. If I am selected for a random drug test, I will submit to it. However I have the right not to submit to the test. Of course, refusing the test would result in the termination of my employment, but that is a right that I have. I just have to be willing to accept the consequences for exercising the right not to submit to the drug test.

So now we have Florida making an effort to insure that welfare funds are used for their intended purpose and not use to support an illegal drug habit. But a judge has ruled that the law should be blocked until she can hold a hearing on whether this provision violates the Fourth Amendment.

My thinking is that you don't have to take the drug test if you don't want to submit to it. Just be prepared to forfeit any potential welfare benefits. Where is it written that exercising a right can always be done without penalty?

I also suggest that Florida has an obligation to the taxpayers forced to pay taxes to support welfare programs that those welfare funds are used properly. In no shape or form does supporting an illegal drug habit meet that test. Any actions that Florida can do to insure that welfare funds are used to support those most in need are in the public interest.

Judge Blocks Florida's New Welfare Drug Testing Law via Fox News

Colts Need a Makeover at Season's End | The News-Sentinel

Reggie Hayes dissects the Colts in Tuesday News-Sentinel and it's not pretty. I know that is not a surprise.

Colts need a makeover at season's end | The News-Sentinel

Colts Can't Be this Bad, Can They? from The News-Sentinel

The network affiliates of the NFL were probably ecstatic when they saw all the opportunities to showcase Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts on nationwide telecasts this season. Imagine how much they would love to flex the remaining games of the Colts out of the Sunday night and Monday night prime-time slots for the rest of this season.

When the schedule came out with tonight's Colts at Saints contest from New Orleans, I think NBC had to be thrilled. Imagine all the hype we would be seeing about Peyton Manning returning to New Orleans to lead his Colts against the Saints in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIV. But it wasn't to be.

Reggie Hayes reports in this article how he set out to determine if the Colts really are as bad as their record shows. The conclusion is obvious. This is an aging team that has relied way too long on just one larger than life quarterback to carry the rest of the team on his shoulders. The only surprise to me is that he was able to do it successfully for so many years.

Eventually reality would have to set in when you consider the less than successful drafts of the last few years, the number of aging stars who are now getting past their prime, and the general lack of talent in a roster that is very thin due to spending so much money on so few stars in a salary cap league.

This roster weakness becomes obvious when you consider two things. One is the sorry state of what I call the Colts less-than-special teams. It isn't just the terrible kick coverage teams but how long has it been, if ever, since the Colts have had a really good kick returner. The second is how seldom you see players released by the Colts picked up by other teams.

I could be wrong and I hope that I am. But I really have to expect that the NBC football ratings for tonight will be going in the tank by half-time, if not sooner.

Colts can't be this bad, can they? by Reggie Hayes in The News-Sentinel

Muslim Junior ROTC Student Wants To Wear Head Cover With Uniform

I think that it is wonderful and patriotic that this young Muslim lady joined the Junior ROTC in Tennessee. But what would give her and her supporters the idea that she would be allowed to wear her religious garb with her uniform? Why should anyone choose to voluntarily join an organization and then expect the organization to revise or eliminate its rules and regulations to suit individual wishes.

I understand the distinction of being allowed to wear religious garb that does not appear outside the uniform. But a uniform by definition is an outward sign that a unit is indeed united because they are all wearing the same uniform. If you don't wish to abide by that and all such regulations, then you can exercise your right not to join the unit or, as in her case, no longer participate in the unit.

Muslim Junior ROTC Student Wants To Wear Head Cover With Uniform via Fox News

Unlikely Target of Conservatives: Opinion by George Will

George Will chimes in with his comments and observations about the Lugar vs. Mourdock Indiana Republican Senate primary race. This is certainly a most intriguing contest that will be interesting to observe right through primary election day.

Richard Lugar, the unlikely target of conservatives, by George Will in The Washington Post

The Ugliness Started With Bork - NY Times Opinion

Imagine my surprise at finding a NY Times Opinion column reminding us that Democrats and liberals started the partisan ugliness in our national politics that has continued to paralyze much of our national political scene until this day.

Robert Bork was an exceptionally well qualified nominee to the Supreme Court from whom the Senate Democrats managed to withhold the constitutionally necessary advise-and-consent during the Reagan administration. He and his reputation were ravaged and vilified repeatedly by Democrats and liberal activists in every available media channel to insure the defeat of his nomination purely on partisan political grounds having nothing to do with his judicial competency.

I find it doubly ironic that the attacks were started by Senator Edward Kennedy. When I would read about what Kennedy said prior to the Senate hearings and especially during the Senate hearings where Kennedy confronted Bork face-to-face and castigated Bork for what Kennedy called his anti-women beliefs I often wished that Bork would have responded in kind but he was too gentlemanly for that.

Image if Bork had responded to Kennedy by saying that he really did not need to sit there and take any sermons about how women should be treated from someone who himself had gotten drunk and driven a car off a bridge and left a young, unmarried woman to die in his car while he disappeared for several hours to avoid taking any sobriety test.

Yes that would have been considered rude and ungentlemanly, but Republicans and conservatives often remain at a disadvantage in such political confrontations still today because they tend to abhor such personal attacks while Democrats and their liberal coalition seem to relish the chance to destroy the name and reputation of those who disagree with them. And our nation is worse for that.

The Ugliness Started With Bork - NY Times Opinion

The Red State in Your Future via Forbes

Merrill Matthews discusses the economic and political trends among states identified as red versus blue. Some blue states are perhaps beginning to see that you can't run budget deficits forever while others, like our neighbor Illinois, appear determined to spend themselves into oblivion. Indeed, much is made of any announcement that yet another employer is pulling out of Illinois to set up shop in Indiana bringing more jobs to Hoosiers. 

"If you do not currently live in a red state, there’s a good chance you will be in the near future. Either you will flee to a red state or a red state will come to you—because voters fed up with blue-state fiscal irresponsibility will elect candidates who promise to pass red-state policies."

The Red State in Your Future via Forbes

Steve Jobs: Unwanted Child? by Mona Charen

Abortion is such a hot-button issue that I don't think it will ever be resolved politically in my lifetime. But I fail to see how anyone can attach a negative connotation to any adoption. About 2% of us are adopted so many women have chosen that option through the years. Mona Charen writes:

"It is one of the enduring misconceptions of modern life that birthparents who make adoption plans for their children "don't want them" and that this "rejection" scars the adoptee for life. Social science data refutes this. But even before considering the statistics about adoption, consider the absurdity of characterizing adoption this way in an age of widespread abortion. There are countless women who say, "I could never give up my baby for adoption" but who, strangely, see no impossibility in aborting their unborn babies.

Consider 23-year-old Joanne Schieble, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin who became pregnant in 1954. She and the baby's father, a Syrian immigrant named Abdulfattah "John" Jandali were not married. (They married and divorced later.) Abortion was illegal in most states at the time, though plenty of exceptions were made, and many women got abortions. But Schieble chose to proceed with the pregnancy and give her son life. Our world would be so much diminished if she had not."

Read her entire column here:

Steve Jobs: Unwanted Child? by Mona Charen via Townhall Conservative

Occupy Fort Wayne Wants a Free Home Indefinitely

So Occupy Fort Wayne (whoever that is exactly) has released a statement.

"We request a public place, in the heart of our city, to have a platform for discussing all of our citizens concerns. We request that we be allowed to maintain a 24 hour a day presence at this site..."

Apparently they want all taxpayers of Fort Wayne to provide them a free place to protest indefinitely. They are guaranteed the right to protest but I don't recall any guarantee that somebody else would be responsible for paying the freight for them to exercise that right.

I'm not sure what the best answer to this dilemma is but I think Fort Wayne City officials should remember that actions have consequences.

While Occupy Fort Wayne wants to be able to hang out downtown 24 hours a day free of charge indefinitely, the City of Fort Wayne and local developers are trying to woo buyers to spend as much as $300,000 to buy a condo downtown in the middle of this.

I guess if I was one of those developers, I would be getting nervous that a sell that could already be a tough one could be getting tougher.

Customer Service Lament by Frank Gray from Journal-Gazette

Frank Gray laments the customer service, or lack thereof, that is all too common in many businesses today. It is amazing how much many businesses spend to attract potential customers to their establishments, but that investment can be flushed down the drain in an instant by poor customer service. And I would guess that those victimized by poor customer service are vocal about such poor treatment to their friends and families so the damage can grow exponentially. And that can be fatal to any business in any economy, especially today's.

Great or terrible, customer service a big hairy deal | The Journal Gazette

Probe Requested In Obama Petition Forgeries

"The actions don't affect the outcome of the election, but Eric Holcomb says they shouldn't go unpunished because they corrupt the political process."

And this would surprise whom? But I guess if it is all for the good of the country, who cares if you corrupt the political process.

Indiana GOP chief asks feds to probe Obama petition forgeries from The News-Sentinel

My Favorite Gas Station

I will never claim that buying gas for either of our cars is a favorite activity. But when I have to fill either of them up, I keep track of prices at one gas station more than any other because I drive by it twice every work day.

On Wednesday evening my wife and I were getting ready to drive to IPFW for the Omnibus Lecture (subject of an upcoming blog post). I had noted driving home after work that the Marathon station at Brooklyn and Taylor was still at $3.319 a gallon. I asked my wife if her car needed gas and she said yes so we took it that evening.

As we neared Time Corners I noted that both stations there had increased their price to $3.559 a gallon. Since we were planning to drive through downtown it really was not out of the way to take Taylor from Jefferson to Brooklyn where I was still able to fill it up for $3.319 a gallon. Every other gas station we saw that evening was up to at least $3.559. The BP at Lake and Anthony was even at $3.659. By Thursday morning on my way to work I noted that the Marathon at Brooklyn and Taylor was up to $3.569.

I have noticed when the gas price virus strikes Fort Wayne that the Marathon at Brooklyn and Taylor is often a little slow to join the price rise. It can be worth a drive down Taylor Street on many occasions when prices are going up.

Report: Oral Roberts Set To Move To Southland Conference

In an earlier report Oral Roberts confirmed that they would meet with the Southland Conference to discuss moving to that conference.

Oral Roberts confirms talks with Southland Conference

According to this report from College Baseball Daily Oral Roberts is set to move from The Summit League to the Southland Conference. Geography would seem to dictate that Oral Roberts days in The Summit League are numbered. But there can be no doubt that if this report is true that the prestige of The Summit League will suffer.

Updated With Conference Response: Oral Roberts set to move to Southland Conference

It will be interesting to see how The Summit League responds if this does indeed happen. I have to assume that they have a number of contingency plans.

10 Best Jobs If You Are Over 50 from Yahoo! Finance

SEO Specialist is only number 6?

Either way from this list it is clear that I had better keep my current job.

Best Jobs If You Are Over 50 from Yahoo! Finance

Sad Guest Column by a Former Teacher

Since I am married to a teacher who retired in June following the last school term, I read this guest column in The News-Sentinel on Friday, October 7, with great interest. I have the sense that what Ann Richert says is true. If indeed it is, then I think that is very sad for the students in our schools now and very troubling for the future of our society and our nation.

It is clear that what we are doing now in our educational systems isn't working. I don't pretend to know the answers but I have a feeling that those leading our school systems, our government officials, and the leaders of the teacher unions are more concerned about issues other than providing the best education possible for our students.

After 35 years as a teacher, I don’t think I could handle today’s demands | Guest Column by Ann Richert in the The News-Sentinel

Obama's Anti-Capitalist Nostrums Demoralizing Our Economy

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

I see no way out of this economic mess with our current leadership. The only game plan they have is more of the same that has failed and is killing any hopes of a recovery. And the ones hurt the most are those least able to fend for themselves, the very ones the liberal leadership claim to be saving.

Obama's Anti-Capitalist Nostrums Demoralizing to the Economy by Larry Kudlow

Six Tips for a (Nearly) Paperless Home Office via Morningstar

Christine Benz of Morningstar offers advice on going paperless at your home office. We have gone a long way in cutting down on the number of originals and copies that we retain in paper files but we can get better at it still.

Going paperless with e-documents with as many companies as possible goes a long way to helping. And having a constant online backup of our hard drive provides some peace of mind also. (We use Carbonite Online Backup for about five years now.)

Six Tips for a (Nearly) Paperless Home Office

Obama’s excuses are wearing thin - Chicago Sun-Times

"Combine a poorly conceived, politically motivated jobs bill with White House excuses, unprecedented spending, an avalanche of new regulations, wasteful commitment of tax dollars to green energy illusions like Solyndra, hostility to domestic fossil fuels and anti-business rhetoric, and it’s no wonder that investors and business executives are sitting on trillions in capital instead of making job-creating investments."

Obama’s excuses are wearing thin from Chicago Sun-Times

Steve Jobs Knew How To Create And Add Value To Society

Kevin D. Williamson applies some perspective on the life of Steve Jobs and how he served society and made the world a better place. He made it a better place by starting a company and making profits by creating products that people, a lot of people, wanted.

"Mr. Jobs’s contribution to the world is Apple and its products, along with Pixar and his other enterprises, his 338 patented inventions — his work — not some Steve Jobs Memorial Foundation for Giving Stuff to Poor People in Exotic Lands and Making Me Feel Good About Myself. Because he already did that: He gave them better computers, better telephones, better music players, etc. In a lot of cases, he gave them better jobs, too."

And he did make the world a better place. When you compare the progress created by people like Steve Jobs, it is fair to ask why we want to penalize and restrain successful people like him in the marketplace and give more power to the those in government who do little but make life worse.

"Once you figure out why your cell phone gets better and cheaper every year but your public schools get more expensive and less effective, you can apply that model to answer a great many questions about public policy. Not all of them, but a great many."

And he closes with an observation on the current protests.

"And to the kids camped out down on Wall Street: Look at the phone in your hand. Look at the rat-infested subway. Visit the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, then visit a housing project in the South Bronx. Which world do you want to live in?"

A Jobs Agenda - By Kevin D. Williamson - The Corner - National Review Online

In Memory of Garnet "Ace" Bailey (1948 – 2001)

I was not planning to watch the pre-game ceremony before the Boston Bruins-Philadelphia Flyers game to open the NHL season tonight, but it was on as I was getting ready for dinner so I was watching all the speeches hoping that they would get over and drop the puck to get the game started.

I changed my mind when they began preparations to raise the Bruins' Stanley Cup 2011 banner and members of the last Bruins team to win the Stanley Cup in 1972 began entering the arena. The Bruins had not won the Stanley Cup prior to 2011 since 1970 and 1972.

As Bobbie Orr, Johnny Bucyk, John McKenzie, Ken Hodge, Derek Sanderson, and others performed the honors, I couldn't help but remember how much fun it was to watch the Bruins in the early 1970s. They were not only very, very good but they were incredibly fun to watch as well.

Another member of the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup winning teams of the Bruins was not there but he was represented and honored by the presence of his son, Todd Bailey. Garnet "Ace" Bailey was not a star hockey player but he was a good role player on those very good hockey teams. I always remembered him and his name because my Dad's nickname among his buddies at work was "Ace" also. Ace Bailey had a very successful career as a hockey player and also as an NHL scout when his playing career ended.

It was his position as Director of Pro Scouting for the Los Angeles Kings that caused Ace Bailey to be a passenger on United Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles on September 11, 2001 that was crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center by al-Qaeda terrorists. (Former Fort Wayne Komets player and Coach Rob Laird has been a scout for the LA Kings for 18 years so he was an associate of Ace Bailey at the time of the 9-11 attacks.)

I still think of the 9-11 attacks often but especially now since the tenth anniversary was just last month. During that remembrance and every other time that I recall the 9-11 attacks I always have and always will think of Garnet "Ace" Bailey because he is the one victim of 9-11 that I knew of prior to the attacks. I thank him for his part in those special Boston Bruin teams and for his wonderful career as a player and scout of a sport that I love.

God rest your soul and bless you and your family, Ace.

Obama's Terrorist Dilemma - Jonah Goldberg in latimes.com

Jonah Goldberg has written a very thoughtful column questioning how the Obama administration "is committed to treating captured terrorists as criminals, entitled to all of the rights and privileges of a civilian criminal trial" and yet sees no contradiction in assassinating a US citizen who is an al-Qaeda terrorist with a Predator missile without legal due process.


To be sure, I agree with Goldberg that we need to do all that we can to find and kill our terrorist enemies, non-citizens and citizens alike, before they kill more of us. But the inherent inconsistency in the position of the Obama administration escaped me altogether until I read this column by Goldberg.


Obama's terrorist dilemma - Jonah Goldberg in latimes.com

A letter to the New York City protestors from The Washington Examiner

A letter from the real world:


"When you decided to sit in traffic and block the Brooklyn Bridge a few days ago, with that blazing pink "SMASH PATRIARCHY-SMASH CAPITALISM" sign in hand, you probably didn't see the regular people you stranded in traffic.


You know, the ones with real-world concerns, business to attend to, families to go home to, et cetera. You may have read about such people during college in a book called "The Petit Bourgeoisie," or something like that. Many of us grew up calling them "the middle class."


For the entire column see...

A letter to the New York City protestors from The Washington Examiner

Raising Cain from The Weekly Standard

Here is an interesting comparison by Fred Barnes between a black candidate for president and a multi-racial presumed candidate for president.

Raising Cain from The Weekly Standard

You Can't Call It An Unintended Consequence If You Knew It Was Going to Happen

Thanks to Jon Swerens (@jonswerens) for sharing the link below. It points out a fact of life that those in charge of our government never seem to learn. The world is not static. Actions have consequences. You cannot say "Well, let's just raise tax rates 10% so our tax revenues will go up 10%." Um, no that's not going to work out because people change their behavior when you change their circumstances.

So nobody should be surprised at this development, especially when it was predicted. It is more of the same. The more the government tries to save us all, they make it worse for all of us. And the ones who are hurt the most are those who are the most economically challenged, those who politicians of this stripe claim to be protecting and defending.

Personally, I am not interested in what is fair. I am interested in what works. And what is happening in Washington, D.C. now clearly is not working.

You Can't Call It An Unintended Consequence If You Knew It Was Going to Happen - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

Here is one more thought about debit cards. My brother used to work for a large, large bank and he always told me never to use a debit card to make purchases. I have always used mine only as an ATM card and for nothing else.

I Don't Need a New Lawnmower Yet

I noted in an ad that Mutton Power Equipment is having a year-end sale on Toro Lawn Mowers. This caught my attention because I have bought a few Toro mowers from Mutton since we moved back to Fort Wayne in 1981 and they have all been good mowers.

My current mower is ten years old so the thought occurred to me that trading it in now might be a cost-effective way to get a new mower that might be quieter, easier to use, and perhaps more fuel-efficient. Our Toro that is ten years old is a mulching mower with electric start and is a personal pace self-propelled model.

I stopped at Mutton after work Friday and talked with a salesman about my current mower and that I would like to know more about their trade-in deals. The Mutton salesman asked if I was having any problems with our mower that is ten years old. When I told him no, it is still running fine, he then told me that he would keep it because it might run fine for another ten years.

He said he knows that won't help him sell a mower now but he knows I will be back when the day comes that I really do need a new mower. He's right!

A serious plan to replace Obamacare | Washington Examiner

This editorial points out that any plan to repeal Obamacare is not sufficient because the status quo is not acceptable either.

A serious plan to replace Obamacare | Opinion from Washington Examiner

I have often wondered if we could ever get any rational system of health care in place without severing health care from the employment relationship. I know that is a radical idea for those of us who are still fortunate to have health insurance through our employer. I recognize that I would probably suffer some financial penalty if employer-based health insurance would become a thing of the past.

But if Obamacare does indeed take effect as scheduled in 2014, I believe most employers will eventually terminate their health insurance plans and dump their employees into the government health insurance exchanges. You don't believe Obama's promise that you can keep your current health care plan, do you?

I really think that a plan of tax credits and tax subsidies in combination with a number of measures that would introduce real competition into the insurance marketplace would provide more benefits to all of us, especially those at lower income levels, than any top-down government-mandated system that adds even more and more government deficit spending that we simply cannot afford.

Is The Harrison Still Wobbling?

Wait a minute! I thought this was finally a done deal. Then why the headlines...


City says faith in Harrison unshaken

Could collect fines if development fails

City says faith in Harrison unshaken | The Journal Gazette

What is going on? What's the deal? Chris Schoen has left Barry Real Estate which is being partially sold. As the story says "if The Harrison is not built" Barry Real Estate would owe the city up to half a million dollars. But what if they are bankrupt and there are no remaining assets?

I hope this is just so much legal ramblings, but I admit to being weary of all the delays and headaches with this project. If ground is not broken conveniently before the November elections, I wonder if it will be time to just fill in the hole and plant grass and trees. But we need this project to get done.

And with the announcement of the project to remake the Anthony Wayne building we can hope that momentum for development in downtown Fort Wayne might become a reality.

Anthony Wayne Building to get $15 million makeover via News-Sentinel