The Sky's The Limit

It’s official! The 2010 election season is here.

How do I know? Well, it’s not because of the campaigning going on. It’s not because of the smattering of political yard signs beginning to appear. Nope, I know it’s election season because the mud (or the threat of mud) slinging has begun in earnest.

There was a news article on Drudge today that described something that I though might be coming. In case you’re in suspense and wondering, the title is: “Globalist Soros Launches Frontal Assault Against Tea Party“.

I had seen rumblings of this earlier in August…with snippets here and there that videos, news stories, pictures, etc. were wanted so that they could be posted online to reveal bad and racist behavior. The funding wasn’t mentioned — it was rumored that either Huffington or MediaMatters would be the sponsor.

But in the loony left-o-verse of thought and politics, all dough in one way or another leads back to Soros. And it is fitting that Soros is funding this smear effort: He is purported to HATE the Tea Party and it gets under his skin like nothing else.

I predict that this smear site, Teapartytracker.org, is going to do more harm to the left than good. The crazed left is convinced that there are bigots and racists and hate-mongers under every rock. Particularly rocks on the property of Tea Party members. But just like the political nonsense that oozes from the left…the “stuff” found on the .org site will be primarily manufactured by the left, for consumption by the left.

Those on the left who despise the Tea Party (pretty much everyone with a pulse) have tried for months to tar and feather rally attendees or folks at town meetings. The crown jewel of proof of Tea Party racism was the alleged hurling of racial pejoratives at members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the day of the passage of Obamacare by members of the Tea Party who assembled to protest this action. Contrary to the claims by the individuals who were alleged to have been the “victims” of this verbal assualt, no evidence of any kind has emerged — even in the face of a $50,000 reward by Andrew Breitbart.

So now every Tea party event from now until Nov.2 will be documented every which way to Sunday. And like I said, if the deportment of the Tea Party members is stellar, I’m convinced that questionable “bad” behavior will appear on the .org reporting site and exploited for all it’s worth.

The sad part of this is that rather than being skeptical, the MSM will run with the garbage hurled by the anti-Tea Party .org site. They won’t give the Tea Party folks the assumption of innocence until proven guilty. No, no, no. I predict they will pig pile on the alleged “bad” behavior. And they will ignore any evidence that would prove otherwise.

See, as much as Soros hates the Tea Party, the combined MSM hates them worse.  The thought of freeborn citizens exercising their constitutional rights in a public forum drives all these leftist/socialist/statists CRAZY! So they will need the mud and the garbage assembled by the .org site to create controversial headlines and leading news stories.

At least we all know what’s coming. But let’s not fool ourselves, regardless of how exemplary we act from here on in, don’t be surprised if any of us see ourselves portrayed as racists or some other label with negative connotation attached to it.

My advice — smile and say “Have a nice day.” What we will experience on Nov. 3rd will more than compensate us for having Smearbots hurl the mud, garbage and dreck at us.

The latest installment of the Obama Follies concerns the new Oval office rug. In an attempt to put his mark on the office, our president had an extreme office makeover while he vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard.

As part of Obama’s makeover, he had a new carpet designed that included quotes from five famous Americans: John F. Kennedy,  Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This replaces the striking sunburst motif design that George W. Bush commissioned during his tenure.

Unfortunately for Obama, the quote attributed to Dr. King is incorrectly attributed to the civil rights leader:

The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But it Bends Towards Justice

Dr. King used this phrase on several occasions, but these words were spoken by Theodore Parker, a Revolutionary-era abolitionist and Unitarian minister.

So, now our Oracle of Washington is presented with a dilemma. If he want’s a do-over, White Out won’t do. And there is no amount of repair and replace work that can fix this error. Unlike his treatment of the present unemployment situation, the results can’t be swept under the rug (gratuitous pun intended.)

So, look for another vacation for the Obama’s in the near future to make sure that the Oval Office remains unoccupied long enough to put the new, correct carpet in place.

And while they’re at it, they may want to correctly attribute the quote by Abraham Lincoln:

Government Of The People, By The People And For The People

as being originated by the good Mr. Parker as well. Oh well, it goes along with Mr. Obama and his slipshod administration.  They’re not getting much right these days, so why expect a little historical accuracy on this important carpet?

I have a suggestion for a quote to add to the corrected carpet, by the inimitable Benjamin Franklin, should it ever be replaced:

Take Time For All Things: Great Haste Makes Great Waste.

In an interview with Brian Williams of “NBC Nightly News”, President Obama said that he ignored Glenn Becks’ 8/28 “Restoring Honor” rally:

It’s not surprising that somebody like a Mr. Beck is able to stir up a certain portion of the country. That’s been true throughout our history…what I’m focused on is making sure that the decisions we’re making now are going to be be not good for the nightly news, not good even necessarily  for the next election, but are good for the next generation.

What does this man take us for? Do we look like fools? Beck was able to assemble by all estimates a crowd of 300,000-650,000 people on the mall in Washington. If that isn’t strength in numbers then I don’t know what is! For a sitting president to declare that he “ignored” the assembly of this many people strains credulity and credibility. Are we to assume that he’s either a liar or a plain old-fashioned imbecile? Or maybe a political high wire walker?

Now, perhaps instead of following Beck’s exploits, Obama spent his time in rapt attention of the “crowd” that “Reverend” Al Sharpton assembled, purportedly 3,000 strong, to celebrate the 47th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Three thousand marchers, now there’s a demonstration of political will! Maybe Obama ignored Beck’s rally for the same reason that Sharpton held his — rally envy!

Sharpton claims that Beck’s rally was a affront to the memory of Dr. King and that Beck was attempting to hijack the civil rights “movement.” Al: Wah, wah, wah. Even if Beck were successful in doing so, it would be a change for the better given the “leadership” of this movement by the likes of you and Jesse Jackson.

But I guess all that is water over the dam…with the exception of a stern and grim-faced Sharpton appearing on every broadcast media outlet for a while expressing his effrontery and decrying the alleged usurpers. Please Al, enough is enough already.

But let’s forget Al…his 15 minutes of fame ran out over two hundred thousand hours ago! Please, just go away.

I suggest, in all seriousness, that Mr. Obama in retrospect take a closer look at the Beck rally and its participants and try to see that he is not as righteous and as forward thinking as he portrays himself to be. He may see himself as the savior of “the next generation,” but does that mean he’s willing to discard the cares, hopes and dreams of this generation? Perhaps he is, as political agendas are intoxicating and powerful stuff. But maybe, just maybe the crowd that swelled on the mall on Saturday is just the small tip of a growing iceberg of citizen and voter dissatisfaction that he should take heed of.

But the over-confident president should choose his words better, and he should ignore such a vast display of unity at his own political peril. Because surely those folks at Beck’s rally, and other countless millions of like-minded souls, will “ignore” the Democrats in November. And given your dismissive attitude towards them, I predict that they will similarly “ignore” you in 2012.

The next time that you have the chance to rub elbows with any of the candidates for US representative, please ask them how they stand on Article  I, Section 8 of the Constitution. If they look at you with a puzzled expression, gently remind them that this section deals with the “Powers of Congress.”

In a perfect world, you should receive an answer that includes and acknowledges the following:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

If they hem and haw over the question, have them elucidate on the passage that gives them the power to force US citizens to procure health care or to enforce Cap-and-Trade legislation. Don’t take no for an answer…pin them down to an unqualified reply: Make them go on the record.

This may be the most important question that you will ever ask…and the answer will be the most important in the career of the incumbent or challenger.

Because the answer that they give should have more influence over your vote than their party affiliation or them being a “good guy or gal.” PLEASE, for the sake of yourself and your children, PLEASE vote for the Constitution rather than the candidate. If we are to emerge from the mess that we’re in, we need strict Constitutionalists representing and serving us in the Congress. We don’t need more Constitutional abuse and contempt for us…in other words, more of the same.

Period.

The Obama administration is looking for a do over for the Lockerbie bomber.

You have got to be kidding me!!

Almost nary a tough word was spoken when this vicious killer was released for “humanitarian” reasons by Scotland almost one year ago to the day. But now, learning that Abdel Al-Megrahi is essentially fit as a fiddle and the Libyans are thumbing their noses at us, the Obamites want to push the giant diplomatic reset button (think the Staples’ “EASY Button” and you’ll get the picture) and put Al-Megrahi back into Scottish prison to serve out his sentence. I’ve got two words for ya Barack and Hillary:

FAT CHANCE!

Al-Megrahi is now legend in Libya. And the insane, preening Muammar Gaddafi isn’t going to let his trick pony go that easily. This whole release brouhaha was, from the Libya’s point of view, a masterstroke of deception and one uppsmanship. They’ve been the low guy on the world’s totem pole for a long time, and have received their rightful fair share of discipline and criticism from the rest of the world. But now Al-Megrahi gives them a symbol of ersatz superiority over the US and its allies. Al-Megrahi stuck his finger in the eye of the Great Satan and lived to tell the story — and made it back home to a hero’s welcome to boot. It didn’t matter that through his actions that 270 people died over and in the quiet hamlet of Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988. They were just collateral damage in a much larger, irrational jihad against the Western world.

So now, in order to stem the impending November election blowback, our newly diligent administration wants to raise their objections a little more strenuously than they did last August. US citizens, many may voters, are FURIOUS that Al-Megrahi was released and this situation portends to be yet another reason to “inoculate” the US from Obama’s failed policies. The Obama brain trust knows this…and there’s little they can do except negotiate with Libya. But these negotiations are from a position of weakness (after all, Al-Megrahi is home now) and the Libyan government can drag its feet for a good long time.

If I were in Obama’s shoes, I’d consider sending special-ops Ninjas into Libya and put Al-Megrahi out of his misery. Perhaps they could explain his untimely demise as a bad case of the “Tripoli flu.”

But in the mean time, we’re going to be stuck on wimpy…negotiating with craven murderers who would just as soon provide our citizens with a Lockerbie a day if they had the resources to do so. Now is not the time for theoretical and the measured diplomacy, it’s time for bare knuckles and blunt trauma.

It’s time for action. It’s time for justice.

You can chalk up the catchy phrase “Summer of Recovery” up there with “Mission Accomplished” with regards to its political damage and its inaccuracy.

The jobless numbers released today are as vivid a warning as a flaming tomahawk in a movie settler’s door. The increase in jobless claims by half a million is a cold water in the face, kick in the groin indication that the economy is in decline once again.

Let’s be clear…there is no recovery. There will be NO recovery until the insane agenda and the inane policies of this administration are trimmed back significantly. This agenda and these policies create unbelievable uncertainty in the business community, and one doesn’t need a PhD in economics to make the connection between the continued joblessness and the actions (and inactions) of this administration. And if we add in the impending sun-setting of the Bush tax cuts, then the business climate goes from toxic to downright radioactive.

It is a common trait of politicians to possess the inability to admit when they’re wrong. Mr. Obama, give Americans a refreshing look at US politics (one which, by the way you promised on your way in the door) and declare your policies wrong…and acquiesce to the obvious logic of extending the Bush tax cuts until the economy is on steadier feet. Any act of goodwill towards the business community will be a welcome sign. It might be the catalyst necessary to help spur some confidence and some much-needed new business activity.

However, continued and future hostility towards business and capitalism will surely guarantee us jobless numbers like those released today for the foreseeable future.

The ball is and will be in your court. Let’s see if you can recognize and prescribe the medicine we need as a nation to get us moving forward once again.

Today the Associated Press (AP) published a “news” story by AP writer Alan Fram declaring:

Poll: Growing number incorrectly call Obama Muslim

Incorrectly call Muslim?? This poll reflects the opinions of those individuals polled. Their opinions on President Obama’s perceived religion may run contrary to the actual one that he declares, but they are not “wrong” until it is proven beyond a shadow of doubt that Mr. Obama is indeed Christian. He was rasied Muslim…attended Muslim schools in Indonesia…and then attended Jeremiah Wright’s, to put it kindly, unconventional church. Does his mere attendance constitute a public display of his Christianity? The president doesn’t seem to be a church-going man, or at least church attendance and overt spirituality don’t seem to be particularly high on his list of personal priorities. So it wouldn’t be surprising that average Americans might associated him with the religion of his youth.

Could it be that the president uses his apparent Christianity as a tool of political advantage — his trying to fit in with what the public sees as mainstream? Mr. Fram needs to bolster his factual evidence that Obama is indeed a baptized, practicing Christian before he can make claims regarding the correctness of the results of a public opinion poll.

The poll results might indicate that the poll takers have a misapprehension or a misconception regarding his religion. But does that make them wrong? If the results of the poll indicated that a large proportion polled thought that Obama was born on Neptune, then Mr. Fram would rightly be able to happily declare that the poll takers were wrong. Or silly. Fram misses the point of the poll results entirely. He skims over the fact that the president is such an aloof person that even his averred religious affiliation is challenged by the masses. The story that Fram misses is that a growing majority can’t connect with this president.

But the use of the word “wrong” is yet another display of intellectual and moral superiority by the AP, which has become a trusted source of propaganda and positive reportage for the present administration.

It may be beyond their liberal comprehension, but the AP does more to further the old adage that “today’s news is tomorrow’s fish wrap” than any other news organization.

Today former Vice President Al Gore called for major rallies to protest congressional inaction on climate change legislation. It either must be a slow news day or Mr. Gore senses his evil climate empire is slipping through his fingers as each day without Cap-and-Trade legislation passes.

All I can think is ‘the wheels on the bus go round and round…”

Yawn…

The ‘Man Who Could Do No Wrong’ appears to have recently acquired a reverse Midas touch. He’s tanking in the polls (Rasmussen has him at 43% approval and Gallup has him at 42%), he’s alienating Democrat congressional candidates (they’re avoiding him like he has swine flu), he’s kicked the proverbial hornet’s nest by weighing in on the Ground Zero mosque, and he’s *still* blaming his moribund economy on George W. Bush.

Seems that nobody wants to be Obama’s BFF any more!

Let’s face it, Obama and TOTUS have had a very bad week indeed. No amount of frequent flier miles on Air Force One are going to help his rose-colored glasses orations that “things are improving” in this Recovery Summer. Anyone waking regularly in the real world can see that the economy is dismal and that job prospects are poor. And our country’s fiscal situation totters between dire and catastrophic.

The United States is paralyzed with fear — fear of the uncertainty of the anti-business and anti-capitalism agenda that our maniacal POTUS and his congressional accomplices are unveiling with each passing day. Luckily for us all, Congress takes a generous summer vacation, so we at least get a break from the steady stream of onerous and Constitution-challenging legislation.

But like a deranged Energizer Bunny, Obama just keeps going from state-to-state campaigning for his ideological trolls and making inane statements about the economy and other affairs of state. And trying to sell his “accomplishments” as successes…in spite of the abundance of evidence to the contrary.

Perhaps during his umpteenth summer vacation on Martha’s Vineyard the president will finally give his voice and our ears a well deserved rest. I’m quite sure that TOTUS will cherish “his” time off too.

I experienced my first hard drive failure EVER in my office workstation on Friday night.

Now this would be bad news for the average computer owner, as a hard drive failure is certain death for all the data on their system, as well as the system itself. The only thing that a failed hard drive is good for is a door stop.

But I didn’t even break a sweat!

I designed my system to be a little more robust than the average system when I put it together last spring. The most important feature that I added to this system was redundant hard drives. In fact I divided my hard drive into two logical segments — a 500GB “system” drive with 6 partitions on it where the Windows XP operating system and all my programs reside and a 4TB “storage” drive with 10 partitions on which I keep all my business data and data backups. The most important feature of these two drive sets is the fact that the 500GB drive is configured with two physical hard drives configured redundantly as RAID1, and the 4TB is configured of two pairs of 2TB drives configured redundantly as RAID1. The RAID1 configuration creates mirrored data on each of the physical drives in the array. If one drive fails, the other keeps on working with no data loss.

When one of the 500GB drives failed, I received an alert message telling me that the RAID array went critical, visually indicating on my screen that the drive had failed. At that point is was a matter of removing the drive from the system using the front panel removable, hot-swap drive bay — no tools required!

After a trip to Micro Center in Cambridge, MA where I bought two new 500GB drives, I replaced the unit that had failed. After some minor software configurations and settings for the RAID control software, the new drive was busily rebuilding as a mirror of the remaining drive. This process took around 3 and a half hours. Once the new drive was rebuilt and up and running, I removed the original “good” drive and replaced it with the second brand new drive, repeating the process. Again, the rebuilding took around 3.5 hours…which I scheduled to happen overnight. I replaced the used, good drive simply as a precaution because it was of the same pedigree and age as the failed drive.

To be sure you can do periodic data back ups to a USD external hard drive, or use an offsite backup service like Carbonite to protect yourself. But if you experience a hard drive failure, you will need to replace the drive and then go through the tedious process of reloading your operating system in order to restore your system from the backups. This can end up being a lot of work!

The moral of the story is that if you value your computer and your precious data, you MUST have a redundant drive array to prevent catastrophic data loss. It costs more, but it requires so much less work to recover from a hard drive failure. I figure the RAID configuration saved me at least 10 hours of futzing around with CDs and hard drives…all I spent was around 10 minutes removing and replacing hard drives from the drive bay caddies and around 3 minutes initiating the rebuilding process.

And as I recollect, the hot swap bay for 6 disks was approximately $150 and the added cost of the hard drives was approximately $250. This is a cheap date for a time-conscious business owner with lots of irreplaceable data. Based on the time I saved dealing with this failure alone I consider what I spent on the drive arrays and the drive bays MONEY WELL SPENT!!

I urge that you to do the same!