Category: Blog - Page 3

Quotes worthy of note….

September 26, 2018December 28, 2012

“Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute calculates that Greece owes 875 percent of GDP for unfunded liabilities; the United States owes 911 percent, or almost twice as much as France at 549 percent.” —Mark Steyn Are we broke?

Vicious Dogs

September 26, 2018December 28, 2012

by Rick Olson

“Truth is a good dog; but always beware of barking too close to the heels of an error, lest you get your brains kicked out.” —Francis Bacon

In New Hampshire if you are even slightly “nipped” by a dog, you can make a pile of cash! We are not talking about a Pit Bull Terrier or a Rottweiler or a German Shepherd Dog. Nope. We are talking about a 15-pound Jack Russell Terrier. It is of no consequence the injury was only minor….or, non-existent. If a nasty little ankle-biter dog breaks your personal space that is worth thousands of dollars.

It is of no consequence that you entered onto the

Stupidity, Civility, And The Continued Assault on Free Staters

September 26, 2018December 27, 2012

by Steve MacDonald

This was originally part of my previous post on pull quotes I found amusing but turned into something else that would have distracted from the previous post being purposefully short and the other quotes getting a shot a some discussion.

…

In the Union Leader article, “Free State Movement Not Embraced by All Granite Stater’s” once you get past the “No Sh**” moment presented by the title of the article, or the fact that this is written like some kind of hit-piece on Republican Mark Warden, and the Second amendment, and Liberty, we can focus on a quote from Democrat Aaron Gill, who having lost to “Free Stater” Mark Warden in an election where state Democrats were winning seats as if Obama could just give them away…

“I’m gay, and I didn’t want the government telling me I couldn’t get married,” Gill said. “But after a while I learned that the world doesn’t function that way. I guess I was really a Democrat all along but just didn’t realize it.”

There are Free Stater’s who are Democrats, or didn’t you know that?

Settled science…

September 26, 2018December 27, 2012

‘Nuff said?

Notable Quote – Dr. Matthew J. Franck

September 26, 2018December 27, 2012

by Skip

I have been getting Imprimis (a monthly commentary from Hillsdale College) for a while now. I had kept this one, entitled “Individual, Community, and State: How to Think About Religious Freedom” as it has a number of things to reflect upon: Fourth, the power of government, necessary as it is to maintaining a shared moral … Read more

Notable Quote – Matthew J. Franck

September 26, 2018December 27, 2012

by Skip

From Imprimis: But—fifth—short of such cases, the state should respect, honor, and even foster the role of religious communities and institutions as essential contributors to civil society. In crucial respects they are expressions of something still more basic to the flourishing of the human personality than is the political order itself. The modern secular state … Read more

No Firearms Ban Coming? Think Again.

September 26, 2018December 27, 2012

by Rick Olson

“If I could have banned them all – ‘Mr. and Mrs. America turn in your guns’ – I would have!” —California Senator Diane Feinstein, appearing on NBC News’ 60 Minutes, February 5, 1995

When reading the above quote, which time was Senator Feinstein being sincere? When she said this in 1995? Or, when she said recently,

(This legislation) will be carefully focused on the most dangerous guns that have killed so many people over the years while protecting the rights of gun owners…”

“While protecting the rights of gun owners” says Senator Feinstein. Which is it?

Yes! The Anti-gun left in America is speaking out and their talking points go something like this:

Read more

Taxpayer Funded Blog Commenting?

September 26, 2018December 26, 2012

Taxpayer funded blog commenting? Maybe. If the loquacious Ray Guarino that mercilessly comments on the Nashua Patch, is the same Ray Guarino that’s a Transportation Planner at the Old Colony Planning Council in Brockton, MA, a government entity, then it appears so. It may not be. They may not be the same person, or he’s retired, on leave, or on break. But from what I gathered, I have a strong suspicion that taxes might have been used to fund political comments for the Patch; at the very least, if my suspicion is correct, there’s the appearance of it. I wonder if taxpayers in Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Brockton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanson, Kingston, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Stoughton, West Bridgewater and Whitman, Massachusetts know they may have funded content for the Patch. Not their local Patch, mind you, but Nashua’s Patch. Alas, I should include that this planning council also gets funds from various State and Federal departments, so you might have paid, too.

Another, more descriptive term for Capitalism?

September 26, 2018December 26, 2012

by Skip

Innovationism:

Deirdre McCloskey says somewhere that a better name for capitalism is “innovationism” – innovationism unleashed only in societies in which private property rights are at least reasonably secure, freedom of contract is at least reasonably the norm, markets are at least reasonably free, and (importantly) the multitude of bourgeois merchants and accountants and actuaries and laborers and financial experts and… and… and… innovators are accorded at least a reasonable quantum of dignity by society at large.

Capitalism, the voluntary exchange of one product or service for another (with money as a flexible intermediary) is certainly under attack by Progressives, Socialists, Communists, and Marxists as being “evil”. Their claim is that it is not “moral” and that “the little people” get hurt when the markets go sour).

Sidenote: Notice that they never talk about about the 100s of millions of “little people” that died at the hands of those leading the Progressive / Socialist / Marxist / Communist regimes in the Soviet Union, China, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, et al.

What needs to be stated, over and over again, that we are losing the ability to have that voluntary exchange as Government (and those that “know better for us” – actually, the Progressives / Socialists / Marxists / Communists that work for an in Obama’s administration) outlines how ‘free markets’ are to behave by fiat.

After all, Capitalism only succeeds when someone “serves another’s interest” –

A sad commentary: Having to ask Santa for a “Dad”?

September 26, 2018December 26, 2012

by Skip

Civil Society – that “space” that the Founders cherished that was to be between a limited Government and Individuals. An important foundational part of that future was to be the nuclear family: Mother, Father, children (again, like Capitalism, under attack by Progressives / Socialists / Marxists / Communists for their own greedy political power grab to redefine American Exceptionalism). Certainly in Britain, the Political Elites have been redefining British Society since WW II when the Fabian Socialists took control – their present may well be our future (culturally speaking).

Great results there, old boy – jolly ~~good~~ bad (emphasis and reformatting mine):

When it comes to Christmas, it might be safe to assume children will ask Santa for an extensive list of toys, games and treats. But a survey of their typical lists for Father Christmas has shown many have more serious concerns, requesting “a dad” instead. A study of 2,000 British parents found most children will put a new baby brother or sister at the top of their Christmas list, closely followed by a request for a real-life reindeer. A “pet horse” was the third most popular choice, with a “car” making a bizarre entry at number four. Despite their material requests, the tenth most popular Christmas wish on the list was a “Dad“.

…A request for a “mum” reached number 23 on the list.

Tenth? Doesn’t that scream out at you – TENTH?? That ranking tells me that the broken families abound – and if the illegitimacy rate is anything like here in the US, there are millions of kids who only have a single parent. Every child should have the right to both a father and mother – and I know from personal experience.

But who needs a Dad when Government gives you permission to literally screw up!

September 26, 2018December 26, 2012

by Skip

Ugh. Like I said,in order to have their political jones satisfied, Progressives / Socialists / Marxists / Communists have understood for decades that they have to unmoor the American public from their traditional values in order – and in this case, a most important – Parents authority and responsibility. Here’s a quick story that chops at a number of those anchor points all at the same time. From Philly.com via The College Fix:

Students as young as 14 in Philadelphia will soon have access to unlimited free condoms, courtesy of the city government. And while parents will be able to “opt-out” by sending a letter to their child’s school, administrators have made it clear that they will not monitor or restrict access to the condoms, even for those students whose parents have signed “opt-out” letters.

In other words, if your child attends high school in Philadelphia, then the government has taken control of your 14-year-old’s access to birth control, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

And this is why I have said that Conservatives have got to get back into the schools – it is there that the cultural tide that is wrecking our nation and which we saw this last election has its fount. So here is a policy, set by a democratically elected administration, that thinks it is just great to lie to the parents of the kid in their care. WHY bother to send the ‘opt-out’ form is it is only going to be thrown out and out-right ignored?

David Gregory Under Investigation By D.C. Police Now

September 26, 2018December 26, 2012

by Rick Olson

“Though there is no evil in righteousness, there is in self-righteousness,”—David Pietrusza

Gregory Holds up an ammunition Magazine banned in D.C. -Warner Todd-Houston, -Breitbart.com

Our Good Friend WARNER TODD-HOUSTON over at Breitbart.com shares this little niblet:

Read more

Why “Green” Energy?

September 26, 2018December 26, 2012

by Steve MacDonald

If you wanted to bring western civilization down, give it a good beating for all its so-called malfeasance, what better way than to make it near impossible to sustain the things that made being a western civilization all it was cracked up to be?

Consider that which makes us or any of our allies any sort of global power? Wealth and energy. Commerce, industrialization, transportation, and militarization to protect it or project it.

We can mince the finer points about what makes all this possible but they all share one thing in common. Cheap, abundant energy.

So if you had a mind to take the average Western Civilization down a notch or two, or even all of them, to make an example of a country like, say America, the fastest way to do that would be to cry wolf about something that would be difficult to dispute and easy to frighten people with; something that would make cheap abundant energy so threatening that no one would pay much attention to the real threats that not having it might present; you’d put forward a theory of global catastrophe that demanded we redirect massive amounts of wealth into expensive forms of energy incapable of sustaining the level of commerce, industrialization, transportation, or defense that we’ve come to enjoy.

You’d invent Global Warming and then blame the people who make the cheap abundant energy for causing it.

Legal open carrying of firearms by citizens…

September 26, 2018December 26, 2012

…became the law in Oklahoma on November 1, 2012. World doesn’t end. (Note: Open carry has always been legal in New Hampshire; it is guaranteed by the New Hampshire State Constitution. You can read about that from 2nd Amendment hero Sam Cohen of Pro-Gun New Hampshire HERE.)

Trust and Safety in New Hampshire

September 26, 2018December 26, 2012

by Steve MacDonald

Here are two pull quotes from the New Hampshire Union Leader that I wanted to share. One is about trust, the other about safety. I think you’ll find them…interesting.

In an article on 2013 LSR H-0451 regarding a proposed change to the right to know law, New Hampshire House Democrat Majority Leader Steve Shurtleff, D-Penacook, said of local elected officials having more opportunities for private executive sessions meeting out of public view…

“At some point, you have to trust these officials not to abuse it,.”

Now that is funny, right there, I don’t care who you are.

and…

Unable to get elected to the NH Republican State Committee is no impediment for Fergus!

September 26, 2018December 26, 2012

by Skip

There was an article in the NYT that caught my eye:

Clout Diminished, Tea Party Turns to Narrower Issues

The Tea Party might not be over, but it is increasingly clear that the election last month significantly weakened the once-surging movement, which nearly captured control of the Republican Party through a potent combination of populism and fury.

Now, this kind of article has been spewed out pretty often pretty much since six months after the TEA Party movement started. With a Leftward swing in most newsrooms (indicated by polls and by political contributions), I think we’ve become inured to this trying-to-make-it-true journalism. Yes, I will admit that here in NH, local races didn’t quite turn out as well as we’d hoped. Nor at the national level either, as a number of TEA Party backed folks lost their races, and we did fail, in part, to drag Mitt across the line. However, in the larger picture, Republicans (aided and “nudged” by TEA Party activists) are in control of more states than ever.

Remember, it took the Progressives over a 100 years to be where we are at with respect to Constitutional obedience – the TEA Party has only been around for 4 years. This will be a long slog and there is no doubt that to some adherents to the limited Government, free markets, and fiscal frugality, a few battles were lost in “this theater” – but the war is not over even if some Journalists want us to believe otherwise.

And add to that, some Republicans as well – enter, stage Left: Fergus “The Fringe” Cullen. How long is he going to try to trade in on his failed Chairmanship?