Thursday, July 15, 2010

Great Article by Ben Stein

I was over at the American Spectator Website and saw this superb article by Ben Stein that I had to post here. Stein presents a view of the current president's actions that is (in his words)"worrisome", especially his demand that BP set up a $30 billion fund to compensate the victims of the current oil leak that is wrecking havoc in the Gulf of Mexico and associated coastlines.

To quote from the article:
"But the action of the President in demanding this immense transfer of the stockholders' wealth without any legislation or court decision is extremely worrisome.

We live in a Constitutional Republic. The President's job under the Constitution is to enforce the laws made by the elected Congress. His job is not to create new laws and enforce them all by himself. His job is as magistrate under the Constitution, not as Caudillo. He is not the law. He is supposed to enforce what Congress decides.

The BP behavior is reminiscent of how, immediately after assuming office, Mr. Obama, with no Congressional authority or administrative allowance, simply made a phone call to fire the head of GM. When I called the White House press office to ask under what law or regulation Mr. Obama was acting, I was told he did not need a law. If the government put a lot of money into GM, it could call the shots at GM, I was told. But under what authority, I asked. "None needed," was the final answer."
In case you are wondering, "Caudillo" is a Spanish word for a political-military leader/dictator.

I have heard too many times folks in my day to day life call for the Government to do something "just because" (BP should pay up since they caused it) but we must remember that Government is not the solution and should not be viewed as some omniscient provider of good or social and economic justice. Too many of my fellow citizens now look to the Government to right the wrongs in their lives while the Government has no authority to do so...unless it is authority that they give up which is in essence giving up their freedom.

Kudos to Ben for a great article. Link below.

The American Spectator : Our Caudillo President

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

How to fix Tweetdeck & Adobe AIR links…

Argh - another issue that I have had with various twitter clients has (I think) been solved. I use Twhirl to keep up to date on Twitter feeds but was having an issue with the default browser selection. I am a fan of Firefox but wanted to keep Chrome as the default (easier to gmail links or post to blogger) and although i had Chrome as my default browser, clicking on links in Twhirl would launch Firefox.

Tks to Fred von Graf and his blog I now have a solution. Anyone that is finding similar issues with any of the Adobe Air applications (Seesmic, Tweetdeck, etc.) should try this solution. I had to implement the more advanced solution (edit the windows registry) but it does work.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

What is BlogThis! ? - Blogger Help

I may have already posted this but one great feature that I like is the ability to send a webpage right to my blog and have been looking at using this in Firefox 4.0 Beta 1. So found this in the help section of blogger and wanted to post it here for posterity's sake.

What is BlogThis! ? - Blogger Help

Monday, July 12, 2010

Michelle Obama Visits NAACP on Eve of Tea Party Condemnation - ABC News

ABC News has a story that is entitled "Michelle Obama Rouses NAACP Before Vote Condemning 'Racist' Elements of Tea Party" story is here - Michelle Obama Visits NAACP on Eve of Tea Party Condemnation - ABC News

I find this to be funny since the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is an organization founding on civil rights for one race...colored people (I am just reading the definition). Racism is defined as "racial prejudice or discrimination" by the Merriam Webster online dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism). Isn't that a little hypocritical?

Let me be clear - I don't begrudge the NAACP at all as they can practice and support the people they choose. But I would think that the criticism (not that i mean to imply the criticism of the tea party is valid) would mean more if it came from the National Association for the Advancement of All People (or the NAAAP).

The NAACP should also be on the look out for any member of the NAACP that is a member of the Nation of Islam or the New Black Panther Party. The Southern Poverty Law Center who sponsors Hatewatch, a website that states that it is "keeping an eye on the radical right" has classified both the Nation of Islam and and the New Black Panther Party as hate groups (under the banner of Black Separatist) stating (about the Nation of Islam) that "If a white group espoused similar beliefs with the colors reversed, few would have trouble describing it as racist and anti-Semitic. Although the racism of a group like the Nation may be relatively easy to understand, if we seek to expose white hate groups, we cannot be in the business of explaining away the black ones."

Hopefully the NAACP is working within its own ranks to repudiate those racist elements in its own organization while it calls on other groups to do the same.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

How to Safeguard Your Social Security Number

Catching up on a lot of to dos but here is a great article that I wanted to cross post since it covers something that really irritates me. I can't tell you how many times I am asked for complete private info for no apparent reason (why does Radio Shack need your address when you buy batteries? H/t to Seinfeld for that one). One of the most offensive questions involves my ssn. It seems at regular intervals I am asked for this data and my first question is "why do you need that?". Well the folks at GetRichSlowly have posted an article that addresses some questions you should ask when/if you are asked for this personal data.

How to Safeguard Your Social Security Number

Tks to Lifehacker for the tip.


Sunday, June 27, 2010

Seven Myths About Grilling a Steak [Grilling]

Great post from LifeHacker - things I didn't know about cooking a steak.

Seven Myths About Grilling a Steak [Grilling]: "
Cooking instructor and author of Planet Barbecue Steven Raichlen knows a thing or two about grilling a steak, and today he's debunking a few grilling myths that'll help make your weekend barbecue that much better. More »







Barbecue - Cooking - Home - Outdoors - Barbecue grill


"

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Illegal immigrants able to register cars in Massachusetts

What? Story from MyFoxBoston - Illegal immigrants able to register cars in Massachusetts

What is the problem with this law exactly? I also like the video where a sign is held up that says "STOP ANTI-IMMIGRANT AMENDMENTS". There are no anti immigrant amendments. But there are anti-illegal immigration laws that states (like Arizona) are trying to enforce.