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We conservatives spend so much time preaching to fellow conservatives, we need to develop ways to get beyond our comfort audience. Here is an idea; Reaching those that need to be reached the most, the vast majority of 20-30 year olds are not being reached through websites or channels like FaultlineUSA, they don’t care. We need to reach them via channels and interests that they do care about. That is why I am prosing this idea focused on skiing and snow boarding.

Comparing the failure of South Lake Tahoe, an over regulated government controlled town devastated by decisions of the government, to the comparatively free market environment of Bend Oregon during the same time period, 2000- 2010.


The economic collapse aside! - the impact is clear. I lived through it and I know the facts of South Lake Tahoe destruction. Target audience: skier and snow boarding community. The target age group that needs to understand the effects of centralized government control.

The Compact Between Americans
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*******************

It is said the USA has more of it’s citizens incarcerated, imprisoned, than any other nation on earth.

I heard this some time ago on TV.  I wondered what reaction the person making the statement hoped to elicit from me, and others, who heard it.

 My own reaction was… so what?

I mean, only a person having no understanding of the foundation of this country could be surprised by such a fact.

Now… for those of you who still think that is an awful thing to say about a nation… hold on a minute!

Consider the US is a nation founded on laws, on a written constitution, and a code of laws founded on that constitution, Old English Common Law, the laws of the Judeo-Christian religion, commonly known as the Ten Commandments, and a few other lesser known codes of laws.  The US is a “nation of laws”.

Now, here is the “kicker”!  Citizens of the US are free people… so long as they/we remain within the boundaries proscribed by the laws, which are made by their/our fellow citizens who have been vested with the power to create those laws.

America asks very little of her citizens.  All she asks is that they/we obey the law(s) made by the citizens of the country.

If a US citizens, or anyone residing within the US decides, for whatever reason, to live outside those laws, or to ignore, or in any other way, break those laws, then the wrath of their fellow citizens, the people of the 50 states as a whole, will come down on them like a ton of bricks!  And in a system such as ours… that is a good thing.

The fact that we have so many of our citizens in jail says nothing derogatory about our system of government.  It DOES say a lot about how our family structure, our educational system, and our religious community, has failed and failed miserably.

The “American Family” is as close to non-existent as it has ever been.  We can’t even decide what a family is, anymore!  “The Church” has abrogated its position as the “setter of societal standards” and has, instead, adopted the aberrant behavior of many in our society as accepted… and even praiseworthy.  No longer can a functioning American family point it’s young children to The Church for moral guidance. The Church has failed us miserably.  As a result the American family has all but disappeared. 

Our educational system has also failed… not only it’s students, but the parents of those students who entrusted their young into the hands of an educational system which no longer educates, but indoctrinates the innocent among us.

Those of you astonished when you hear statements about how many of our US citizens are in prison… remember this:  Those imprisoned broke the compact, the covenant, with their fellow Americans to live by the laws of our land.  They knew, before hand, their fellow citizens would require their freedom as payment for their transgressions.

So, do not even try to use the number of imprisoned Americans as a maul to hammer shame onto American society. It won’t work.  Each American lives within a self-imposed covenant, or compact, of laws he has forged with his fellow Americans.  This American Compact has managed to hold off the blackness of chaos and anarchy since the country was founded and it has allowed the US to become the preeminent power on the planet.

To those who would run our system of law down, we say:  Do not speak of that which you do not know… and do not understand.  Look first to your own government’s failure!  If you are an American citizen and do not already know this… then the shame is on YOU!

© J. D. Longstreet

Los DesperadoZ
In the past, they had not been available to return due to their schedule and fortunately we were contacted with ample time to be a part of the Mexican Fiesta 2013 this year. They look forward to returning and seeing all of their fans in WI and surrounding states and to a Fiesta, which had impressed upon them the last time they were there."
Dr. Arturo Martinez, Mexican Fiesta Entertainment Coordinator confirmed that Los DesperadoZ were performing at Mexican Fiesta 2013 and also the following Tejano groups will be performing as well, they are the Latin Breed, Los Bad Boyz del Valle and Impozzible from Houston.
Fiesta officials have confirmed the following entertainers to be presented at the three day Summer Spanish language music and cultural festival for August 23, 24 and 25 at the Henry Mier Festival Grounds or Summerfest grounds. Some of the previous confirmations were Bachatero Toby Love and Alejandra Orozco.

Click to enlarge.

Enough said.

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Real Estate Loans at All Commercial Banks

The following chart shows the finance rate on 24-month personal loans minus the finance rate on 48-month new auto loans.


Click to enlarge.

The 48-month auto rate for May 2013 was 4.13%.
The 24-month personal loan rate for May 2013 was 10.34%.

The spread between the two loans now stands at a new record: 6.21%.

This reminds me of something Ben Bernanke once said:


Got storm shutters?

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart

This idea from Wild Bill has stirred up a lot of interest

It is a beautiful day outside. I've got the windows open and I plan to have some good summer fun outside with the girls today.

So enjoy these summer pictures and get outside for some fresh air!








all images via Pinterest

Happy Weekend!

GOP and Democrats in the House fear a national unified Hispanic economic cutback of buying empowerment that would definately result in less federal revenue and business economic wealth for anti-immigrant supporters. 

The Scourge Of Obamacare
Survival 101
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**************

As each day goes by and we see Obamacare unraveling, I become even more convinced that Obamacare was designed, from the very beginning, to fail!

The ultimate goal (I am convinced) of the left in America is to create a single payer socialized medicine program for the citizens of America.

Obamacare is NOT IT!

The individual mandate must be done away with before that can happen.

"A single-payer health care system is one in which a single-entity -- the government -- collects almost all of the revenue for and pays almost all of the bills for the health care system. In most single-payer systems only a small percentage of health care expenses are paid for with private funds. Countries that have a single-payer system include Australia, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom."   SOURCE:  http://www.freemarketcure.com/singlepayermyths.php 

But, America's leftists, Marxists, Socialists and Progressives needed a "foot - in - the - door program" upon which they could build, incrementally, until they reach that goal.

It would be necessary for Obamacare to fall short of its stated goals but be just effective enough to lure the unsuspecting American voters toward a more all encompassing socialized approach to delivering healthcare in America.  I am convinced that is happening, even as we write these few words.

Convincing Americans to support a single payer healthcare system will be NO PROBLEM for Obama.

(Recently, I watched a video of a gentleman gathering signatures on a petition to repeal the Bill of Rights. Americans were signing it, right and left, even though he made it clear it was to REPEAL the Bill of Rights!  It seemed the key phrase was: "It will help Obama ... ."  That leads me to believe the "Obama Cult" is alive and well.  In a country as illiterate,  as sick, as America is today -- that is a dangerous thing, -- VERY dangerous, indeed!)
PLEASE understand:  Under a single payer system everyone has health insurance but NOT NECESSARILY HEALTH CARE!  See:  ACCESS  to healthcare is necessarily limited under a single payer system because too many people use it too much ... because it is FREE!  You can see how this would put a humongous strain on government health care budgets, and to contain costs governments must ration care.
The left argues that a single payer system would have lower administrative costs and that would hold the cost of healthcare down.

Er, No.  That's wrong. 

It is not administrative cost that drive the cost of healthcare up.  It is the overuse of the system by the patients.

The private insurance industry in America must be destroyed for single payer "Obamacare II" to be born.  

A government run health Insurance company would be exactly the tool needed to shutter private insurance companies in America and drive currently insured Americans into the arms of the government owned company -- while at the same time demonstrating the “need” for a universal healthcare system even though the “need” was created by the government itself.

(We'd like to recommend an article for you to read to help clarify what a single payer healthcare system is really about and a few things you can expect and NOT expect.  The article is entitled:  "The Myths of Single-Payer Health Care."  It was written by David Hogberg.  You will find it here:  http://www.freemarketcure.com/singlepayermyths.php  )

And another thing: Where, exactly, does the government expect to get the doctors for Obamacare? Has anyone in Washington thought of a solution for our doctor shortage, yet? I mean - NEW medical students will only decide to enter medical schools if they know that they can make a living once they graduate and set up their practice. It costs a bundle to attend medical school and it takes years for doctors to pay off their loans plus finance their “start-up” business. It is common sense; it seems to me, to ask (as a medical student) if I will be able to make a living as a medical doctor in the United States under Obamacare.

Think about it for a moment. If you take away a doctor’s ability to make a fair and decent living in his chosen profession, then why in the world would he/she want to take on the expense of putting themselves through med school and the added expense of setting up a business, or a “practice; as we call it here in the states. It seems to me that in fairly short order, we will have a host of med schools sitting empty with few, or no students - and very soon after that we can expect to have an even larger shortage of doctors in America.

I understand we already have a shortage of primary care physicians right now. That is somewhere in the range of 40 to 50 thousand primary care physicians we need and do not have even today. Imagine the impact on American society when our youngsters decide they are not going to be doctors, when they grow up, because they cannot make a living at it.

The doctor shortage is REAL!  With all the new patients being dumped onto the rolls of doctor's offices and hospitals across the nation, there is simply no way the America medical community will be able to handle that influx.  NOW we are looking at rationing -- if for no other reason than we cannot handle the load. 

When one thinks about it, Obamacare begins to look very much like all the many pieces of knee-jerk legislation created in Washington over the years that ends up causing far more problems than it solves.

But, then, again, we have come to expect this type of "thrown together legislation" under the Obama Regime as they rush to try to take advantage of the crisis du jour while the attention of Americans is diverted towards some problem that has been blown all out of proportion by the media and the government. It is a con job - and not a very good con job at that.

All of this prompts me to ask the obvious question: Just how dumb does Obama and his cohort in Washington think we are, anyway? Pretty dumb, I suspect. (I honestly have to agree with Obama and his henchman about the intelligence of the average American voter today.) After all, Americans DID elect Obama (TWICE!) and the other socialist in Congress to the offices they hold. That fact, alone, convinced this scribe of the extremely high ignorance factor amongst Americans -- in so far as politics is concerned.

Obama’s election was a huge; I MEAN HUGE, victory for ignorance in America. There is simply no other way to explain the man’s election.

Much damage to America has been done in the four and a half, or so, years Obama has been thrashing about bludgeoning democracy with his socialist ideas and plans. He has trashed the American economic system, raped and pillaged the US treasury, and given immeasurable hope to this nation’s enemies. He has set up a government within the government, which is answerable only to him. His aspiration to some form of dictatorship for himself has become so evident that it is troublesome even to some on the political left.

Look.  America is still reeling from the near collapse of it's monetary and financial system. And those of us who actually pay attention to our country -- and the world we live in -- understand that we are a long way from recovery, from healing.
Many Americans are beginning to understand that inflation will be raising its ugly head very soon, as well.   In fact, inflation is already on the rise.

Even if one were weak enough to believe all the "improving numbers" from Washington, one would have to be a fool to believe that America is anywhere near a recovery and a turn around.

At some point, this house of cards Obama has crafted, is going to come crashing down. It is SOCIALISM and the record of socialism is one of total failure, 100% failure, every time it is tried. When it does come crashing down, there will be much weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Believe me, it will not be pretty.

The internal strife that has riven America in twain will become ever so much more evident and more pronounced than it is at the moment.  To say ONLY that it will do a lot of damage to America - damage that will take generations to repair, will become an oh, so, obvious understatement.

Newt Gingrich once said:  "We're at the crossroads. Down one road is a European centralized bureaucratic socialist welfare system in which politicians and bureaucrats define the future. Down the other road is a proud, solid, reaffirmation of American exceptionalism."

As Mr. Gingrich points out, America's choices are extremely clear.  Understand: If we make the wrong choice -- we cannot come back decades from now claiming that we were confused.  Look, dear reader -- this is "Survival 101."

 © J. D. Longstreet

Milw., WI (HNNUSA) - Mayor Tom Barrett who ran in the Bastille Day race as number 1, posed with Andy Rosario, Yolanda Medina, Norma Rosario, H. Nelson Goodson, in back, Rico Hernández, Mayor Barrett and Juan Ocasio after the race while his security (police officer) watched.

Milw., WI - On Thursday, multiple vehicles were being towed at the 600 block of N. Milwaukee St. just in time for the annual Storm the Bastille Run. Numerous drivers will get an unexpected surprise when they try to locate their vehicle at its last downtown parking place.
A parking city checker spots a vehicle parked after 5:00 p.m. along the race route in Milwaukee's downtown and cites it and then a City Wide towing truck tows it away at the owners expense. The no parking restrictions last until 9:00 p.m. on Thursday. Thousands of race participants are expected later today.

The following chart shows nonfarm job openings per capita growth (year over year). I have added two linear trend lines for your consideration.


Click to enlarge.

July 9, 2013
Job openings, hiring rise slightly in May


As seen in the chart above, the red trend line shows almost the exact same "steady improvement" we saw in the blue trend line from July 2004 to December 2007.

This goes to show that one person's steady improvement is just another person's steady decline.

Got optimism? Sigh.

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart

Sergei Magnitsky

What Ails The Entertainment Industry Today?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
******************

I love good books and I love good movies.  Heck, I thoroughly enjoy a good story, an excellent yarn, spun and presented in such a way as to entertain and, yes, from time to time, enlighten me on a subject I am particularly interested in.

I have even dabbled in a little writing myself.  And after thirty years in the broadcasting industry, I must admit to feeling at least some affinity,  a natural attraction or feeling of kinship, if you will, towards the folks in the industry today.

Having said that, I am compelled to ask ... what has happened to the creative writing in the entertainment business?

Just take a look at the offerings on TV.  They are pathetic.  Every show seems like the show you just saw -- with only the actors and sets changed.  After a while, one begins to wonder if there is only one stable of writers for all of American television and they use the same formatted story line for every show, just updating it a bit each time.

BORING!!!

A friend told me recently that, of late, his wife has begun watching shows on the Sci-fi Channel and she has never been a fan of science fiction.  He asked her why the sudden interest in science fiction programs and she replied that at least they showed a little imagination.  I can relate to that!

Where is the originality?  On TV it is either cops, docs, lawyers, or some combination of one or more of them.  Oh, the stuff they call "situation comedies" is utterly embarrassing to the intelligence of anyone past, oh say, the second grade in school.  The infantile bathroom humor and sexual innuendo and the indelicate overuse of the double entendre are just pitiful.

Nowadays, it is so important that the cast of a TV show be politically correct that often the show has a cast much larger than the audience can keep track of -- just so all the races and sexual genders can be accounted for. You know: diversity and multiculturalism -- all the crap that has screwed-up our country and our world.

Then there is so-called reality TV.  From someone who spent a heck of a lot of time in the broadcasting industry, allow me to assure you there is no such thing as reality TV.   At least not the kind one can broadcast into America's homes.

You want to see reality TV, then go watch the monitor of a camera at an ATM machine. That's reality. 

Put a camera and a microphone in someone's face -- or space -- and everything changes.  Reality, except for accidents, goes right out the window.  Believe me.  Any reality you get is purely accidental.

Now to the big screen:  The film fare is just as bad.  Either it came from TV, a comic book,  the Bible, (With the Bible, they don't have to pay "movie right's" fees to the authors!) or -- it's a remake of a long ago classic that needs absolutely no help in being remembered for its artistry and quality and will be utterly impossible to make any better by today's crop of directors and producers and their propensity for computer generated imagery.

And then there is the politics of the Hollywood left woven into every script of every movie they produce.

It is simply impossible to buy a ticket and sit down a theater and watch a movie without being indoctrinated in leftist politics these days.   We just learned a few days ago that the White House is asking Hollywood to begin promoting Obamacare in their productions.   See what I mean?

Maybe it's a generational thing.  Maybe it's an "age" thing.  I don't know.  But, I find that I cannot relax and comfortably watch a movie anymore. The crudity, the rudeness, which we are told simply reflects real life, is far and away overdone.  Believe me, folks, that ain't real life.  That's what is known in the business as "shock value."  It is supposed to make you feel as if you are actually receiving something of value for the good money you just spent for a ticket just so you can be doused in what amounts to the overnight contents of a chamber pot!  (Look it up on Google.)

In the not too distant past, to get something with "shock value" into a film there had to be what society referred to as "Socially Redeeming Valve."  In other words --  there had to be an off-set.  The message, such a shocking act bore, had to be one that reinforced the belief that truth and rightness would win out. 

It has become painfully obvious today that there are entire movies in circulation which have never made the acquaintance of anything approaching socially redeeming values OR quality.

Then there are the actors, themselves.  The current crop of American actors are, well, (I'm attempting to be kind here) just not all that great.  Actually, they're a pretty sad lot.  That explains, I believe, why there has been a literal invasion of Hollywood (and TV film --making -- land) of British, Australian, and western European actors and actresses, of late.  Many, if not most, are classically trained actors and are true artists in the sense that they are actors, KNOW that they are actors, enjoy what they do for a living, and will follow the work.  Right now, the work is in America -- and they are flooding our shores with their very much appreciated talent.
I read recently that American actors do not like playing less than stellar or heroic characters. Whereas actors from the classically trained ranks see every role as a challenge and will pour their hearts and souls into making that character come to life on the stage or screen.

American actors, of late, have found themselves in much the same situation as American car manufacturers a few short decades ago.  Their lunch is being eaten by their cousins from across the pond.

But so long as the industry, as a whole, is making money -- and IT IS making money -- do not expect much to change. The cookie cutter TV shows will continue -- as will the fast, loud, colorful, and EMPTY movies from the left coast of America.

© J. D. Longstreet

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

America must indeed do something to overcome the HUGE immigration problem created over the past thirty three plus years. A problem that everyone (in both parties) one knew was developing and yet no one in either party had any real interest in addressing. So... here we are. Faced with HUGE problem that won;'t go away by itself and will requires some level of rational thinking on the part of both the democrats as well as republicans.

Speaker John Boehner may not get it right often, however, when he stated... “we’d be in a much weaker position if we didn’t act" with respect to immigration reform he was EXACTLY right.

THE HILL - Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) urged their House Republican colleagues to pass immigration reform legislation in a closed-door meeting Wednesday, with the Speaker arguing his conference would be “in a much weaker position” if it failed to act.

A divided House Republican conference met for more than two hours in the basement of the Capitol to begin hashing out a response to the sweeping immigration bill the Senate passed last month.

Boehner spoke at the outset of the meeting and reiterated his pledge that no immigration bill, including a final House-Senate conference report, would come to the floor without the support of a majority of the House GOP. But both he and Ryan, the House budget chief and the GOP’s vice presidential nominee in 2012, made the case that the House GOP should take action on immigration in a way that reflected the party’s principles, Republicans in the room said.

Boehner “said we’d be in a much weaker position if we didn’t act,” according to Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). “He clearly wants to act, thinks something needs to get done. Frankly, our principles are probably closer to where the American people are, but it’s incumbent upon us to act.”

The party leadership did not lay out a timetable for floor votes in the meeting, though members indicated leaders could develop a timeline in the coming weeks.

Members said it was likely that the House would wait until after the August congressional recess to act, although votes on individual border security and interior enforcement bills that have passed out of committee were possible before then.

Following the meeting, Ryan said he was optimistic the House would act.

“I think our members are ready to tackle this issue. It needs to be fixed,” he told reporters. “There is an emerging consensus that our immigration system is broken, that we need to fix it, and we need to do it in a very thorough way.

“I feel very good. I feel we are in very good position to do it the right way. We don't want to rush anything,” he said before diving into a crowded elevator.

But opponents of any legislation providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants said there was no consensus on immigration's most controversial issue.

“There is little consensus in there for doing anything other than border security," said Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.). {Read More}

At this point I refer you to the preceding post...

Via: Memeorandum

by:Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny



For those on the left side of the aisle, and  those on the right side of the aisle who are REALLY about getting something of substance accomplished the following will be REQUIRED..


Any questions?

Via: Reason

Milw., WI  (HNNUSA) - On August 1984, Willie Colón from New York became the first professional Salsero to perform for the first time at Fiesta Mexicana. Colón and H. Nelson Goodson posed for a photo before the historical performance.
Goodson was instrumental by lobbying and convincing Fiesta Mexicana officials to add for the first time a Salsa performer to attract the Puerto Rican community and their buying economic power. Several Fiesta Mexicana Board members had objected by saying it was a Fiesta Mexicana, but Goodson was able to convince the rest of the Board that Fiesta Mexicana was growing and needed more revenue to provide more scholarships for students. The Salsa performer addition would significantly attract the crowds that were usually left out in the past from attending the lakefront event. 
That year, Colón's performance drew thousands to the Miller Stage and broke Fiesta's attendence records for that Saturday night. Since then, Salsa and other Puerto Rican venues have continued to attract crowds at Fiesta, despite the change of operators of the event at Summerfest.

In memory of a good Salsero friend.