Forbearance Of Incompetence IS Limited
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**************
Whoa! Hold on a consarned minute!
This was not supposed to happen. Americans were expected to to just lie down and roll over for the gun grabbers this time.
See. It was all for the children. Works every time the progressive/Marxists try it. Except that -- it didn't work THIS time.
Why?
Because the Marxists overstepped, overreached, went beyond the pale. Ignoring a fundamental constitutional right, one that is included in the Bill of Rights, which, by the way, a number of states demanded be included before they would ratify the constitution, was just TOO much.
Obama miscalculated. He screwed-up! His thirst for power blinded him to the limits placed upon him by the constitution and especially the Bill of Rights.
Obama bit off more than he could chew. The American people bit back.
Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto said there was a gun behind every blade of grass in America. That was in the late 1930's. If there wasn't then, there sure as heck is at least one, possibly more, guns behind every blade of grass in America today.
Methinks Washington is, uh, concerned. And, indeed, they ought to be.
The Second Amendment was never intended to protect hunter's and sportsmen's ability to go hunting or skeet shooting. It was intended to arm the American citizenry so they might defend themselves against an American government gone rogue ... to defend against tyranny in an American government ... to defend their freedom from such a government. The founders knew hunting would take care of itself.
Unfortunately, for the gun grabbers, Americans remembered that particular right and they are using it today to arm themselves to the teeth and take a stand to protect their freedom.
THIS is what makes America exceptional. We will lean over backwards to accommodate an overbearing government -- 'til we have enough. We swallowed King George's guff until we had enough. And we have allowed the current occupant of the Oval Office enough rope to metaphorically hang himself.
We are rapidly approaching the point at which we will have had enough. Once reached -- it's "Katie bar the door!"
Even though the government is finding it a bit more difficult than they had presumed to confiscate America's guns, they HAVE managed to nearly dry up the ammo supply through massive government purchases of ammunition from the manufacturers.
As government orders take priority, ammo manufacturer's inventory and production must first go to the government BEFORE any product is shipped to private ammo dealers across the nation.
Think about it for a moment: An empty gun is virtually useless. So, Americans can have all the guns they want, but -- so long as they have no ammunition for those guns they are no threat.
The law of "supply and demand" is working in favor of the gun grabbers, as well. As soon as demand increased, supply decreased, and the prices for ammo shot upward at an astronomical rate. So, ammunition that IS available is extremely costly.
Another conspiracy theory? No. I don't think so -- not this time, at least. But -- even if it IS a theory, that doesn't mean there ISN'T a conspiracy!
If this "theory" turns out to be correct, I expect there will be a public backlash the Obama Administration will be hard-pressed to withstand. But, hey! They don't have to face the voters again!
We urge Congress to immediately initiate hearings and grill the Obama administration, under oath, to get to the bottom of it. If the results are found to be less than satisfactory, we urge Congress to defund those government departments responsible.
In the meantime, gun owners are finding ways around the ammo shortage just as they have invented ways around any future government gun confiscation. Hey! It is the American way!
Here in the American south we have a long history of going head to head with government "revenuers" (Internal Revenue agents chasing moonshiners). In recent years it has become something of a lost art -- but -- one sure to see a quick revival if the Obama administration continues on its ill-advised trek toward universal background checks and gun registration and possible confiscation of firearms from the hands of lawful citizens. Believe me -- it won't be pretty.
It is historical and even traditional for the American people to allow a government all the rope necessary to hang itself -- and THEN draw the noose tight. We suggest that NOW would be a good time for the current administration to reassess its attack on legal gun owners in America -- while we are still paying out the rope.
© J. D. Longstreet
Big City lights- back in N.Y
I guess I can't stay away from you New York!
The reason that I had to comeback in The Big Apple was a invitation to take a closer look of BCBG Max Azria, Herve Leger and BCBGeneration Fall collection preview. I also received a few more invitations but I couldn't go in NY for each one :( but I was happy to attend this one.
Here you can see my travel outfit with popping accessories, white jeans and a striped top.
More photos from this mini trip in New York soon!
Coat: Topshop
Jeans: Mango/ option Here
Oxford shoes: Jeffrey Campbell, thanks to shopAKIRA/ Here
Bag: Proenza Schouler
Top: vintage
Cuff bracelet: thanks to Cooee/ Here
Sunglasses: c/o zeroUV
America/Sodom/Gomorrah ... J. D. Longstreet
America/Sodom/Gomorrah
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
************
I began writing this piece on "Good Friday," the day upon which we Christians remember the crucifixion, death, and entombment of Christ.
Christians have waited since for the sun to rise on this Sunday, Easter morning.
Today, Easter Sunday, we rejoice as we celebrate Christ's resurrection, his victory over death, hell, and the grave. The Christian faith is founded upon the events of the period from Christ's arrest until his ascension.
Sadly, today the tenets of the Christian faith have been turned and are now being used by those of little or no faith against the Christian Church.
Where are the Christian warriors? (Maybe we need a modern day Knights Templar organization to confront those who have turned America on its head. Just a thought.)
America used to be a Christian nation. She can not lay claim to that title any longer.
Look. The very word "Christian" means "Christ-like." There is very little in America that could be classified as Christ-like today. In fact, America reassembles Sodom and Gomorrah more than a nation that subscribes to the teachings of Christ.
The scriptures tell us that God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by raining fire down from heaven and incinerating both towns -- and all within them.
As I write, America is under a threat from North Korea to rain down fire from the heavens upon our nation. You don't suppose there is a connection -- do you?
America's culture is a carbon copy of the wicked culture of Sodom and Gomorrah. The leaders of our nation have sanctioned the very same culture, for which Sodom and Gomorrah paid the ultimate price.
Let's be clear. Those two ancient cities were NOT destroyed by God because of bad hospitality (inhospitality) . They were destroyed by God for the sin of practicing every kind of vice imaginable -- including the practice of homosexuality. The scriptures are exceedingly clear about that.
"America, is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within." ... Joseph Stalin
Uncle Joe was spot on with that assessment. His accuracy is evident all around us today. America is, indeed, collapsing from within. Practicing Christians know this. They see the evidence, they recognize it for what it is, for they live, like everyone else, in the muck and mire of the degenerate decadence that is modern America. It is all around us day in and day out. America's indulgence in sensual pleasures, its excessive and immoral activities involving sex, alcohol, food, and drugs has swamped our beloved country much like a tsunami embracing a beachfront village. We are awash in hedonism. We have created a society that values the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good.
The perversions of Roman Emperor Caligula can barely hold a candle to the "egalitarian" hedonistic escapades of we Americans. We have even gone so far as to urge our Supreme Court to decree such behavior as constitutionally protected.
This behavior by a people, a nation, is nothing new. Thousands of years ago a prophet wrote: "The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves." -- Isaiah 3:9 . Read that short piece of scripture again and then turn on a TV news channel and observe as "they parade their sin as Sodom."
I ask you: How much farther can America fall before she hits the bottom. Instead, maybe the question ought to be how much farther MUST America fall before she hits the bottom. I pose the question because our arrogance, our stubbornness, will not allow Americans to recognize and then accept our enslavement to a death wish. For, believe me, it is a death wish.
No less an authority that the Scriptures tells us flat-out that: "The wages of sin is -- death." (Romans 6:23 -- The Bible)
There has been a complete moral breakdown in American society. Since the 1960's there has been a spiraling descent of Americans into the depths of hedonistic squalor. "Moral relativism," in my opinion, has greased the rails leading to chaos, ruin, and eventually, to perdition for our once great country. We know it by another name today -- political correctness --and -- at least SOME of us can see the hefty price tag.
Social conservatives championing "family values" were mocked and shouted down just a bare few years ago. It was reminiscent of those who laughed at --and derided -- a fellow named Noah as he sweated profusely to build a huge float-able barge in the heat of a dry, dry, desert. The laughter and derision ended abruptly when the water began to rise. By then, of course, it was too late.
Thomas Huxley once said: "It doesn't take much of a man to be a Christian, but it takes all there is of him." In America today Christians are fighting a holding action. We hear often of the war on Christianity. It IS real and no quarter is given by the opponents of Christianity.
I had not intended to deliver a sermon when I began this piece. It just sort of evolved into, well, whatever you may chose to call it.
To America's Christian community, I offer encouragement. But -- we MUST take a stand. In fact, those are our instructions: "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm." (Ephesians 6:13 -- The Bible)
As we look around us, there can be no doubt THIS is the EVIL DAY.
As Brother Martin Luther, the Great Reformer, was on trial for his life, he refused to recant and he left us with words that echo down through the ages. As he refused to recant he said: "Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me. Amen."
So, I would call upon my fellow Christians to "stand". Don't give an inch. And may God help us. Amen.
© J. D. Longstreet
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
************
I began writing this piece on "Good Friday," the day upon which we Christians remember the crucifixion, death, and entombment of Christ.
Christians have waited since for the sun to rise on this Sunday, Easter morning.
Today, Easter Sunday, we rejoice as we celebrate Christ's resurrection, his victory over death, hell, and the grave. The Christian faith is founded upon the events of the period from Christ's arrest until his ascension.
Sadly, today the tenets of the Christian faith have been turned and are now being used by those of little or no faith against the Christian Church.
Where are the Christian warriors? (Maybe we need a modern day Knights Templar organization to confront those who have turned America on its head. Just a thought.)
America used to be a Christian nation. She can not lay claim to that title any longer.
Look. The very word "Christian" means "Christ-like." There is very little in America that could be classified as Christ-like today. In fact, America reassembles Sodom and Gomorrah more than a nation that subscribes to the teachings of Christ.
The scriptures tell us that God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by raining fire down from heaven and incinerating both towns -- and all within them.
As I write, America is under a threat from North Korea to rain down fire from the heavens upon our nation. You don't suppose there is a connection -- do you?
America's culture is a carbon copy of the wicked culture of Sodom and Gomorrah. The leaders of our nation have sanctioned the very same culture, for which Sodom and Gomorrah paid the ultimate price.
Let's be clear. Those two ancient cities were NOT destroyed by God because of bad hospitality (inhospitality) . They were destroyed by God for the sin of practicing every kind of vice imaginable -- including the practice of homosexuality. The scriptures are exceedingly clear about that.
"America, is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within." ... Joseph Stalin
Uncle Joe was spot on with that assessment. His accuracy is evident all around us today. America is, indeed, collapsing from within. Practicing Christians know this. They see the evidence, they recognize it for what it is, for they live, like everyone else, in the muck and mire of the degenerate decadence that is modern America. It is all around us day in and day out. America's indulgence in sensual pleasures, its excessive and immoral activities involving sex, alcohol, food, and drugs has swamped our beloved country much like a tsunami embracing a beachfront village. We are awash in hedonism. We have created a society that values the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good.
The perversions of Roman Emperor Caligula can barely hold a candle to the "egalitarian" hedonistic escapades of we Americans. We have even gone so far as to urge our Supreme Court to decree such behavior as constitutionally protected.
This behavior by a people, a nation, is nothing new. Thousands of years ago a prophet wrote: "The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves." -- Isaiah 3:9 . Read that short piece of scripture again and then turn on a TV news channel and observe as "they parade their sin as Sodom."
I ask you: How much farther can America fall before she hits the bottom. Instead, maybe the question ought to be how much farther MUST America fall before she hits the bottom. I pose the question because our arrogance, our stubbornness, will not allow Americans to recognize and then accept our enslavement to a death wish. For, believe me, it is a death wish.
No less an authority that the Scriptures tells us flat-out that: "The wages of sin is -- death." (Romans 6:23 -- The Bible)
There has been a complete moral breakdown in American society. Since the 1960's there has been a spiraling descent of Americans into the depths of hedonistic squalor. "Moral relativism," in my opinion, has greased the rails leading to chaos, ruin, and eventually, to perdition for our once great country. We know it by another name today -- political correctness --and -- at least SOME of us can see the hefty price tag.
Social conservatives championing "family values" were mocked and shouted down just a bare few years ago. It was reminiscent of those who laughed at --and derided -- a fellow named Noah as he sweated profusely to build a huge float-able barge in the heat of a dry, dry, desert. The laughter and derision ended abruptly when the water began to rise. By then, of course, it was too late.
Thomas Huxley once said: "It doesn't take much of a man to be a Christian, but it takes all there is of him." In America today Christians are fighting a holding action. We hear often of the war on Christianity. It IS real and no quarter is given by the opponents of Christianity.
I had not intended to deliver a sermon when I began this piece. It just sort of evolved into, well, whatever you may chose to call it.
To America's Christian community, I offer encouragement. But -- we MUST take a stand. In fact, those are our instructions: "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm." (Ephesians 6:13 -- The Bible)
As we look around us, there can be no doubt THIS is the EVIL DAY.
As Brother Martin Luther, the Great Reformer, was on trial for his life, he refused to recant and he left us with words that echo down through the ages. As he refused to recant he said: "Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me. Amen."
So, I would call upon my fellow Christians to "stand". Don't give an inch. And may God help us. Amen.
© J. D. Longstreet
Pagan America ... by J. D. Longstreet
Pagan America
******************
Creating God In Our Own Image
By: J. D. Longstreet******************
As socialism wraps it’s cold, icy, fingers around freedom’s throat As I think back, the most obvious of the “warning signs” was/is the so-called “Green Movement.”
In America, many Americans have slowly come to the realization that the socialist takeover of America did not happen overnight. There were plenty of warning signs over the past few decades.Those who follow the Green Movement, the acolytes of the Global Warming “religion,” are easily identified by their unbridled compulsion to bow down to the false idols of science, to socialist politics, and, let us not forget… M O N E Y! You find them everywhere these days. Turn on a TV and there they are straining to burden you with a guilt trip about the damage YOU have done to the planet and how YOU must atone for your wickedness in order to be redeemed from your sins against the “Earth Mother.”
Go to church, and there they are, often in the pulpits, railing about YOUR sins NOT against God, but your sins against the Earth, the climate, the Polar bears, etc, etc.
In America’s schools YOUR children are being indoctrinated in the world’s newest religion and they are instructed to act as missionaries taking the message of the new salvation back home to their parents and family and friends and neighbors. They are made to sit through propaganda movies by Nobel Prize winners which scare the living daylights out of them and help mold those malleable mental crucibles into warriors of the LEFT armed with lies, deceit, and more propaganda.
Spreading the Green Gospel ain’t easy. If the Greenies get them at birth, and all the way through 16 to 20 years in our public education system, they are lost. The Green culthas got them… unless there is an “Intervention.”
Our politicians sold out, longs ago, to the "greenies." They preach energy independence and then refuse to allow America to become energy independent by using the oil and coal we have right here beneath American soil or under American waters or in the rocks that litter some of America’s landscape. And now we have a President absolutely committed to the green religion.
Back to the new/OLD religion. (That was not a misprint, or an editorial screw-up.) See, that’s what this new Green religion is… O L D! It is out and out paganism.
The first time I heard a minister preaching on the merits of environmentalism from the pulpit, I nearly burst out laughing! The man was obviously educated beyond his abilities! There was a man, supposedly a man of God, speaking from a sacred spot in a building set aside for the worship of God, endorsing paganism, which, itself, is the world’s OLDEST religion! I ask you, how is it possible for any reasonably educated individual NOT to recognize the Green Movement for what it is… pure Paganism, the worship of Gaia, the “earth mother, or “Mother Earth”.
Many believe that paganism died after Constantine in the third century. Not so! It DID recede but the practice of paganism continued in the jungles of Africa and right here in what we now call America, and even in Europe where the practice went, for all intents and purposes, underground.
Paganism has survived into the 21stcentury. Not much about it has changed except the name by which it is known today…. environmentalism. It is the worship of the earth. It is the deification of the planet and raising it up above that which Christians and Jews refer to as God, Jehovah, and Yahweh. It is, for Christians and Jews, a violation of the First Commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Even now, as I write this, I envision modern day Americans bowing down to trees and rocks and rivers and oceans paying homage to Gaia the “earth mother”. How utterly disgusting it is to see grown men and women make complete fools of themselves in pagan worship services on Earth Day. What makes it truly disturbing is that these same men and women who, on Earth Day bow down to the idols of a false god, a pagan god, Gaia, will rush to church or temple or synagogue on Saturday, or Sunday, and keep a straight face while they go through the motions of worshiping the creator of all this is, seen and unseen.
Yes, the pagans are back from the fringes of society and the shadows of civilization to take advantage of mankind’s deep yearning for something to worship that he, or she, can see and hold and touch and pay tribute to in order to, somehow, redeem himself/herself from whatever his/her, darkest fears happen to be. They call it environmentalism, but those of us who recognize it for what it is call it by its real name… paganism.
It is important to understand the link between paganism and socialism. Here in America we now have a socialist government, as does much of the rest of the world. Here’s the link…socialism is the incubator and the nursery for paganism.
You see, America is now in it’s “Post-Christian Era.” We are no longer a Christian nation. America, today, is, at best, a Socialist/Pagan nation. There is a price America must pay for her failure to live into her promise, to live up to her role as the leader of the world.
Make no mistake, America forsook her leadership role and joined the mob. If you have been surprised at the rapidity with which America has crumbled, then you have not been paying attention. Stand-by, for the worst is yet to come. We are only at the cusp of the troubles and tribulations this nation must yet suffer.
Already, today, I chafe under the yoke of socialism. The knowledge that the burden is only going to grow heavier makes the chafing even worse. Watching America desperately seeking redemption through the pagan worship of the earth, this oldest of old religions, it occurred to me that, at least here in America, we have finally succeeded in creating God in our own image… and it is an abomination!
J. D. Longstreet
We Believe It Is Okay To Murder The Child If The Parent Doesn't Want It!
By Findalis
Monkey in the Middle
Is basically the statement given by Planned Parenthood's lobbyist Alisa LaPolt Snow when asked if a child is born alive during a botched abortion what should be done with it. This goes along with the teachings of Planned Parenthood and the writings of Alberto Giubilini of Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourn. Professors (and I use the word loosely) Giubilni and Minerva believe that a parent has the right to murder her child until the child reaches the age of 2. They claim the child is NOT a human and there is no soul. Now it seems that Planned Parenthood is spouting this idea.
I fear this is the next "right" that the Sandra Flukes and Planned Parenthood cronies will impose upon us. And I can just hear Satan laughing his head off.
Monkey in the Middle
Is basically the statement given by Planned Parenthood's lobbyist Alisa LaPolt Snow when asked if a child is born alive during a botched abortion what should be done with it. This goes along with the teachings of Planned Parenthood and the writings of Alberto Giubilini of Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourn. Professors (and I use the word loosely) Giubilni and Minerva believe that a parent has the right to murder her child until the child reaches the age of 2. They claim the child is NOT a human and there is no soul. Now it seems that Planned Parenthood is spouting this idea.
A representative from Planned Parenthood is raising some eyebrows for her response to questioning on Florida legislation that would require baby's born alive during a botched abortion to receive medical care.Has anyone else noticed that this debate is going from aborting children before birth to now murdering children after they are born? And at what age do we consider the child "Human"?At what age does their murder become a crime? 2? 12? 21? 50? A week ago a pair of teens shot a 13 month old little boy in the head, killing him. Today they are charged with murder. If Alisa LaPolt Snow and Planned Parenthood have their way, they would be given medals and a monetary reward.
Alisa LaPolt Snow, a lobbyist with the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, testified this week at a committee hearing on the bill, sparking expressions of disbelief when she underscored that such matters be left to the woman, her family and her physician.
"Planned Parenthood condemns any physician who does not follow the law or endangers a woman's or a child's health, but we don't believe that politicians should be the ones who decide what constitutes the best, medically appropriate treatment in any given situation," she said in a prepared statement.
One of the lawmakers asked her what Planned Parenthood's position would be if a baby is born as a result of a botched abortion.
"We believe that any decision that's made should be left up to the woman, her family and the physician," she said.
When another lawmaker asks her specifically what Planned Parenthood does when such a scenario happens at its clinics, she said simply, "I do not have that information."
Another lawmaker made the point that the baby born alive would become a patient as well, not just the mother.
"That's a very good question," Snow said. "I really don't know how to answer that."
She had said earlier that Planned Parenthood's primary objection to the legislation is that it doesn't include a "neutrality clause" that would make clear it does not change the legal status of a baby before being born alive.
Source
I fear this is the next "right" that the Sandra Flukes and Planned Parenthood cronies will impose upon us. And I can just hear Satan laughing his head off.
Unbelievable!... At Least for Me
by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Dr. Benjamin Carson, a world renowned neurosurgeon. A man whose character and integrity has heretofore been unquestioned. A man who quite possibly has given the world more than any number of less capable individuals ever has or ever could.
Because of ill advised remarks on gay marriage (ill advised from the PC perspective anyway) Dr. Carson has come under fire by progressives. Because of this he has apologized for his remarks. Even though I personally disagree with his remarks I wish he had not apologized for his beliefs.
Clarifying the meaning of his remarks for those who failed to understand them is fine. Something that occurs throughout the day across the USA in schools, businesses, and in the homes of families everyday.
The fine Doctor and Surgeon is not a politician. He represents no constituency. His entire adult life has been about finding ways to improve the human condition and the preservation of life. We should have nothing but admiration for this man.
We see how the progressive and closed minded at the university has reacted. Dr. Carson, in his response to the graduating class displayed both humility and class.
Lets just chalk it up to youthful intolerance and hope the 2013 graduating class grows up.
Via: Memeorandum
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Dr. Benjamin Carson, a world renowned neurosurgeon. A man whose character and integrity has heretofore been unquestioned. A man who quite possibly has given the world more than any number of less capable individuals ever has or ever could.
Because of ill advised remarks on gay marriage (ill advised from the PC perspective anyway) Dr. Carson has come under fire by progressives. Because of this he has apologized for his remarks. Even though I personally disagree with his remarks I wish he had not apologized for his beliefs.
Clarifying the meaning of his remarks for those who failed to understand them is fine. Something that occurs throughout the day across the USA in schools, businesses, and in the homes of families everyday.
The fine Doctor and Surgeon is not a politician. He represents no constituency. His entire adult life has been about finding ways to improve the human condition and the preservation of life. We should have nothing but admiration for this man.
THE BALTIMORE SUN - Dr. Benjamin Carson, the famed Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, apologized Friday for his "choice of words" and use of examples in discussing gay marriage on Fox News earlier in the week.
During Sean Hannity's show on Tuesday, when asked about the matter before the Supreme Court, Carson said, "Marriage is between a man and a woman. No group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn't matter what they are. They don't get to change the definition."
The comparison of gays to members of the North American Boy/Man Love Association and those who engage in bestiality set off a backlash of criticism in the media, online and on campus. There is now a petition circulating at Johns Hopkins Medical to have Carson removed as commencement speaker in May at the School of Medicine.
"I think people have completely taken the wrong meaning out of what I was saying," the 61-year-old surgeon said in a telephone interview Friday. "First of all, I certainly believe gay people should have all the rights that anybody else has. What I was basically saying is that as far as marriage is concerned that has traditionally been between a man and a woman and nobody should be able to change that."
"Now perhaps the examples were not the best choice of words, and I certainly apologize if I offended anyone," he added. "But the point that I was making was that no group of individuals, whoever they are, whatever their belief systems, gets to change traditional definitions. The reason I believe the way I do, I will readily confess, is because I am a Christian who believes in The Bible."
The Bible, he explained, "...says we have an obligation to love our fellow man as ourselves, and I love everybody the same -- all homosexuals. Everybody who knows me knows I would never say anything to intentionally hurt someone."
Given the "if I offended anyone" tone and language of the apology, it will be interesting to see how it's received. I hope readers will weigh in here.
The Sun has also obtained a copy of the petition aimed at getting Carson, who is on the eve of retirement this spring, removed as a speaker at the School of Medicine graduation ceremonies in May.
"At the time of his nomination, Dr. Carson was known to most of us as a world-class neurosurgeon and passionate advocate for education," the petition says. "Many of us had read his books and looked up to him as a role model in our careers. Since then, however, several public events have cast serious doubt on the appropriateness of having Dr. Carson speak at our graduation. If you believe he is an inappropriate choice of speaker at a ceremony intended to celebrate the achievements of our class please complete the petition below."
When asked about the petition Friday, Carson told the Sun, "I've caught wind of it and I've sent back a message that this is their graduation, their big day, and if they think me being there is going to be a problem, I am happy to withdraw." {Read More}
We see how the progressive and closed minded at the university has reacted. Dr. Carson, in his response to the graduating class displayed both humility and class.
Lets just chalk it up to youthful intolerance and hope the 2013 graduating class grows up.
Via: Memeorandum
The Korean Penisula... The Next Military Engagement?
by:Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Is it surprising... I mean really?
As tensions on the Korean Peninsula heat up the Obama administration responds just as the GWB's administration would have, as well as all prior U.S administrations would likely have responded. No surprise because standing behind alliances is what America does.
The maniacal North Korean leadership has responded in a fashion that fuels concern, and the possibility of further hostilities. Up to and including a strike on the U.S. mainland. In fact (based on the following report) North Korean leadership has stated exactly that. We'll have to wait to see.
Should such a thing actually occur I personally am comfortable that the current President would take decisive and appropriate action in response. We all of course are hopeful this does not occur.
Could Korea be our next engagement? Being the policeman of the world insures we will continue to be engaged around the world as dictated by alliances signed many years ago both preceding and following WW II and the Cold War.
Indeed we are obligated to honor our agreements. Ill advised or not. Hindsight at best gives us the opportunity of not repeating errors of the past.
If anyone is actually paying attention.
Via: Memeorandum
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Is it surprising... I mean really?
As tensions on the Korean Peninsula heat up the Obama administration responds just as the GWB's administration would have, as well as all prior U.S administrations would likely have responded. No surprise because standing behind alliances is what America does.
The maniacal North Korean leadership has responded in a fashion that fuels concern, and the possibility of further hostilities. Up to and including a strike on the U.S. mainland. In fact (based on the following report) North Korean leadership has stated exactly that. We'll have to wait to see.
Should such a thing actually occur I personally am comfortable that the current President would take decisive and appropriate action in response. We all of course are hopeful this does not occur.
NK News – North Korea News - South Korean intelligence agencies have spotted increased activity on North Korean mid-to-long range missile platforms, an unnamed official told Yonhap in Seoul: “We are closely watching for the possibility of a missile launch,” the anonymous government source said.
Kim Jong Un signed off on a plan to ready his forces to target the U.S. mainland and American bases in East Asia following yesterday’s U.S.-led B-2 stealth bomber runs, the KCNA reported after the North Korean military conveyed an “emergency meeting” in the early hours of this morning.
In a photo published in the Korea Worker’s Party (KWP) paper the Rodong, plans for a strike on the U.S. mainland are clearly –and therefore probably deliberately– visible. The newspaper is widely distributed in cities, and often displayed in public places for easy viewing.
“He finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets, ordering them to be on standby to fire so that they may strike any time the U.S. mainland, its military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in south Korea,” a KCNA report in English said.
Skip... For Photos and specifics Click Here.
“All the available technical evidence suggests that the North’s claims to be able to hit (let alone target precisely) geographical sites in the United States are highly implausible,” John Swenson-Wright, senior lecturer in East Asian International Relations at the University of Cambridge told NK NEWS.
“It seems reasonable to suppose that the target map is designed for home consumption and to create an impression of war-readiness for DPRK-citizens that is part of a wider policy of strengthening national resolve,” Swenson-Wright added. If the marks on the map are intended to demonstrate the flight path of a missile, they would most likely not be straight.
The development appears to be a tit-for-tat response to a U.S. stealth bomber training run Thursday that saw two B-2’s fly from Missouri to drop ordinance on an island in the southern half of the Korean peninsula. U.S. officials said the flights were not designed to raise tensions, but reduce them by bolstering deterrence in face of North Korea’s recent vitriolic provocations.
However, North Korea sees ongoing U.S. military drills as part of a plot to conduce a full-scale nuclear invasion of their country. This week, Pyongyang put its military on the highest level of alert possible and cut a second military hotline. A KCNA report published earlier today added to tensions by saying that the North Korean military was preparing to “blow up the strongholds of aggression…through precision strikes no matter where they are.”
Observers worry that, with tensions running high and two new leaders in Pyongyang and Seoul, there is significant potential for escalation in the event of military confrontation. Both Kim Jong Un and Park Geun-hye are under domestic pressure to show strong and decisive leadership in the face of each other’s threats, and a lack of direct communication between the two sides is worrying for some.
Could Korea be our next engagement? Being the policeman of the world insures we will continue to be engaged around the world as dictated by alliances signed many years ago both preceding and following WW II and the Cold War.
Indeed we are obligated to honor our agreements. Ill advised or not. Hindsight at best gives us the opportunity of not repeating errors of the past.
If anyone is actually paying attention.
Via: Memeorandum
What Should We Cut USA?
Why not the Defense Budget,
"Bill Maher stated We spend more on defense than the next 17 nations combined. Our Navy is bigger than the next 11 Navies combined. Do we need this much?"
And Almost all of them Are Allies In Defense!
The Beauty, and Danger of Selective Quoting...
by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Oops, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) selectively quoted President Abraham Lincoln when speaking of the imposing national debt. Lincoln, back in the days of a significantly more limited government, a much smaller economy, and a smaller population it seems had to deal with fiscal realities similar to those are facing today. Albeit certainly not on such a grand scale.
Although it is done all the time, selective quoting that is, the liberal biased media, in this case the Huffington Post, was quick to point out that Lincoln at the time also called for a tax increase or tariff (revenue enhancement) to balance the books and set the fiscal ship right.
I remain a small government Classical Liberal (that what the founders were) that believe we must act in a fiscally responsible way to keep the fiscal ship solvent and afloat, with a course set to insure prosperity for future generations of United States Citizens.
The rEpublicans need to recognizes that the mess we find ourselves in is one of our own making. The size of the debt and the amount of the annual deficits cannot be reversed and the books balanced by budget cuts alone. Cuts are absolutely necessary, but alone will not carry the nation out of its bone crushing national debt.
Simpson-Bowles had it right, and they were ignored by both parties largely for political reasons. This is unfortunate for the fiscal health of the nations and ultimately for it's people.
Just one more thing. Size and scope of government is, as I've come to understand a relative state. Think about it rEpublicans.
Via: Memeorandum
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Oops, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) selectively quoted President Abraham Lincoln when speaking of the imposing national debt. Lincoln, back in the days of a significantly more limited government, a much smaller economy, and a smaller population it seems had to deal with fiscal realities similar to those are facing today. Albeit certainly not on such a grand scale.
Although it is done all the time, selective quoting that is, the liberal biased media, in this case the Huffington Post, was quick to point out that Lincoln at the time also called for a tax increase or tariff (revenue enhancement) to balance the books and set the fiscal ship right.
The Huffington Post - House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) quotes Abraham Lincoln in a memo released Thursday as warning of debt, but ignores the former president's call for a tax or tariff.
The messaging to House Republicans quotes Lincoln expressing concern over debt:
"The book Congressman Lincoln by Chris DeRose, which I recently read, includes a chapter focused on Abraham Lincoln’s efforts to help craft a new national agenda. At one point in the book, young Lincoln warns that government debt is “growing with a rapidity fearful to contemplate.”
“[Government debt] is a system not only ruinous while it lasts, but one that must soon fail and leave us destitute,” Lincoln warns his countrymen in Congressman Lincoln. “An individual who undertakes to live by borrowing, soon finds his original means devoured by interest, and next no one left to borrow from –- so must it be with a government.”
Lincoln’s words ring true today, perhaps to a degree greater than ever before."
Lincoln, however, while warning of debt, also said that the debt had been created by the unwillingness to consider new revenue.
"By this means a new national debt has been created, and is still growing on us with a rapidity fearful to contemplate -- a rapidity only reasonably to be expected in time of war. This state of things has been produced by a prevailing unwillingness either to increase the tariff or resort to direct taxation. But the one or the other must come," Lincoln wrote in the Whig Circular in 1843.
Boehner and House Republicans are unwilling to consider revenue to solve the cuts put in place by sequestration. "The president got his tax hikes on January 1. The talk about raising revenue is over. It’s time to deal with the spending problem," the House speaker said in a recent interview with ABC News.
In his writing, Lincoln goes further, calling for a direct tax or tariff. "We repeat, then, that a tariff sufficient for revenue, or a direct tax, must soon be resorted to; and, indeed, we believe this alternative is now denied by no one," he wrote. Lincoln then goes onto debate the various merits and pitfalls of establishing a direct tax versus increasing tariffs. {Read More}
I remain a small government Classical Liberal (that what the founders were) that believe we must act in a fiscally responsible way to keep the fiscal ship solvent and afloat, with a course set to insure prosperity for future generations of United States Citizens.
The rEpublicans need to recognizes that the mess we find ourselves in is one of our own making. The size of the debt and the amount of the annual deficits cannot be reversed and the books balanced by budget cuts alone. Cuts are absolutely necessary, but alone will not carry the nation out of its bone crushing national debt.
Simpson-Bowles had it right, and they were ignored by both parties largely for political reasons. This is unfortunate for the fiscal health of the nations and ultimately for it's people.
Just one more thing. Size and scope of government is, as I've come to understand a relative state. Think about it rEpublicans.
Via: Memeorandum
Willie, Keeping it Simple On Marriage Equality...
by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Always liked Willie Nelson, even his country western music. Thinking back to Willie and Waylon. I always thought of Willie as a kind of maverick. Just a bit ahead of his times and not too worried about all that judgmental stuff. You know, the kind that doesn't really impact anybody but those involved? Maybe Willie has always been thinking outside the box of religious driven judgmental-ism. Sometimes I think the personal religious stuff somehow finds a way to influence the government. I hear Willie isn't real big on state tyranny either. I guess Willie is consistent. Something to be admired I'm thinking.
Via: Memeorandum
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Always liked Willie Nelson, even his country western music. Thinking back to Willie and Waylon. I always thought of Willie as a kind of maverick. Just a bit ahead of his times and not too worried about all that judgmental stuff. You know, the kind that doesn't really impact anybody but those involved? Maybe Willie has always been thinking outside the box of religious driven judgmental-ism. Sometimes I think the personal religious stuff somehow finds a way to influence the government. I hear Willie isn't real big on state tyranny either. I guess Willie is consistent. Something to be admired I'm thinking.
TexasMonthly - Willie Nelson loves love. "Love is what I live on. Love is what keeps me going," he wrote in his 2006 book The Tao Of Willie. And Wednesday night, in an interview in Austin on his tour bus, Willie said he believes love doesn't discriminate, "and it shouldn't be discriminated against."
Nelson has been watching the Supreme Court arguments over same-sex marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. "[Gay people] should be just as miserable as the rest of us," quipped Nelson, before giving a more nuanced explanation of what he says has been a life-long, unwavering belief that all people deserve equal protection under the law.
After the interview, and just before heading into Austin's ACL Live at the Moody Theater to play a fundraiser for the Darrell K Royal Research Fund for Alzheimer’s Disease, Nelson posed for a Texas Monthly photographer with a series of signs created by the Austin-based design agency Helms Workshop and printed by Austin's East End Ink. The first is a straightforward reproduction of the pink equal sign—the logo of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign—that has gone viral on Facebook and Twitter over the past few days. Helms also designed two Willie-specific variations on the image, one with his trademark braids and another with a pair of marijuana cigarettes. Both images are available for download below for use as avatars on your Facebook or Twitter account. Or whatever else you want to do with them. It’s a free country, you know.
Texas Monthly: You're closely following the Supreme Court's consideration of gay rights and same-sex marriage.
Willie Nelson: I am. And it's ridiculous to me that this is something we're having a conversation about this in this day and age. I thought it was something that was settled a long time ago.
TM: Clearly not.
WN: Clearly not. And obviously, even the Supreme Court doesn't know what to do about it. They say, 'Don't ask me. Ask somebody else.' They don't want to get in the middle of the states on it. And what are they going to do, come in and override states that have said it's okay? It's a mess.
TM: With same-sex marriage legal in some states and not in others, equality means different things different places.
WN: For same-sex couples, taxes are different, benefits are different, survivor benefits are different. It's crazy.
TM: You've been a supporter of LBGT issues over the years. Outspoken even.
WN: I never had a problem with any of it. I've known straight and gay people all my life. I can't tell the difference. People are people where I came from. (Emphasis mine.) {The Rest of the Interview}
Via: Memeorandum
a girl walks into a bar
OK, so it wasn't a bar, but it is still a good story. Two good stories.
First, remember this little gem I found a few weeks back?
Well after several trips back to the store to measure, stare and contemplate
the old girl is at home where she belongs. Our messy home. Sorry for the picture, but that's life.
She fits like a glove and I love her color, finish and pretty much everything about her. Now I just need to rip down that wallpaper. And paint. And get a new mirror. And pillows. And rug. Don't tell the hubs, but we've got another project ahead people.
Story #2 is a story of surprise, drama and intrigue. Or, if you follow me on instagram (follow me here) then it's a story you've already 'heard'.
Last Saturday I was on my way to a little store I love to source a table for a client. But I was early and they weren't open yet so I went next door to the Goodwill towaste time search for good finds.
And as I turned the corner I saw this.
Allow me to read the tag for you. $30 people. (ok, I added the 'people')
I took a picture immediately and then took a seat. Comfy. I lifted the cushions. Clean. I looked for stains. Negative (with the exception of one small crayon mark).
So with all of these good check marks I of course...walked away. I went on my way next store and went about my regularly scheduled errands. But I kept thinking about it. And thinking about it. We need a new couch for our family room. We'd been planning on just getting a slipcovered couch or sectional.
Plans change.
That night I googled to find out what time Goodwill opened and made a plan to go and get my little honey. Even the biggest snow storm we've had in 30 years wouldn't stop me. I piled my girls in the car, drove 10 miles an hour thru some heavy falling snow and slapped down my $30.
Whoop Whoop.
She is now were I put all my best couches, the garage. And my head is spinning about what to do with her. What colors would you use with her? What patterns? I think I feel an inspiration board coming on. Prepare to hear a lot more about this girl over the next few weeks.
Happy Weekend!!
First, remember this little gem I found a few weeks back?
Well after several trips back to the store to measure, stare and contemplate
the old girl is at home where she belongs. Our messy home. Sorry for the picture, but that's life.
She fits like a glove and I love her color, finish and pretty much everything about her. Now I just need to rip down that wallpaper. And paint. And get a new mirror. And pillows. And rug. Don't tell the hubs, but we've got another project ahead people.
Story #2 is a story of surprise, drama and intrigue. Or, if you follow me on instagram (follow me here) then it's a story you've already 'heard'.
Last Saturday I was on my way to a little store I love to source a table for a client. But I was early and they weren't open yet so I went next door to the Goodwill to
And as I turned the corner I saw this.
Allow me to read the tag for you. $30 people. (ok, I added the 'people')
I took a picture immediately and then took a seat. Comfy. I lifted the cushions. Clean. I looked for stains. Negative (with the exception of one small crayon mark).
So with all of these good check marks I of course...walked away. I went on my way next store and went about my regularly scheduled errands. But I kept thinking about it. And thinking about it. We need a new couch for our family room. We'd been planning on just getting a slipcovered couch or sectional.
Plans change.
That night I googled to find out what time Goodwill opened and made a plan to go and get my little honey. Even the biggest snow storm we've had in 30 years wouldn't stop me. I piled my girls in the car, drove 10 miles an hour thru some heavy falling snow and slapped down my $30.
Whoop Whoop.
She is now were I put all my best couches, the garage. And my head is spinning about what to do with her. What colors would you use with her? What patterns? I think I feel an inspiration board coming on. Prepare to hear a lot more about this girl over the next few weeks.
Happy Weekend!!
Green & Orange
Finally I got to wear one more time this green coat before I put it away until next winter. This outfit was all about shades of green + playful accessories in a wonderful sunny day!
Thank you for your visit and have a great weekend!
Coat: H&M
Shirt: Jones New York
Jeans: Hurley/ similar Here
Heels: Nine West/ similar Here
Cuff bracelets: thanks to Cooee /Here and Here
Bag: thanks to Olivia + Joy New York/ Here
Sunglasses: Ray Ban
Sound Of War Drums Grows Louder ... J. D. Longstreet
Sound Of War Drums Grows Louder
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
***************
North Korea's bluster has been an incessant noise in the background of our lives for so long now that nobody really pays attention anymore.
That may be a mistake.
North Korea today is about as unpredictable as a two-year old with a loaded -- and cocked -- revolver in his hand.
If the DPRK's new leader, basically a kid, is not soon gagged by North Korea's number one sponsor, China, he may well talk himself into doing something utterly stupid and bring a world of hurt down on himself and the people he holds in abject slavery.
On the other hand, he may suffer an, uh, untimely demise, (The tried and true "brain hemorrhage" ... usually caused by a 9mm round administered just behind the left ear.) and at such a tender age.
We expect his replacement would be a more, shall we say ... moderate ... dictator.
Tensions are way high on the Korean peninsula these days and a single misstep could touch off a raging war that the US is bound to take part in.
The US has 30,000 combat troops on the ground in South Korea today. That is not counting those US troops taking part in the war games underway today. We have had a rather large garrison of troops there since 1953 when a cease fire was signed between the Koreas -- with the US included.
Understand: A state of war technically exists between North Korea and South Korea and the United States. The agreement in 1953, was only to stop shooting at each other. Since then we have, all three, stood at the border and glared across the 38th parallel at each other with our "war faces" on. There have been incidents in which lives have been lost on both sides. Almost all those incidents have been directly caused or triggered by the North Koreans.
So. Like it or not, once again the United States is staring down the barrel of a North Korean artillery piece while the chubby kid with the bowl haircut tightens the tension on the trigger lanyard.
One has to ask how big a part Iran is playing in North Korea's bombastic diplomacy toward the US and its sister state to the south. Is it outside the realm of possibility that Iran has offered North Korea something of value to create a disturbance and divert America's attention away for Teheran 's bomb making efforts? We know the North Korea and Iranian nuclear experts have been colluding for some time now in a scientific-cooperation pact. The official agreement was signed by the two rogue nations last September. But their military cooperation dates back to the Iran/Iraq war in the 1980's. Since then, North Korea has been the number one supplier of missile parts and technology to Iran.
Consider this: "North Korea could provide Iran with a range of supplies for its nuclear program, including uranium ore, centrifuge machines and enriched uranium, according to these officials." SOURCE: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323628804578348640295282274.html
Even more troubling is the possibility that North Korea might be supplying Iran with the the technology needed to place an atomic warhead on a missile.
"North Korea and Iran both have strategic reasons to mislead and conceal from the West the true status of their nuclear and missile programs. They intend that the U.S. and its allies will underestimate those programs, fail to act in time to stop them, and be strategically surprised when North Korea and Iran become nuclear super-powers, and progenitors of a dystopian new world order." SOURCE: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/12944#.UVRVTDfJIuM
Then there is the strong possibility that North Korea already has the technology to lob a relatively small nuclear device and have it explode high above the continental US creating an electromagnetic pulse that would , for all intents and purposes, completely shut down the US. No electricity anywhere in the country, no electronic devices, including computers, no cars, no trucks, no nothing. The US would effectively be thrown back into the 19th century where the horse will be the number one mode of transportation -- all in the twinkling of an eye.
Look. This is science ... not science fiction. We have the technology and it is readily available to the North Koreans -- and the Iranians.
The US is as vulnerable, as she as ever been, maybe more so. All the while our government is busy cutting back on our military.
As difficult as it may be to get one's mind wrapped around our vulnerability today, it is becoming clear that we Americans are one button push away from playing out the script of the movie "Red Dawn" -- in real life -- on our shores any day now.
You know, all those armed-to-the-teeth American citizens could turn out to be one hell of a partisan army in waiting.
Problem is ... that is a fantasy. After an EMP attack, all the enemy has to do is wait. Science/experts tell us that within three to six months the population of the US would be decimated by hunger and disease. Soon, our enemies could just walk in and take over.
Horrifying? Damn right it is! But such is the world we live in today.
The United States finds itself at a point in its history where it is, for all intents and purposes, leaderless. In our entire history, there has been no time in which we were as vulnerable to our enemies as we are today, this very minute.
The last time the US came this close to baring its chest to our enemies was during the Carter years. Reagan quickly built the US defenses and military up again as fast as was possible. There is no Reagan on the horizon today.
Just as the barbarians gathered around Rome when they sensed she was vulnerable, so our enemies are gathering their forces. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, plus the terrorist armies around the globe, and every little piss ant nation with a beef against us are biding their time.
"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." Translated from Latin it means: "If you want peace, prepare for war." Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (Usually shortened to Vegetius) is given credit for having said this in his book "Epitoma rei militaris." The book, itself, is a plea for army reform; it vividly portrays the military decadence of the Late Roman Empire.
One would hope an insightful American writer of modern times would pen such a warning today. Trouble is, about as many modern Americans can actually read as Romans of Vegetius' day! One must consider, too, that apathy amongst American citizens today far exceeds that of the citizens of ancient Rome.
There is no "high note" upon which to end this commentary. There just isn't.
These are perilous times for America -- extremely perilous. Even more troubling, is that an old swamp pundit finds himself compelled to direct the country's attention to the existential threat posed by a loud-mouthed, semi-sane, testosterone challenged, pip-squeak, rogue nation -- WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS!
You have heard it said: "Elections have consequences." Well, it's true. THIS is one of them.
© J. D. Longstreet
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
***************
North Korea's bluster has been an incessant noise in the background of our lives for so long now that nobody really pays attention anymore.
That may be a mistake.
North Korea today is about as unpredictable as a two-year old with a loaded -- and cocked -- revolver in his hand.
If the DPRK's new leader, basically a kid, is not soon gagged by North Korea's number one sponsor, China, he may well talk himself into doing something utterly stupid and bring a world of hurt down on himself and the people he holds in abject slavery.
On the other hand, he may suffer an, uh, untimely demise, (The tried and true "brain hemorrhage" ... usually caused by a 9mm round administered just behind the left ear.) and at such a tender age.
We expect his replacement would be a more, shall we say ... moderate ... dictator.
Tensions are way high on the Korean peninsula these days and a single misstep could touch off a raging war that the US is bound to take part in.
The US has 30,000 combat troops on the ground in South Korea today. That is not counting those US troops taking part in the war games underway today. We have had a rather large garrison of troops there since 1953 when a cease fire was signed between the Koreas -- with the US included.
Understand: A state of war technically exists between North Korea and South Korea and the United States. The agreement in 1953, was only to stop shooting at each other. Since then we have, all three, stood at the border and glared across the 38th parallel at each other with our "war faces" on. There have been incidents in which lives have been lost on both sides. Almost all those incidents have been directly caused or triggered by the North Koreans.
So. Like it or not, once again the United States is staring down the barrel of a North Korean artillery piece while the chubby kid with the bowl haircut tightens the tension on the trigger lanyard.
One has to ask how big a part Iran is playing in North Korea's bombastic diplomacy toward the US and its sister state to the south. Is it outside the realm of possibility that Iran has offered North Korea something of value to create a disturbance and divert America's attention away for Teheran 's bomb making efforts? We know the North Korea and Iranian nuclear experts have been colluding for some time now in a scientific-cooperation pact. The official agreement was signed by the two rogue nations last September. But their military cooperation dates back to the Iran/Iraq war in the 1980's. Since then, North Korea has been the number one supplier of missile parts and technology to Iran.
Consider this: "North Korea could provide Iran with a range of supplies for its nuclear program, including uranium ore, centrifuge machines and enriched uranium, according to these officials." SOURCE: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323628804578348640295282274.html
Even more troubling is the possibility that North Korea might be supplying Iran with the the technology needed to place an atomic warhead on a missile.
"North Korea and Iran both have strategic reasons to mislead and conceal from the West the true status of their nuclear and missile programs. They intend that the U.S. and its allies will underestimate those programs, fail to act in time to stop them, and be strategically surprised when North Korea and Iran become nuclear super-powers, and progenitors of a dystopian new world order." SOURCE: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/12944#.UVRVTDfJIuM
Then there is the strong possibility that North Korea already has the technology to lob a relatively small nuclear device and have it explode high above the continental US creating an electromagnetic pulse that would , for all intents and purposes, completely shut down the US. No electricity anywhere in the country, no electronic devices, including computers, no cars, no trucks, no nothing. The US would effectively be thrown back into the 19th century where the horse will be the number one mode of transportation -- all in the twinkling of an eye.
Look. This is science ... not science fiction. We have the technology and it is readily available to the North Koreans -- and the Iranians.
The US is as vulnerable, as she as ever been, maybe more so. All the while our government is busy cutting back on our military.
As difficult as it may be to get one's mind wrapped around our vulnerability today, it is becoming clear that we Americans are one button push away from playing out the script of the movie "Red Dawn" -- in real life -- on our shores any day now.
You know, all those armed-to-the-teeth American citizens could turn out to be one hell of a partisan army in waiting.
Problem is ... that is a fantasy. After an EMP attack, all the enemy has to do is wait. Science/experts tell us that within three to six months the population of the US would be decimated by hunger and disease. Soon, our enemies could just walk in and take over.
Horrifying? Damn right it is! But such is the world we live in today.
The United States finds itself at a point in its history where it is, for all intents and purposes, leaderless. In our entire history, there has been no time in which we were as vulnerable to our enemies as we are today, this very minute.
The last time the US came this close to baring its chest to our enemies was during the Carter years. Reagan quickly built the US defenses and military up again as fast as was possible. There is no Reagan on the horizon today.
Just as the barbarians gathered around Rome when they sensed she was vulnerable, so our enemies are gathering their forces. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, plus the terrorist armies around the globe, and every little piss ant nation with a beef against us are biding their time.
"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." Translated from Latin it means: "If you want peace, prepare for war." Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (Usually shortened to Vegetius) is given credit for having said this in his book "Epitoma rei militaris." The book, itself, is a plea for army reform; it vividly portrays the military decadence of the Late Roman Empire.
One would hope an insightful American writer of modern times would pen such a warning today. Trouble is, about as many modern Americans can actually read as Romans of Vegetius' day! One must consider, too, that apathy amongst American citizens today far exceeds that of the citizens of ancient Rome.
There is no "high note" upon which to end this commentary. There just isn't.
These are perilous times for America -- extremely perilous. Even more troubling, is that an old swamp pundit finds himself compelled to direct the country's attention to the existential threat posed by a loud-mouthed, semi-sane, testosterone challenged, pip-squeak, rogue nation -- WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS!
You have heard it said: "Elections have consequences." Well, it's true. THIS is one of them.
© J. D. Longstreet
Birthday trip in New York, outfit nr.4
Probably you noticed that I wore a lot of RED colour in my outfits this time around in New York. Here is another look from last day in the Big Apple, this time combined with two patterns in brown/ black/ nude tones.Voila!
We had such a great time in this birthday trip in New York!
P.S. Soon more photos from New York !
Coat: Isda & Co/ option Here
Shirt: Liz Claiborne/ option Here
Jeans: Mango/ similar Here
Boots: Sam Edelman
Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim/ another great version Here
Sunglasses: c/o zeroUV
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