Is there a puppet master???

    I have been reading a lot of postings dealing with the Aurora theater shootings just to try to settle in my mind what happened.  What was the breaking point in this young mans life to bring him to this?  Was it just an act of pure evil by an evil person?  I came across what may be the most insightful posting I have ever read it was by Oleg Abtashian.  Why does it take someone from the Ukraine to voice in such clear terms the attempted dismantling of the American Society?

      In my original posting  (… and all of this, I’ve given you  22 July)  I had written that Mr. Obama’s speech in Roanoke Va. reeked of Karl, Mao, Che, ect…  short the calls for death and destruction.  I may have been a bit hasty; although his words weren’t blatant they were inflammatory.  His remarks reinforced the divisiveness that fuels the us against them mentality that seems to fill every aspect of today’s society.  We have had members of Presidents Obama’s administration openly praising mass murders like Mao and Che.  Our academic institutions likewise praise these evil men as if they were saints.  Then when someone does on a smaller scale effectively what these men have done to millions the administration, the liberals, the media want to act horrified.  Why?  A quote from Che Guevara (one of academia and the lefts heroes) “A revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate”.  Is the left secretly cheering another strike on the American system?  The words are in place “Evil Corporations” “The Selfish Rich” “The Republicans want dirty air and water”  “The TEA Party people are bigots”.  Now it appears actions are following.  I could not describe the actions of James Homes any better “… a cold killing machine…” the very words of Che Guevara.

    I pose a couple of question for you to ponder.

    Should a government that’s so eager to take credit for the success of an individual be held accountable for an individual’s malfeasance?

    Is there a puppet master? Is it a man, a group, a system?                   

    My answer is NO.  Some may think they are in control, directing actions from the shadows, but ultimately it’s the individual that chooses the path they follow.  The individual can follow a path to success or surrender themselves to anger, hatred and finally failure.  Mr. Holmes mental status is questionable and very likely a major factor but he chose to give into his anger for whatever reason…       

I leave it to you to choose your path.

The TOMCAT

I recommend you visit the American Thinker web site and read Oleg Abtashian article.

www.americanthinker.com/2012/07/m-the_theater_shooter_is_caught_but_the_real_joker_keeps_laughing.html#.UA5NnQ6FXTA.mailto

Mr. Abtashian article can also be found on The Peoples Cube web site (very interesting site concept).  

… and all of this, I’ve given you.

There has been a horrific act that has played out the past few days.  The families and survivors of the Aurora Colo. shooting will always carry the sadness in their hearts.  Please give a moment to say a prayer for them.

I considered taking a pass on this with all that's happened but its important to keep the light shining on all wrongs.  I just couldn’t let this go without speaking out...  

    13 July, 2012 in Roanoke Virginia President, Obama finally hit the nail on the head.

                                                 (at least in his own mind).

    In defense of his plan to raise the tax rate on small businesses he blurted out his true feelings “If you’ve got a business.  You didn’t build that!  Somebody else made that happen!”  That somebody else being the government, by proxy Himself.  Has he become the self appointed giver and taker of success?   The last time I heard something so delusional, Al Gore was explaining how he single handed masterminded the Internet.

    I’ve seen a lot of back and forth on this statement.  Liberals have been saying the statement was taken out of context…  So I pulled the transcript up on the White House web site, I’ve read it over and over and over again.  The statement stands and yes I believe he meant exactly what he said.  A few names came to mind as I read the transcript of the speech, Karl, Vladimir, Mao, Fidel, Che…  Short the calls for death and destruction (for the time being).

.   

    Prior to that gem the anointed one (annoying one) had said “If you were successful, someone along the line gave you some help!”  This is a bit over simplified but… Under the Presidents delusion you wake up one day deciding to start a business and by the end of the day you’re making a $250,000 deposit in the bank all on the back of the unappreciated employee you enslaved that day.  Again he exposed his lack of understanding of what is involved in starting, building and maintaining a business.  The first years of scraping and scrounging.  The long days and nights put in propping up a fledgling business.  The fine line that a small business walks on being able to operate one more month,  week or even one more day.  The brave people who take this challenge do it in the hope that one day their efforts will be rewarded.  They press on daily hoping to turn the corner and become a success.   Yet as they turn the corner what will they actually find?  Will it be the reward they deserve or an oppressive government waiting to slap them back down, of course all in the name of fairness.

    As normal Mr. Obama’s rhetoric is pure fantasy.  Going back to prehistoric man, he didn’t think to himself “I need to build a road then a school, hire some police and firemen.  Now I can trade with the tribe on the other side of the valley.”  NO!  He bound the skins he hunted, gathered the tools he made and beat a path through the brush walking to the next tribe in hopes of trading for something he needs or wants.  From that first small business man every thing else developed.  Take the roads away, shutdown the schools, stop providing services and you will still have folks building things of value and trading them for what they want or need and you will have other folks wanting to do business with then.  Take away small business and see how long until the roads collapse, how long until police and fire services stop being paid, see how long until the schools close their doors.  Sure you can have a central government directing its people; You will make this, You will fix that, You will do this or You will buy that.  Do you know what that government calls the people it’s directing? 

SLAVES!

Not Me, Not Now, NOT EVER!        

    Mr. Obama must have never worked for anything of value in his personal or public life.  Not only depending on contributions to fund political aspirations, he demands them (A Chicago machine thing).  He begged an acquaintance for funds to pull his family out of personal debt (ever hear of getting a second job and climbing out of the hole you dug yourself? I’ve done it… more than once).  He can’t point to his past and say I sacrificed this to accomplish that.  He can’t point to his past and say I toiled and sweated to achieve something.  He can not point to his past or his accomplishments to motivate or inspire others.  Instead he relies on stoking the emotional flames of envy and jealousy to further his warped sense of “fairness”.  To praise the innovation, sacrifice and following success of others and hold them up as examples is just not in his nature.

    Mr. Obama’s view of fairness is not to lift others to a higher level but to bring the successful down to a lower level regardless of the blood, sweat and sacrifices they had made to achieve their success.  He has become perfectly content to paint all successful people with the same brush that is his life.  It would appear success in his life has come from blurred lines of truth, integrity and diligence…  He’s sure everyone else’s success did too… 

    One final observation: Is there a sliding scale?  Some months back it started with the 99% against the top1%, now the new battle cry has become the 98% against the top 2% then I read another Obama transcript that said 97% would be unaffected by the tax hike.  All followed with the same “we spend a trillion dollars on tax cuts for them” followed by the retreaded “we’ll have to make student loans higher or cut back on services for the brave veterans when they come home”.  At least he didn’t say granny may have to be thrown off something…  Is it true?  Is the government writing a trillion dollars in checks, and then mailing them out to the top 1, 2 or 3%?  Would a more factual statement be; We could be confiscating an additional trillion dollars from the top whatever percent!  Here’s a novel idea, quit funding campaign contributors companies so they can drain the cash and declare bankruptcy.  Mr. Obama’s’ tax plan would generate approximately $85 billion in additional revenue each year but the government spends $85 billion every 8 to 9 days.  What about the other 357 days?  How long till the cry becomes tax the top 4%, tax the top 10% or even tax the top 30%...  Revenue isn’t the problem, spending is the problem!

Just remember

It’s all fun & games till it’s the 49% against the top 51%

The Tomcat             

The Windows Are There For A Reason!

    I look at every day of my life as a bonus. During my time in the military I had a few opportunities to… lets say, see what’s next.  Each time I walked away without so much as a hair on my head out of place (maybe a few more gray hairs).  I’d like to share one of these times with you.

    As I’ve mentioned before I used to be a flight mechanic on the Air Force DC-9A AirEvac aircraft flying one, two or three day missions out of Scott AFB, IL.  This particular mission was a two day run, leaving SAFB very early in the morning flying directly to Guantanamo Bay NAS, Cuba to pick up patients and a few space available passengers.  At Gitmo the medical crew loaded our patients, the pilots checked the weather forecast for our next stop and I serviced the aircraft, adding few thousand pounds of jet fuel and off loaded a gallon of fresh milk.  I always took a gallon of milk for the guy’s standing by in the fire truck at Gitmo, I don’t know if they didn’t get fresh milk there but I’d always see them crack a big smile as I climbed off the jet with an ice cold gallon in my hand.  After all the exchanges (official and un-official) we continued on our way.  We made a few more stops in Puerto Rico, Florida and Virginia along our way to our final stop for the day, Andrews AFB MD.

    The following morning during the mission briefing the Pilot gave me the list of stops we would be making and the projected fuel loads for the day.  We would be making seven stops, swinging down to the gulf coast and up through the southern states, finishing up at home-station, Scott AFB.  I left the briefing to open the jet and get it ready for flight.  About 20 minutes later the medical crew arrived and began loading patients.  After a bit the Pilots arrived ready to get underway.         

    Mid way through the day we arrived at Maxwell AFB AL., the mission was going smoothly, we were running right on schedule and the weather was clear.  So far day two like day one was textbook.  I guess this should have been my clue to watch out.   We started our take-off roll down the runway, lifted off the ground and began our accent to 8,000 feet.  I normally glanced at the engine instrumentation during climb-out looking for the basics, stable exhaust pressure ratio, good oil pressure, and no spikes on the exhaust gas temperature gauges.  I don’t remember what caught my attention but I ended up not looking up from the gauges.  At the same time the pilot was changing his charts for the next station and the co-pilot was changing the radio frequency from Montgomery departure to Atlanta center for the next air traffic control (ATC) contact.  This may have only been a few short seconds but all three sets of eyes were looking inside the cockpit, none of us looking out the windows.

    Well there must have been an angel looking out for us and the angel must have knocked on the center windshield because all three of us looked up at the same time to see the bottom of a Beechcraft twin engine King Air directly in our flight path.  We were close enough that I could make out the screws on the belly panels.

    The pilots reaction was immediate, he kicked full left rudder while pushing full foreword on the yoke with about 50% left bank.  The Nightingale responded abruptly to the shift of the flight controls, nosing over and rolling to the left away from the king air.  Again with only fractions of a second passing all three of us were braced expecting to feel the wing or tail section to catch the small aircraft.  Seconds later with a sigh of relief, realizing we avoided a fatal accident the pilot leveled the jet out as the co-pilot contacted Atlanta center requesting the condition of the traffic to our 3 to 5 O’clock.   ATC responded with “What Traffic” and then after a slight pause they came back with “VFR Traffic at your 5 O’clock is clear and continuing with straight and level flight”.  VFR is the acronym for visual flight rules; the King Air was flying without ATC guidance or contact.

    At our next stop the pilots had to fill out the near miss report and report the incident to our home station command post.  The medical crew still had their hands full calming the patients and passengers that took quite a bounce in the back of the aircraft during the nose over maneuver.  Myself, I gave the jet a good once-over focusing on the exposed portion of the wing-root in the main landing gear wells and the flight control attach points, looking for any cracks or damage from the high stress maneuver.  Luckily everything checked out good.

    I’ll never know if the pilot of the king air ever saw us (I doubt it) or if he even found out how close he was to being a part of a tragedy…  For myself, from that point on I kept my eyes outside the cockpit scanning for traffic until we were at cruse altitude.  I think I even carry that habit with me when I drive, looking to side streets expecting the other drivers to pull out unexpectedly or the child in the yard to run out after a toy, even a deer popping out of the woods on the roadside.   I guess as habits go, it’s not a bad habit to have.

                                   

Till next week keep looking out

them windows…

The TOMCAT

Stand in Line… or Jump the Line

    Hi All, I hope you’ve had a great week.  Here in southern Indiana we’ve finally started to get a few of the afternoon thunderstorms (the farms have needed the rain).  It may be a bit late for the corn; the ears look small and under developed. I hope the rain helps.

    I’d like to welcome a few new visitors.  The past couple of weeks folks from Moldova, New Zealand, Taiwan and Ireland have stopped by.  I was glad to see Ireland; it brought back fond memories of my visits to their country. I kissed the Blarney Stone, I saw many beautiful sites and made my pilgrimage to St. James Gate in Dublin the home of Guinness Extra Stout, by far the finest drink known to man.  (I was stationed at RAF Mildenhall, England at the time, heavy airlift support).  

    Speaking of going to foreign lands, here in the United States along our southern border we have been experiencing problems with illegal immigration.  I’m by no means anti-immigration; some of the greatest minds that have made us who we are were immigrants. Albert Einstein may be the most famous but one of my favorites is Milla Jovovich the queen of “Butt Kicking” I love her Alice character from the Resident Evil movies. 

    I am anti-illegal immigration.  For a few simple reasons.  First there are rules involved in immigration and if a person chooses to ignore these rules because they are inconvenient what is the next rule they will choose to ignore? Second it’s like line jumping, what of the people who follow the rules?  Are they to be penalized for doing the right thing?  We also have a problem within our government; there are officials who are choosing to ignore our own laws because they don’t like them…  What if every citizen of the United States chose to follow only the laws that they liked or agreed with?  What may be an acceptable standard to me may not be acceptable to another.  If the standards within our society are due a change there is a procedure in place to make the changes, a procedure to change the laws.                    

    Last week I sent a letter to the Governor of Arizona, just kind of an option idea to maybe wake the nation up to the true scale of the problems they have to face on a daily basis…

Open Letter to the Governor of Arizona

    Ma’am I’ve been sitting on the sidelines watching your battles with the Federal authorities over enforcement of the immigration laws.  It looks like you’ve been handed a few setbacks lately.  I’ve got the answers to your problems. 

    You may be asking yourself “Who is this CLOWN? We’ve got the best legal minds in the state working on this…”  Well, I’m actually a nobody, a 50 year-old-man that served 20 years in the Air Force (aircraft mechanic) and the last 10 years I’ve been working as a mechanic in local factories. Through the years I’ve often had to depend on others to do their jobs so I could do mine.  As you would have guessed every so often I would run into the person that would hold me up.  I learned a few tricks on how to move them along.  Mostly it involved making them uncomfortable.  Not ME making them uncomfortable (not directly) but those around them, those that are close to them.

    Let’s look at your problem.  Your state is on the frontline of the illegal immigration onslaught and you’re trying to do the right thing by securing the border and enforce laws but you’re hitting obstacles at every turn.  It seems someone doesn’t want to do their job for what ever reason.  You need to make your problem their problem.  If not directly, indirectly.  This is very simple but you need to put conventional thinking aside.

    First you need a catchy slogan, “Papers Please” sounds cold war East German, that’s why your opponents tagged your law with it.  Let me suggest a new initiative called the Weary Traveler Assistance Program (don’t say illegal immigrants).  Weary Traveler Assistance Program sounds kind and caring doesn’t it.  Maybe even take it one step further, call it The Obama Weary Traveler Assistance Program.  Name association is everything.

    Next, there are known routes of entry that are frequently used.  Along these routes post informational boards touting the job opportunities, high quality of life and benefits of living in cities like Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, ect…  at the bottom of these informational boards advise the weary travelers to ask about the assistance program and that immigration status is unimportant. 

    Now for the meat.  How much does it cost the state to deal with the problems associated with undocumented immigrants?  The price of a bus ticket?  Make a deal with the bus companies like Greyhound or Trailways for non-refundable (or refundable to state account only) cheap tickets and send the travelers on their way.  Give them a bag lunch and a ticket to their dreams.  I would suggest Chicago…  What are these cities going to do about it?  Stop the Travelers as they get off the bus, wouldn’t that be profiling?  The travelers aren’t breaking any (enforced) laws they are just stepping off the bus.     

    Some travelers may need a bit of an incentive to participate in the program.  Just inform them of the maximum penalties they could face by staying in the state (not that they in fact would face these penalties but they don’t need to know that).  Let them know they could be detained indefinitely until the over loaded system could get to and review their case.  A jail cell or a free bus ride, what would you choose?

   

    Finally, be very very vocal about the program.  Get on national TV, radio and the internet touting the success of the program.  Name presumed destination cities.  I don’t care if your sending 10 or 20 “Travelers” north each month, make it sound like hundreds or even thousands.

    This makes your problem their problem.  Let the Michigan unions scream about their members’ pay being undercut. Let the citizens of Chicago scream about the stress placed on their city by the influx of immigrants. Let the authorities in San Francisco deal with the associated rise in crime.  If the Federal Government gives you any grief accuse them of wanting to leave the poor travelers in the desert to die of thirst or heat exhaustion.  You’ve just taken the moral high ground and put them on the defensive in the court of public opinion.  You took the problem and put it into their backyard.  After all the Fed. can’t really accuse you of not enforcing laws after spending the past year arguing that you have no authority to enact or enforce immigration laws.

   

    This is manipulative and myself, I would prefer the state and federal agencies enforce laws to the best of their abilities…  But the smart-a** in me would want to put up big lighted signs ¼ of a mile off the boarder saying WELCOME and busses lined up for as far as the eye could see,  all ready to head for Chicago.   

    Texas and New Mexico feel free to adopt this program.  As far as California… 

                           Well its California what can I say…           

I wish you luck

The TOMCAT

    Side Note: I read an article in the New York Times this week, The folks in the Hamptons (a very affluent area in the northeast) were complaining about their property values and style of life being affected by the influx of illegal immigrants.  Guess the problem is in their backyard now…

The Score is 4 to 4 at the End of the 9th

    Thursday I was watching a baseball game between the Mudville Ducks and the Stratton Log Knockers, the score was 4 to 4 at the bottom of the 9^th, two outs and a runner on third base.  The final batter stepped up to home plate, placed his kicking tee in the batters box then set his football on the tee.  He looked over the field, checked the wind and took a few steps back.  He paused for a moment then with three quick long strides he kicked the ball.  The ball sailed long and true through the goal post.  He scored.

    Did I lose you?  That how I felt after reading Chief Justice Roberts decision on Obama Care. 

    There was actually a very simple question placed before the court, “Is the health care individual mandate and penalty for non-participation constitutional under the commerce clause”?  Can the federal government direct the public to engage in financial transactions with a third party or face a fine for not engaging in the directed transaction?  This is how the mandate was applied in the health care act. This is the understanding when the senate and house voted on the act.  The mandate was not referred to as a tax in the legislation. In fact President Obama even stated on numerous occasions that the mandate was not a new tax (along with his promise not to raise taxes on the middle class). 

    Instead of answering the question Chief Justice Roberts chose to decide whether the mandate was a tax or not.  This question was never truly argued during the proceedings.  President Obama already said it wasn’t a tax and he’s the one that signed it into law.  Is CJ Roberts saying Obama doesn’t know what he’s signing into law?     

    Now the question begs.   If President Obama persist that the mandate is not a new tax on all citizens (low income, middle class, the rich) is the mandate then void by virtue of presidential decree?    

    A tax is levied to raise revenue.  A penalty is levied to deter behavior.  Under the health care law you must purchase heath care insurance or pay a penalty for not complying with the government directive (Do as we say or else).  Sounds like deterring behavior to me.  You would think a legal learned mind could see this as clearly as I do.   

     By the ruling set down by the court the mandate should have been struck down with the offer to reinstitute the mandate if it was formally processed through the legislative branch as a tax in accordance with article 1 section 7 and 8 of the Constitution of the United States.  Also as a tax it must be applied uniformly and equally, no wavers for specific unions or states.  A waver must be equally applied to all. 

  

    Justice Roberts, I’d like to give you a bit of fatherly advice.  When you step up to the plate, take your bat and make your swings… if not, take your little kicking tee, your little football and go sit on the bleachers…

Till next time,

The TOMCAT