Big Brother: Obomination-style

(Hat-tip to HotAir)

Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773, which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.

The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

Read the full story here at CNET.

R.I.P. Les Paul...

A master of music and invention has passed. His signature guitar is one of my favorites.

Les Paul, who invented the solid-body electric guitar later wielded by a legion of rock 'n' roll greats, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94.

ObamaCare, plain and simple...

When "The One" (and his family) and all members of Congress (and their families) all are forced to join the same exact healthcare plan that they want to foist on the rest of us peons, THEN and ONLY THEN will I accept their offer to join said healthcare coverage.

I'm not holding my breath.

Pump Prices Not Matching Oil Prices Again...

So, if in July of '08 crude oil prices peaked at $147/barrel, and the average price of gas in my area peaked @ $4.65 at that time, then WHY when oil prices closed at less than half that peak on Friday ($70.93) the average price of gas in my area is up to $3.07/gallon???

LET'S DO THE MATH, SHALL WE?

71/147 = 0.483

So, 48.3% of $4.65 = $2.25

That's $2.25 per gallon... NOT $3.07.

We are getting gouged again!!!

Prayers Request...

Popping back in here for a brief moment to request some prayers.

First, my girlfriend Cindy has come down with a kidney infection shortly after returning from our mid-week camping trip. This is not the first time she's had to deal with this issue.

Second, my brother-in-law Bernie has been unemployed for several months and is in need of a job ASAP.

Third, my friend Manny from my mens bible study group just had aggressive surgery this week to battle cancer. He had his colon, part of his intestines, and some lymph-nodes removed.

Also, another bible study member (Bob S.) has been in poor health recently. He's in his early 90s.

Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Yes, I am on a blogging break...

Sorry for not blogging as much over the last couple months. I am, as you have already surmised, on a blogging break. There have been a few current event topics I've been wanting to chime in on during this time, but real life takes precedents. If you follow any of the links in my blog roll over this time period, then you're already aware of the key issues of the day anyway.

I've been through some stressful moments over the last couple months, combined with a period of time when I battled a persistent chest cold, some weight loss and occasional bouts of insomnia. Just as with everyone else (especially here in California), the state of the current economic and financial climate adds to the edginess and uncertainty.

But, all-in-all, it's been good... because I'm in love. Which can and does, in it's own way, also add to the stressfulness of things. I've just got to learn to not worry so much, and to stop over-analyzing things. I need to keep things in their proper perspective; to rely less on self and outside influences, and to rely more on God.

Currently reading Thomas a Kempis' classic work "The Imitation of Christ" (available via Dover Publications in paperback for $2.50). Thanks to Eric @ The Daily Eudemon for that recommendation a few months back.

Thanks also to Dim Bulb @ The Divine Lamp for stopping by lately and giving me an "Honest Scrap" Award. I feel so honored. (Hah!)

A general request for prayers wouldn't hurt... so, there it is (heh). And I'll keep all of you in my prayers, as well.

Thank you all for being patient. I hope to return to blogging form soon.

Here we go again...

We'll be welcoming in hyper-inflation when 2010 begins.  Via Ace:

... crude oil rose to a seven-month high [$70/barrel] after Goldman Sachs said prices may reach $85 by the end of the year as demand recovers and supplies shrink.

Gas in SoCal is already pushing close to $3/gallon.  If Goldman Sachs is right in their prediction, the economy is going to get much worse before it gets better.  Stocks may rebound a bit because of the jobs cuts, cost-cutting, and products/services price increases to try to offset various expenses (including fuel/transportation costs).  But when prices get too high, stag-flation sets in.  The public then CAN'T buy things because of the higher prices and lack of necessary income.  I said it before, and I'll say it again.  Jimmy Carter 2.0.

Harriet Myers v.2.0 (The Liberal Edition)

Per Erick @ RedState:

"Conservatives rejoice. Of all the picks Obama could have picked, he picked the most intellectually shallow.  Even the New Republic has been rather scathing about her. It’s like Obama decided he wanted a Souter to replace Souter."

HAH!

P.S.  And, yes... I'm back.  Real life has a way of taking hold of you and putting you through the ringer.  Persistent bad cold, among other things.  I'll gradually start blogging again, soon.  Thanx for being patient.

Here we go again...

(link)

"Oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, with the New York contract hitting a six-month high above 60 dollars as the US currency tumbled against other leading units, traders said...

"Crude oil prices have found support in recent days from rallying stock markets and a falling dollar rather than from signs of rebounding demand for energy, according to analysts...

"Many market watchers believe the dollar is likely to decline against most rival currencies in the coming months as risk aversion recedes on hopes the worst of the global slump is over."

And hyper-inflation will start kicking in in about 6-9 months.

Where the heck is Trubador?

Sorry... real life finds it's way to edge out blogosphere stuff.  Will be back to blogging soon.  In the meantime, check out this link over to The Blue Boar with a video of Fr. Corapi taking Notre Dame to task.

AWESOME!

Creative Minority Report has a link to a story about Fr. Frank Pavone (head of Priests For Life) leading an alternative to the official commencement on the campus.

Paragraph Farmer links to a Joseph Bottums article in the Weekly Standard (Bottoms being the editor of First Things) which puts the ND scandal in it's proper perspective.

My Own Inoculation...

I did my part in combatting swine flu by cooking and eating pork chops for dinner last night, with brown rice and veggies. I even have leftovers for tonight.

YUM!

Ventura ArtWalk Spring 2009...

Last weekend was the bi-annual ArtWalk in downtown Ventura.  I spent the first day browsing around with a couple good friends, and then returned on my own on the second day.  Below are some of the newest and latest that I found quite intriguing.  Just click on each image to get a larger view of the works of art.

First, Gerardo Segismundo (one of my favorite local artists) is stretching his art into a larger, expressionistic, oil-based realm with works like "Mirrored Moves":

Next is Sarah Kalvin with her watercolors and oils, such as "The Yellow Umbrellas":

Jim Martin continues to wow with his stunning photography, such as "Sunset Behind Two Trees" and "Pelicans, Ventura":

Sherron Sheppard's fine art photography also captures haunting moods, such as "Caddo Sunset" and "Strawberry Field in B&W":

Michael Zelcer has a wide range of artistic talents, such as architectural art glass and painting, as well as sculpture:

One gallery was filled with works by young local art students from Cal State University - Channel Islands (CSUCI).  One impressive artist was Leah McMahan with her "Gateways II":

And then... there's the amazing 24-year old Christine M. Brand, a graduate of CSUCI's art program.  Her two oil paintings - "November Leaves in Merced River" and "Vintage Abalone Shell" - were shockingly gorgeous, especially from someone who's only been painting for just a handful of years. This young lady will leave an amazing artistic legacy, if these early examples are any indication:

Sunday Cross-Post (in more ways than one)...

For today, I want to cross-post to West Coast Catholic who posted on 4/23 about an article appearing in American Spectator On-Line.  The topic was on The Obamessiah's policies on "torture" versus abortion.

WCC writes:

A very scary thought. With so much talk about 'Torture' lately, this article shows the unspoken side. Water boarding is Torture, sleep deprivation is torture, a bath of bugs is torture. The cry, "Prosecute the Torturers!" Abortion is not torture?

WCC then posted an excerpt from the AS article, which posed the question:

If achieving world peace required torturing a single baby, asks a character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, would it be worth it? 

"Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature -- that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance -- and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth." 

The liberalism that Barack Obama seeks to complete answers Dostoyevsky's question with an emphatic yes. What is Obama's abortion-on-demand-forever policy but the building of a modern American way of life upon the graves of tortured babies? And not just the unavenged tears of one baby but millions of them...

Terrorists, we're told by pro-abortion liberals, suffer excruciating pain while the ejected unborn and euthanized elderly feel nothing.

I felt compelled to respond with a comment of my own:

In answering the question: "If achieving world peace required torturing a single baby, asks a character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, would it be worth it?"

Actually, yes. But not in the way that you think. For it was of God's choosing and offering, not of humans choosing and offering. He was an infant born in a cave some 2000 years ago, who was even more perfectly innocent than any other baby before or since. Some 30 odd years later, he was tortured and put to death for the salvation and peace of the whole world.

Though we were the instigators and executioners of this One Man, it could not have occurred without the allowance and consent of God himself. For He knew that the ONLY way to bring true peace and salvation was through this one Man - the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, too many people today fail to take that message to heart. We keep trying to offer up our own "sacrifices" - via abortion, hatred, war, bankruptcy, corruption, lifestyle, etc. And we offer them up to ourselves rather than to God, because we think of ourselves as our own gods.

Two millennia ago God said, "Enough! What I am offering for you is enough. Peace be with you." If only we would all listen.

How Supreme!!!

"The One" will now get to appoint David Souter's replacement to the Supreme Court this summer, with a filibuster-proof Senate (thanks to Benedict Arlen Spector).

Just peachy!

UPDATE:  John Hawkins chimes in.  So does Michelle Malkin.

HotAir's AP comments, as does  Gateway Pundit.

Ace, as well.  Ben Smith, too.

And, of course, Captain Ed.

H.R. 1913 Hate Crimes Bill & the Election Aftermath...

The House of Representatives passed HR-1913, a so-called "hate crimes" legislation that will now be used to muzzle Christian pastors and preachers.  More info here, here and here.  Human Events warned about it here.

A former judge and congressman asked the members of the committee if the bill would make it illegal for pastors and preachers to publicly teach from the Bible that homosexuality is a sin.  He was told "yes".  So he offered up an amendment to the bill to protect their free speech from the ominous effects of the bill.  The amendment was then voted down in committee!  It went to the floor of the House, and passed 249-175.  With Arlen Spector now a (D), the Democrats have a filabuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate.  Then off it'll go to The Obamessiah's desk for his signature.

There yah go, people.  The fourth of five first steps towards cultural corruption by this administration.

First you had "The One" reverses the ban on tax-payer funding of abortion overseas.

Then he re-opens tax-payer funding for embryonic stem cell research (even though ESCR has already  been done without federal input, has failed miserably in it's results, and dozens of breakthroughs already have occurred with adult stem cell research instead).

Next the Department of Homeland Security (under Janet Napolitano) issues a report that targets so-called "right-wingers" and veterans as being more dangerous to the country than islamic terrorists.

Fourth is now this bill to further attack Judeo-Christian values (now it makes sense that he had Georgetown University cover the Name of Jesus over the archway behind him during a speech he gave there a few weeks ago) by limiting our free speech rights.

What's the fifth one?  It'll be coming this summer.  Read the next post for more info.  It's really Supreme!!!

OH!  And don't forget those Youth Brigades, now.

Visual Aid on the Federal Budget...

From AmSpec:

UPDATE:  Graphic (below) via Gateway Pundit:

Un-effing-believable!

If there is ANYTHING that so perfectly demonstrates how friggin' clueless, arrogant and narcissistic our so-called Commander-in-Chief is, THIS is it!  More info here and here.

What an effing a**hole!!!

They didn't even bother to info the mayor of NYC, nor the citizens of NYC and NJ, ahead of time.  Too bad they did choose to inform the pilot of that trailing F-16.

UPDATE #1:  Yah know... maybe this will also seal the deal on Prez Obamessiah's narcissism and cluelessness.  And this, too.

UPDATE #2:  Even more info from Michelle Malkin and HotAir.

Also... priceless!

Tortured Politics...

There are a LOT of links to this one, and they ALL are important to read and listen to.  Let's start from the beginning...

Redstate posted this ignored fact:

President Obama visited the CIA yesterday and gave a pep talk to the employeesdemoralized by Obama’s  decision to release formerly classified legal memoranda detailing the legal limits of interrogation techniques.

Obama’s pep talk was too little too late.

Obama was given a bipartisan warning not to release these documents. Four former heads of the CIA, two Appointed by President Clinton and two appointed by President Bush, all said that Obama’s release would risk national security. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden says even Leon Panetta, Obama’s head of the CIA, agreed with the bipartisan group.

Hot Air then posted this info from the CIA:

The Central Intelligence Agency told CNSNews.com today that it stands by the assertion made in a May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo that the use of “enhanced techniques” of interrogation on al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) — including the use of waterboarding — caused KSM to reveal information that allowed the U.S. government to thwart a planned attack on Los Angeles.

In fact, per Gateway Pundit, these techniques were highly successful (CIA documents are shown).  Former VP Dick Cheney wants key documents released as well, which will put the whole issue in proper perspective.  Republicans want an investigation to determine the obvious damage done to the U.S. national security because of Obama's release of this information.

That doesn't stop Obama from contemplating prosecuting Bush & Cheney for decisions made.  This whole mess of Obama's own doing has (according to Moe Lane of RedState) put him between a rock and a hard place.

You see... it seems that Congress knew of the interrogation techniques.  That includes Democrats.  At first, Nancy Pelosi denied knowing anything.  Then she admitted it (kinda).  Rep. Hoekstra slams her on her lame waffling excuse.  So, you should ask, will Obama prosecute Nancy and the Democrats, too? Hmm...

Fred Thompson chimes in on the whole ordeal.  Americans already have chimed in, and they're not happy about "The One's" decision to release these memos.  Per Rasmussen, over 58% of people are pissed about it and say that this will endanger national security.

But don't worry about it.  Obama is going to cut national defense, while also boosting his "Youth Brigade".  With ACORN funding, no less.  In fact, "The Obamessiah" is having so much fun palling around with communist dictators like Chavez, Ortega and Castro, yet won't meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.  He'll even bow reverently to the muslim King of Saudi Arabia, but gives an iPod filled with his own (B.O.???) speeches to the Queen of England, and wrongly-regioned DVDs to the U.K. prime minister.

Rasmussen has been doing daily tracking polls, and by April 22 our fearless leader's job approval rating has gone down to only 54% from a high 65% at the beginning of his presidency.  His job approval index is down to just 2% (this measures those who strongly approval = 34% against those who strongly disapprove = 32%).  In fact, his A.I. numbers have been fluctuating between 2-5% and his overall approval number has been hovering at 54-55% for a couple weeks now.  And the trend is not in his favor.

The honeymoon is over, and buyer's remorse is sinking in.  How do I know this?  Because in the same set of polls, it seems that 70% of Americans say that Hudge & Gudge (Big Business and Big Government) are on the same team.  G. K. Chesterton would be so proud!

We just make things easier for them, don't we...

Via Gateway Pundit:

"The Chinese cyber spies have penetrated so deep into the US system — ranging from its secure defence network, banking system, electricity grid to putting spy chips into its defence planes — that it can cause serious damage to the US any time, a top US official on counter-intelligence has said."

Read the full story here.

Tea Party Crowd Estimates...

UPDATED (for running totals):

It looks like PJTV and Pajamas Media are trying to get accurate estimates of how many people attended all of the Tea Parties across the country last Wednesday. As of this moment, the number stands at over 935,000 people at over 900 locations throughout all 50 states plus D.C. And the count will continue to grow as more people, police and news organizations submit their data. A different city-by-city rundown is here, giving low-ball and high-ball estimates ranging 789,000-917,000.

Michelle Malkin has a great commentary.

And a transcript of the great radio interview with Hugh Hewitt and Mark Steyn is here.