Thought for the day

In every stage of these Oppressions
We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated
Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose
character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is
unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

know where those words came from? 

Know the context? 

Does it apply today? For me, more and more. 

Insider information

There are those who say that Edward Snowden is a traitor.

Perhaps he is.

I think he is not. You may disagree with me. I think he did what he could to right a wrong by “blowing the whistle”.

There are those who say he should have taken a different path to try and stop these practices.

Perhaps he should have. But what path:

Others who tried to inform and stop these practices have been hounded and charged with espionage. Even when going to the Inspector General or the Justice departement, they were ignored. And in at least one instance, the informant wad prosecuted.

For once, the Fourth Estate did it’s job. Sadly, it was not a news organization in the US that did it…that outed this program. That protected the citizens of the US by informing them of what was already suspected by many of us.

These men are Snowden’s peers. And I will take their judgement of him over that of a bureaucrat any day.

Y’know,

Ya gotta ask yerself:

If there was nothing wrong (or, as the NSA states, illegal) about the fact that the NSA was collecting metadata on all of our calls (or, as some folks claim, actually monitoring some of us), then what is the big deal about the fact that the program has been exposed?

I mean, really, what’s he big deal? Why be upset that the program was leaked? They weren’t do anything wrong….right?

Or is the Government angry because their actions are deemed ….wrong, by both the media and the populace once it came to light. One would wonder if they too felt that it was wrong (or would be judged as such) by everyone.

Yes, I know that their special kangaroo court has determined that the data collection and/or monitoring was legal, constitutional, and correct, but obviously SOMEONE decided that it wasn’t right, and decided to keep it secret, lest they anger the sheep populace.

Legacy

of failed policies.

Detroit defaults.

In 1930, it was the fastest growing city in the country.

In 1950 it was in the top 10 fastest growing cities in the country.

in 2012, it had over 100,000 abandoned homes.

Today, it has defaulted on almost 18 Billion dollars of debt.

one can point to many sources of the city’s failure, but nearly all of them are liberal policies or liberal supported causes like unions and affirmative action.

I find it telling

That Obama and family (and entourage) can find the money (that is your and my money…..or really China’s money that we will somehow have to repay someday) to fly to Africa on what is, essentially, a sightseeing trip. Something on the order of $100 million….yes, you read that right One Hundred Million dollars.    $100,000,000.

Yet there isn’t any way for us to pay for our military, requiring cuts to the Navy’s readiness, to the Army’s and Marine’s ability to react and to have available forces, and for the Air Force to cut many programs.

We don’t have the money to pay for the Blue Angels to fly over Baseball games or auto races, we have to cancel airshows and most military exhibits….

Our deployed troops don’t always get 3 hot meals a day.

We had to scramble to find some way to pay for our Air Traffic controllers and other essential services like USDA inspectors and FAA inspectors.

We can’t find enough money to repair or maintain our bridges.

We had to cut services at National Parks.

But the HNIC somehow can find enough of our money to pay for his African Safari vacation.

It’s what you’d expect from the president of….say, Zimbabwe.What you would expect from a ruler rather than a president.

But the real question is why Congress and the Representatives allow him to waste OUR money this way.

WHY?

Today is

Flag Day here in the US

Celebrate it as you feel appropriate.

I’d post more, but I’m busy cleaning up the mess Mother Nature left behind the other day.

Whargh

Up most of the night dealing with the aftermath of the storm.

about a 6 out of 10, but bad enough.

Rained so hard, I got lost on roads I drive every day. Had to stop

Dime sized hail.

Winds exceeding 70 MPH.

It appears that the new roof handled the wind better this time though. No apparent damage at first glance.

Generators make a big difference when the lights go out.

(good thing I exercise them every 90 days.)

No Free Ice Cream today though. Too Busy.
Check back later