An excellent speech by a valedictorian.

And an indictment of the “educational system” which graduated her.

I too had several mentors who taught me to question. My father, and a teacher.

Dad: it was you who taught me to question things, not to merely accept what I was taught. It made life hard for me in school, but it made me a bit more intelligent, and I learned more that way.

My teacher, Jerry Boehner, reinforced that teaching from my Dad. Jerry: all I can say is “Thank you”. You too taught me to question, to learn, and above all to THINK. Would that all teachers were like you. Sadly, that is not the case. The system drives out those exceptional individuals, preferring those who would perpetuate the system of mediocrity.

The sad part is that this carries into our colleges and universities. The educational system is broken. Even some of it’s victims best graduates can see it. Now if only the leaders in academia could open their eyes.

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So on Tuesday, this whack job with a gun tries to off two guys at a construction site, then wanders over a state border and shoots some farmer in a rural area…..

While a tragedy, and I hope they catch the guy (unlikely, as there are few leads and a poor description of the perp and his vehicle) the reaction of the residents in the rural area towns was laughable…

A significant percentage of the people in the NW Indiana towns near the incident began openly carrying (or at least not well concealed) pistols…Of course, this was the next day…(Wednesday)…The dude had not been seen since something like 11:00 am on Tuesday, had apparently departed the area last seen heading north, and had not been seen nor heard from since. It was also amazing to see how many pickup trucks suddenly grew rifles in the racks behind the seat.

While I encourage the (legal) carriage of firearms, it was kind of amusing to see the number of people whose hips suddenly sprouted pistols in the face of a pecieved threat…. The sad fact is that by the end of the week, unless there is another reason for them to continue to carry, they will all fall back into “condition white” and return the firearms to the safe/desk drawer/nightstand from whence they came.

How many of those folks have practiced in the past 6 months? Will they take the time to toss a few rounds downrange just to keep current now that the need for a firearm for defense has been demonstrated to them?
(The best part was the comments made by one guy at the hardware store to me…….”You should be carrying a gun…you never know when he’ll be back!”….Little did he know that I was….(it’s called CONCEALED carry for a reason)…and I always am carrying.. I am seldom in “condition white” and I am NEVER without a firearm unless I am travelling to a state where such is illegal. It is for just this eventuality that I carry even while doing work in the yard….and I NEVER trust people who come up to me.

If there is a need to carry today, then there is also a need to carry tomorrow (and probably yesterday). You can’t be a sheepdog some of the time.

ETA: I think that the face in the sketch looks sorta like the mighty OG..If ya squint real real hard….Although IIRC, he has an alibi for that time frame…..

“But lest you think that I’m just mean, allow me to be the first one to call for compassionate relief measures to aid Mexico after the devastating mudslides that have reportedly killed numerous Mexicans. I propose that we send them a thousand replacement Mexicans immediately. ICE should be able to find that many before lunch. “

He has a few good points regarding illegals…

Read the whole post HERE

Something about the “change” wrought by Obama has dimmed the “hope” he peddled during the campaign:

RTWT

Nah, couldn’t be….

Reparations?
Maybe.

You Decide.

But something is rotten here….With only 39,000 black farmers, there are 94,000 claimants for damages due to discrimination by the USDA…

Something smells.

Optimists buy gold.

 Pessimists buy brass and lead.

YMMV

Mourners lined the streets of Torquay for the funeral of Miss Nearne, whose daring wartime spy work came to light following her death on 2 September.
The 89-year-old died in her home in the resort after suffering a heart attack.

As a young woman Miss Nearne was recruited by the Special Operations Executive and was captured by the Nazis in France but never talked about it.

and:

She was due to have a council funeral but these plans changed as a result of the publicity about her past.
Military charities donated cash and a local funeral director offered to fund a service more befitting a war heroine.

How many heroes have we, that are anonymous? Who die alone, unlamented because they are forgotten?

How many towns would have the streets lined in mourning and respect for those heroes when they pass?

How many of you know the story of Julia Child?  Not just a celebrity cook…

H/T Soft Green Glow

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Until this happens here in the US?

One way another, despite the current governments hopes and dreams, the US will have to cut things in order to pay its bills. When that happens, how soon until the protests begin….the anarchy, the destruction of businesses and government offices….The rioting and strikes and violence? The Spaniards saw it coming, and negotiated a peaceful, orderly strike…The Spaniards are, for the most part, a civil, orderly people….Not so much for Greece. And we shall see what happens when the French begin their cuts.

While there are a lot of fingers pointing in many directions as to who is to blame for all of the mess that the financial markets and European governments have gotten themselves into, ultimately it really doesn’t matter whose fault it is…..The fact is that the wheels are coming off the socialist states bus. And those folks who depend on that socialist state to eat will get angry….and angry people riot and do violence. “Bread and circuses) are not enough…

So what happens when things here become like things in Europe? We are on that path…..it is merely a matter of time until we are in the same situation. We are merely a “less socialist” state than they. But a too high percentage of our population is dependant upon that same state to feed, house and clothe them. Add in the high percentage of retired (or soon to retire) local, state and federal workers ( and maybe the military retired folks?) who are about to find out that there is no money in their retirement accounts and things might well get…..interesting.

I am not sure how we prepare for such an eventuality.