A message from Ben Stein - A little bit lengthy but worth the read.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

I found this article here: www.squidoo.com/ThinkAmerica

Spread the Wealth

Good experiment in Obamanomics

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read
"Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I
laughed as he had given away his political preference -- just imagine
the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him
that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He
stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to
redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless
guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the
server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless
guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I
realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn,
but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn
even though the actual recipient deserved money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in
concept than in practical application.

Who cares what our soldiers think?

The following information was found on: http://www.squidoo.com/ThinkAmerica

The Military Times Presidential Poll
A poll guaranteed not to be appearing in Obama's main stream media.
This poll is one that is not going to get much press. After all, how important can the opinions of our soldiers be, they are the ones currently dying in the War on Terror. Speaks volumes about the lack of leadership Obama appears to bring to the position of Comander-in-Chief

Somehow we missed seeing this in the New York Times, Washington Post or the Rolling Stone.
In case you missed the October 8 issue of the Army Times, here are the results of the Army Times' poll of Military personnel regarding the upcoming election (in percent):

J. S. McCain - B. H. Obama

Overall-68%-23%

Army-68%-23%

Navy-69%-24%

Air Force-67%-24%

Marines-75%-18%

Retirees-72%-20%

White-76%-17%

Hispanic-63%-27%

Black-12%-79%

Enlisted-67%-24%

Officers-70%-22%

Click here to see the full poll results.
View the Militaary Times Presidential Poll.

Navy Petty Officer Mike Monsoor

See below for an amazing story about an amazingly selfless individual. This story has been circulating via email. There is a video-tribute to Mike Monsoor and some more information about him on snopes.com. Here's the link: www.snopes.com/politics/military/monsoor.asp

There is also more information about him on Wikipedia. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A._Monsoor

It seems funny how I read the newspaper and watch the news everyday and only heard a brief blurb about this man. Something like "Medal of Honor for Navy Seal in Iraq". I guess the mainstream media editors don't feel that such a story was worth featuring. Or maybe I just missed it.

This should have been front page news all across the country. Surely they could have made some space between Britney Spears, OJ Simpson and polar bears trapped on icebergs.

The story:

Navy Petty Officer Mike Monsoor

PO2 (EOD2) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq, giving his life to save his fellow SEALs.

During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego , as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery , SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of twos, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike's coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.
The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it. This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero.

This should be front-page news instead of the crap we see every day.

Since the media won't make this news, I choose to make it news by forwarding it onto you guys. I am proud of our military and the men and women who serve in it. They represent the highest and finest values of this country.





The media never reports this type thing - please forward it to a few of your friends...

God bless the men and women in our Military.

Trick or Treat

Star Wars - Wikipedia

I was looking into the term "Squib" to find it's origins. Yes I am a geek. Anyway, it led me to the following Wikipedia page Star Wars - Wikipedia I'll make a long story short: I am mind-boggled by the amount of Star Wars information that exists on Wikipedia. People have taken time to lay out the entire fictitional universe, describe all the characters, planets, places and moons. Unbelievable. I'm a Star Wars fan... But this is over the top. Follow some of the links on the main page to see what I mean. If only people would spend this much time on real world subjects (like learning, finding and listing FACTS about the presidential candidates in order to make an INFORMED choice on Nov 4th). The world would be a better place.

Nothing fair about Obama's tax plans

The following opinion was in the Tuesday October 21st edition of the Southern Illinoisan Newspaper - Charen's Corner by Mona Charen. I couldn't agree with her more.

www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2008/10/21/opinions/columnists/charen/26352175.txt

Nothing fair about Obama's tax plans
Monday, October 20, 2008 11:09 PM CDT
God bless him. Joe the plumber, that is, for coaxing from Sen. Obama his true motive for raising taxes. It isn't to fund the government, or deal with the deficit, or to establish a rainy day fund. It's to "spread the wealth around," which the Illinois senator insists is "good for everyone."

Sen. Obama calls this a "tax fairness plan," but what is fair?

Everyone knows that some people work harder than others. We've all witnessed it. If John Q chooses to work 60 hours a week to advance his career, and Henry Y prefers to spend time playing video games, who is to say that Henry deserves some of the extra income John has earned? Is that fairness? I call it completely unfair.

What's that? John and Henry didn't start out in life in the same position? Well, that's true. But there is no such thing as a totally equal society. (Nor is it desirable.) Even in places like Sweden, some are born into loving, wealthy two-parent families and others are born to alcoholic single mothers. Some have good looks and talent, others don't. No society south of Heaven can ever be completely equal. But the essential justice of a society is measured, I believe, not by whether you have equality of condition but by whether you have equal opportunity.

Not only is this more fair in principle, it is also more successful in practice. People do not work for the general good. They work for their own individual ends, which in turn promotes the general welfare. Societies that ask workers to labor for "the people" get poor results. As the joke from the old Soviet Union had it: "They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work." By contrast, the capacity of the American economy to reward effort and initiative is legendary and has lured ambitious people to our shores for more than two centuries. It has also made us the wealthiest society in history.

You don't have to look at socialist countries to know that redistribution of income punishes success and rewards sloth. We've seen it here. Our welfare system was intended to help the poor - but because it was poorly structured, it wound up discouraging work and marriage, thus prolonging poverty rather than alleviating it for many.

Here's another problem for Sen. Obama: He wants to spread the wealth around as if wealth and poverty and "middle-classness" (to use the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's terminology) were fixed categories. They aren't. Economic and social mobility in the United States is the norm, not the exception.

Using data from the Current Population Survey, the National Center for Policy Analysis looked at income quintiles over time. They found that after one year, one-third of those in the bottom quintile had moved up, and one-quarter of those in the top group had moved down. After 10 years, 60 percent of those in the bottom group had moved up to higher quintiles, with 8 percent getting all the way into the top quintile. Correspondingly, 6 percent of those in the top quintile went all the way to the bottom after 10 years, and 54 percent of those at the top had moved to some lower group 10 years later.

Democrats like to talk about "the rich" as if they are a fixed group of individuals, but anecdotal evidence suggests that two-thirds of those on the Forbes 400 list in 1994 were no longer on the list a decade later. And 80 percent of those on the list were self-made.

People tend to begin their work lives at or near the bottom quintile of income. White male 21-year-olds, for example, begin at the 20 percentile in overall white men's income. As they gain experience and skills, they move up. By age 31, they reach the 50th percentile mark. And between the ages of 31 and 59, they average near the 60th percentile mark for all workers. When they get close to retirement age, their incomes tend to fall.

We already have a steeply progressive income tax, with the top 5 percent of earners paying 60 percent of the taxes (in 2006), and the top 25 percent paying 86 percent. Obama wants to perform an experiment by confiscating more of the income of the most productive earners (who create the overwhelming majority of jobs) and distributing it to those who earn less.

It's been done before - with dreadful results. Call it socialism if you like. But don't call it "fairness."

Mona Charen writes for Creators Syndicate.

Jammed Sig Sauer P226 SCT - Update 1

Here's a link to the original post: Jammed Sig Sauer P226 SCT

Sig Sauer has properly identified the malfunction as a "Squib Load". They have recommended that I contact Hornady to file a warranty claim and that the cost of the repair will be $415.00 (nearly 1/2 of the cost of a new Sig Sauer P226 SCT). I will attempt to do this today.

Here is more information on Squib Loads:
Squib Load - Wikipedia

Images of a textbook squib load in a Sig-Sauer 9mm handgun:
http://www.thegunzone.com/squib.html

Because I was firing in rapid succession, I didn't notice the squib in my gun until it was too late. Thank God that I was only shooting targets. This goes to show you, even a high end gun with brand new ammo can malfunction without warning. Imagine the bad luck if the squib was the first round fired in a life and death situation. Now I fully understand the case for carrying a backup.

Update 11/12/2008: I received my repaired gun from Hornady. They took care of the repair at no charge. Although it did take several phone calls and emails to make this happen, at least they made good. All is well now.

Update 10/21/2009: It has been nearly a year since my Sig was repaired. Since the repair, have fired well over a thousand rounds without a single problem.

Jammed Sig Sauer P226 SCT

Here's a recap:
Pictures of my non-functioning Sig Sauer P226 SCT are below. Friday night, I was rapid-firing Hornady 9mm Luger Hollow Points for the first time when the gun jammed in the position shown below. I removed the magazine and was left to figure out what had happened. I tried and tried to figure out how to take it apart without the slide being able to move back far enough to turn the take down lever. Finally, I discovered the problem. The barrel is bulged out in the middle and won't let the slide retract all the way. I guess, after looking down the barrel, I should be thankful that the thing didn't blow up in my face. Initially, I was mad that the gun had jammed. I'm still mad that my $900 Sig isn't working and can't easily be fixed. It still isn't clear how the ammo fouled in the barrel. Earlier that day, I had shot 100 rounds of regular target rounds with no problems. I'm guessing that one of the rounds got stuck in the barrel and another round hit it and knocked it out. Somewhere along the way, the barrel was deformed, either by the first round or by the second round hitting the first round. I wonder if this has happened to anyone else? I sent an email to Sig customer support tonight for instructions to send the gun in for repairs. I hope that they can fix it with one of their special hammers.

Jammed slide - It won't go back far enough to turn the take down lever.


Jammed slide - view 2


Look at the round groove in the middle of the barrel.


Here's another view of the inside of the barrel


One more view of the barrel


This is the ammo that I was using: Hornady 9mm Luger Hollow Points


I'll keep posting as the repair process progresses.

Update 10/21/2008: It was a squib load.  More info HERE.

Update 11/12/2008: I received my repaired gun from Hornady. They took care of the repair at no charge. Although it did take several phone calls and emails to make this happen, at least they made good. All is well now.

Update 10/21/2009: It has been nearly a year since my Sig was repaired.  Since the repair, have fired well over a thousand rounds without a single problem.

Did Barack "Spread the Wealth" Obama Just Blow the Election?

The audacity of hope for a change (in the polls).
Check out the link to the news article below.
Joe the Plumber is my hero.
Link to US News and World Report Article