Archive for November, 2009

By What Authority?

Posted in Humor, Politics on November 13th, 2009

By what authority – and the only authority that Congress has is granted through the US Constitution – do the Liberals who rule both houses of Congress think they can mandate under threat of fines and imprisonment that every American purchase and maintain health insurance coverage?

By What Authority Does Congress Believe It Can Mandate The Purchase of Health Insurance
The Question That The Liberals In Congress Cannot Answer

Go ahead, write a letter or make a phone call and ask one or more of them. You probably won’t get an answer, but they might give you some money to shut up. 😉

Another Veterans Day

Posted in Society on November 11th, 2009

It’s once again Veterans Day, the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. Originally it was called Armistice Day because 11:00, November 11, 1918 marked the end of World War I, which people optimistically called “The War To End All Wars.”

It is a day when Americans specifically remember and honor the best of us, the men and women who serve or have served in our armed forces.

The title of this post is, Another Veterans Day. That is not meant in the sense that it is Veterans day again. It is meant to call attention to another sort of veteran, one often overlooked by the majority of us. The dogs who serve alongside those brave human soldiers.

Spare Me A Thought When You Pray For My Comrades
Please Spare Him A Thought When You Pray For His Comrades

There are currently approximately 2300 Military Working Dogs serving in active duty across the globe. They and their Handler-Teammates are invaluable to our ongoing efforts against terrorism and Muslim insurgency. They are literally our front line troops in detecting mines and Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs) and in Search and Rescue operations.

Indeed, these canine soldiers have been so effective in Afghanistan that it is reported that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have offered bounties for their heads.

So please spare them a moment’s thought today when your praying for our troops, both living and dead, because they’re our troops as well and they ask for so very little.

Queens Makes History

Posted in Politics, Religion on November 11th, 2009

Dan Hollerman, NY City Councilman for Queens' District 19 - He's both Pagan / Heathen and a RepublicanNew York City’s Borough of Queens made American history on Tuesday November 3, 2009. It elected the first openly Pagan public official in America. Dan Halloran, who is openly Pagan or Heathen – specifically he’s a Théodsman – won the race for City Councilman in New York City’s 19th District in northeast Queens.

What seems to come as a jarring shock to many people is that, not only is Dan Halloran a Heathen – his sect prefers that term over Pagan – he’s a Republican.  Mr. Halloran dispelled the entwined myths that Pagans are Liberals and that the GOP is a Christian party.

Dan Hollerman - TheodsmanHalloran won a decisive 52.5 – 47.5% victory over his Democrat opponent, Kevin Kim, in a bitter election struggle in which Kim, his Asian constituents, and the NY Democrat party used every dirty political trick in the book to defeat him.

Chief among these tactics was, of course, to use Halloran’s religion against him. They tried to both scare the Catholics and to paint Théodism, a Norse-based folkway, as a White Supremacist, Neo-Nazi cult to scare the non-Whites.

In the end the campaign of fear, prejudice, and religious intolerance waged by Kevin Kim and the Democrats failed. Not even allegedly busing in voters from out of the district and possibly out of state was sufficient to secure the 19th District’s NY City Council seat for Kim.

And so it came to pass that the borough of Queens, of all the unexpected places, was the first place in US History to elect an openly Pagan or Heathen public official.

Now the Pagan community is being forced to reassess who it’s members are, since they’ve been axe slapped with a fact that they had largely heretofore refused to see – that we’re not all, or even mostly, Liberals and/or Democrats. And now the people of America are going to have to reassess just who makes up the GOP and the Conservative movement; it’s not just the Christian Right and never has been just them.

Birds’ Eye View

Posted in Musings on November 10th, 2009

It is oft-times said that the eyes are window to the soul. It seems to me that, especially in the case of the eyes of animals, that the eyes are the mirror of the onlooker’s soul.

The Eye of the Falcon The falcon’s eye – bright, golden and fierce – shows the falcon’s power and that the falcon lives to fly, stoop, to strike and kill. It possesses a clarity of thought uncluttered by distractions.

Man looks into the  falcon’s eye and feels a deep and abiding  respect.

~*~

The Eye of the Raven The raven’s eye – dark, brooding and cunning – shows the raven’s wisdom and that the raven lives by its tenacity and cunning, knowing that all that flies, walks or swims, is naught but food.

Man looks into the raven’s eye and feels the cold grip of fear.

~*~

Man respects the falcons ferocity and his simplicity of purpose. Man fears the cunning and the complex wisdom of the raven.

This, I suppose, makes sense; it is Man’s nature to respect power if he can predict how it will be used, but to fear wisdom and cunning whose aims and means he cannot fathom.

One Small Victory?

Posted in Politics on November 9th, 2009

jonolanAccording to some I should be doing a victory dance because the US House of Representatives passed a version of the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” that included explicit language that limited the funding that ObamaCare could provide for abortions.

Admittedly, this is not bad news. But it’s a very cold comfort at best.

That supposed victory for the Pro-Life movement would be the Stupak Amendment to HR 3962 that was passed by US House of Representatives in a  240 – 194 roll-call vote. The Amendment was put forth by Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Joe Pitts (R-PA), and Chris Smith (R-NJ) – a truly bipartisan effort and one shockingly led by Democrats.

SEC. 265. LIMITATION ON ABORTION FUNDING.

(a) IN GENERAL. – No funds authorized or appropriated by this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) may be used to pay for any abortion or to Cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion, except in the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, or unless the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.

(b) OPTION TO PURCHASE’ SEPARATE SUPPLEMENTAL COVERAGE OR PLAN – Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting any non-federal entity (including an individual or a State or local government) from purchasing separate supplemental coverage for abortions for which funding is prohibited under this section, or a plan that includes such abortions, so long as –

(1) such coverage or plan is paid for entirely using only funds not authorized or appropriated by this Act; and

(2) such coverage or plan is not purchased using

(A) individual premium payments required for a Exchange-participating health benefits plan towards which an affordability credit is applied; or

(B) other non-federal funds required to receive a federal payment, including a State’s or locality’s, contribution of Medicaid matching funds.

(c) OPTION TO OFFER SEPARATE SUPPLEMENTAL COVERAGE OR PLAN. – Notwithstanding section 303(b), nothing in this section shall restrict any non-federal QHBP offering entity from offering separate supplemental coverage for abortions for which funding is prohibited under this section, or a plan that includes such abortions, so long as

(1) premiums for such separate supplemental coverage or plan are paid for entirely with funds not authorized or appropriated by this Act;

(2) administrative costs and all services offered through such supplemental coverage or plan are paid for using only premiums collected for such coverage ,or plan; and

(3) any non-federal QHBP offering entity that offers an Exchange-participating health benefits plan that includes coverage for abortions for which funding is prohibited under this section also offers an Exchange-participating health benefits plan that is identical in every respect except that it does not cover, abortions for which funding is prohibited under this section.

Yes; this is a victory in the sense that it wasn’t a further loss to the Liberals. It was a victory in the same way that defenders holding their line and not breaking under an onslaught and holding their ground is a victory.

The passage of the Stupak Amendment merely maintained the status quo on abortion. It was only a victory because it goes a long way towards preventing ObamaCare from using federal tax dollars to subsidize voluntary, on-demand abortions. Despite various bits of misinformation from President Obama, the Liberals’ healthcare reconstruction would have been an end-run around the Hyde Amendment without the Stupak Amendement being attached to it.

I see little reason for a victory dance over just holding the line.