Let’s see if we can spot the hypocrisy.

The Muslims are hell-bent on building a Mosque across from Ground Zero because they “have First Amendment rights”. It doesn’t matter that loved ones of those who perished in the events of 9/11 have asked for compassion. It doesn’t matter that the funding of the mosque may come from the same source that funded the terrorists who took down the Twin Towers. It doesn’t even matter that most of America think it’s a bad idea.

The Muslims have their rights. Period.

Our mighty President agrees. He argues that the Constitution, yes, the document that he’s been actively trying to destroy for 2 years, was written for everyone, including the Muslim community. We are all equal.

That would be a wonderful thought, if only he believed it….

Now we have another First Amendment issue, one that seems equally as divisive. A Church in Florida has decided to burn the Koran. According to the Boston Globe: “Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center, which has about 50 members, said he understands the government’s concerns but plans to go forward with the burning Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the attacks.”

Does Pastor Jones have the right to burn this book? Well, of course he does- the First Amendment applies to Pastor Jones just as it applies to all of us. But as we learned when the Mosque issue originally surfaced, having the right to do something, doesn’t make it the right thing to do. Morals play a role. Good judgment plays a role. Even respecting the feelings of others can play a role. Those things don’t take away your right, they simply make your actions questionable.

We’ve now heard from the Obama administration. Oh, Barack didn’t come out and make a statement on this issue- he was too busy campaigning in Wisconsin, rallying the crowd by telling them that the GOP was “treating” him “like a Dog.”

Always the victim, isn’t he?

Obama State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said on Tuesday that the planned protest by the church in which Korans will be burned is “un-American” and the protesters are “consistent with” those al Qaeda terrorists who murdered nearly 3,000 Americans and foreign nationals on September 11, 2001.

He then went on to say that burning the flag wasn’t un-American.

Huh.

Since when is a Koran more “American” than our own flag? Would this administration consider the Bible “American”? Is the Book of Mormon “American”? Is the Torah “American”?

Would Barack and his buddies, including those who are Muslim, be up in arms if this was a flag burning or a Bible-burning ceremony?

Me thinks not.

You see, Bill Ayers, Barack’s big buddy, had no problem stomping on the American flag when he was on the cover of Chicago Magazine. We’ve never heard anyone from this administration denounce Ayers, have we?

The Muslims can’t have it both ways. This administration can’t have it both ways. They are either FOR the First Amendment or they’re not; they either want equality for all, or they don’t.

If they want the right to build their Mosque, then they have to stomach the right for the Pastor to burn his Koran. This is what the word “equality” means.

This is a new position for many of these Muslim leaders because they’ve been able to bully their way into many other venues in this country, areas which are off-limits to other Americans -like prayer in public schools and prayer in private corporations. Through intimidation, cries of racism, and aggressive legal action, Muslims push the envelope time and time again. They don’t just threaten to kill someone who has wronged their religion, they actually carry out the murder.

It’s a “peaceful” religion thing…

This Pastor has received over 100 death threats and must now carry a gun with him at all times. Did he provoke this? Of course. But should he be killed for exercising his free rights? We all know the answer to that. Like it or not, the Pastor HAS shown us that there is another side to this coin- that “equal rights” are for EVERYONE, and not just for a selected few. Assimilating in America means more than just buying a house and learning English. It also means accepting OUR rights , following OUR laws, abiding by OUR rules, and adapting to OUR culture, allowing equal freedom for OUR citizens.

Am I advocating the Koran burning? Of course not. I didn’t advocate the Mosque-building, either. Neither make common sense, a term no longer used in this wacky country of ours. Both actions are hurtful to a group of people and are unnecessary.

But, as Americans, we must battle to keep First Amendment rights for all, not just for the protected class.

Fight for your freedom, folks. When we allow the squeakiest wheel to get the grease time and time again, there isn’t going to be a lot of grease to go around for the rest of us.

And our squeaks will cease to be heard.

lsm
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Go to Home Page: www.awakentheelephants.com

Two short years ago, Barack Obama was on the verge of becoming the President of the United States- despite the fact that folks knew very little about him.

Oh, we knew he voted to the Left of Barry Sanders, the socialist Senator from Vermont. We knew that he hung out in a radical, Christian church. We knew that, as he told Joe the Plumber, he wanted to “spread the wealth around a little bit.” We knew he hung with a variety of radical friends and supported radical causes.

Not to worry. The average voter believed that when Barack Obama actually became president, he would HAVE to moderate. Most knew that he could not effectively rule from the Left, and most assumed that he had “grown up” from his radical years as a community organizer and activist.

Well, we have found out the hard way that Barack has no intentions of moderating.

A leopard doesn’t change its spots.

We now have another enigma, a guy named Mark Dayton who happens to be the democratic gubernatorial candidate of Minnesota. Mark is a guy who has outwardly admitted to a number of things including: Repeat relapses into alcoholism, problems with depression, two divorces, a lack of private sector experience, and the fact that he earned an “F” grade as a U.S. Senator.

This guy thinks he’s governor material?

Yet despite his “openness” on these issues, we still know very little about him. There are YEARS in his past with enormous holes, and Mark has no intention of giving us the details of those years. It seems we have to judge Mark Dayton on the things he HAS told us…

One way to do that is to look at the behavior of rational democrats and their radical counterparts and see where Mark Dayton fits in. Where does he stand on the rational/radical scale?

A rational democrat usually take a “pro-choice” stance on abortion. They believe that a woman has the right to “choose”, however, they also believe that third trimester abortions, those that are often referred to as “partial birth abortions”, are unnecessary and should be outlawed except where a mother’s health would be jeopardized. A radical democrat believes that partial birth abortions- where the baby is born breach (except for the head), a scissors is stabbed into the base of the skull, and a tube is used to suck the brains from the child- should always be a choice, even in the third trimester.

Mark voted in 2003 against the ban on partial birth abortion. He voted to continue this savage procedure, even if it is done solely for the convenience of the mother.

Considering that 70% of the population disagree with Mark’s position, that would make Mark Dayton a RADICAL on abortion.

Just like Barack.

Even more head-scratching is the fact that Mark voted for a bill that would make it a criminal offense to harm or kill a fetus during the commission of a violent crime, but not if an abortionist or if the mother kills the fetus.

I guess a scissor in the skull isn’t as bad as a knife in the stomach.

Where’s the common sense?

There’s more. A rational democrat, especially one with tons of money, would fund other rational causes, things like local food shelves. A radical democrat supports revolutionaries and their wacko causes.

Mark Dayton gave money to the Black Panthers legal defense fund.

Radical again.

We also know that Mark attended the controversial “coronation” of Reverend Sun Myung Moon- of the famed “Moonies cult- in June 2004. According to the Washington Post, during that event, Reverend Moon “declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be “reborn as new persons”.”

To be fair, Mark claimed “he didn’t know about Moon’s appearance”- that he was “duped”…. yet he didn’t walk out when the Rev. Moon started praising Stalin, did he?

Huh.

During a national crisis, a rational democrat would be a leader. He/She would calmly assess a situation, determine the safety of the staff, and then make decisions based on facts, not paranoia. An irrational democrat would immediately go into “combat” mode, assume the worst, and take action without thinking clearly.

When faced with the events of 9/11, Mark Dayton immediately closed down his Senate office in Washington and ran home to Minnesota.

99 other Senators who had the same intel as Mark, stayed in Washington to show leadership and courage.

Radical?….OK, maybe just paranoid.

Rational democrats like taxes, but not necessarily on things like emails- as Mark considered in 2003. They don’t repeatedly run from office after serving one term- as Mark has done twice, once as Senator, once as auditor. Rational democrats don’t call for the end to PAC money, as Mark did in 2000, and then ask their relatives to create and fund a PAC which finances their 2010 campaign. After proclaiming that he wanted to do away with PAC’s , Mark continued to finance them at every turn.

So which way is it, Mark?

Rational doesn’t mean publicly calling for “the end to negative ads”, and then encouraging your relatives’ PAC to run negative ads against your opponent. The Alliance for a Better Minnesota (a Dayton family-funded PAC) has been financing TV commercials slamming his opponent, Tom Emmer, for weeks now. They hammer Tom on the 2 DWI’s he received over 20 years ago never mentioning that Mark is a repeat alcoholic AND has been (and may still be?) medicated for mental illness.

Can you say “throwing stones”?

That’s not rational.

A rational democrat is a nice guy, easy to work for. Mark Dayton does not seem to fit this mold. Monte Jarvis, Dayton’s 1998 field director,had this to say about Mark Dayton after he left the 1998 campaign: ‘Certain relatively trivial instances would trigger extreme reactions and threats of firing. I was personally reamed out for crumbs in the bottom of the refrigerator.’ “(Star Tribune)

“Told of the accusation, Dayton winced and shook his head. ‘Monte was one of the more dedicated and reliable people in that campaign,’ he said. ‘Yes, I lost my temper on a half-dozen occasions, after numerous repeated attempts to get some semblance of cleanliness.’”"

Dayton also blew up because the staff was drinking too much Diet Coke.

Hmm…So the multi-millionaire candidate, the guy who is so wealthy that he contributed $12,300 to Franken’s Recount Fund, was not happy about funding his workers’ Coke-gate?

Reportedly, over 20 staff members either fired or quit during that time -”prompting questions” about Dayton’s mental stability.

Radical behavior? Unstable? Compulsive? Certainly not rational.

Most Americans now look at Barack Obama and are swallowing hard. We’ve learned the tough lesson that a politician isn’t always what he says he is. A politician brings their past into office with them.

And when a candidate shows signs of having been unstable, paranoid, and irrational- and this is BEFORE they’ve encountered the stress of the governor’s office- can we really expect them to suddenly change?

We don’t need radical, crazy dysfunction in Minnesota; we need someone rational at the helm.

That, my friends, ain’t Mark Dayton.

lsm
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Go to Home Page: www.awakentheelephants.com

What is it with modern day felons? Have they got balls or what?

There used to be a day when criminals were viewed as the “bad apples” of our society, a day when we locked these guys up so that the rest of us could live in peace. It was a time when spending 20 years behind bars was an unpleasant, life-altering experience, something that kept the average citizen on the straight and narrow. Even going to jail for a night was humiliating.

Now, celebrities like Lindsay Lohan think of jail as a “cute” PR move- and a way to make a fashion statement. What you wear to and from the prison is much more important than what you did wrong.

We now live in a world of gray, a world where right and wrong are just relative terms.

The felons of today are fighting for their rights. Big time. They not only want their free health care, free dental, free “housing”, free meals, and free legal representation, they also want the right to vote, the right to have a sex-change operation, the right to legally change their name, the right to have plastic surgery…..

I opened up the Washington Times and read the headline: “Former felons feel boxed in by crime question.”

Huh.

It seems that felons would rather not face the consequences of their prior actions. They’re feeling “discrimination” because employers and landlords are “judging” them on their past when they apply for jobs or housing.

Hmmm…. let’s see. Let’s say that I have a small business and I’m looking for hired help….do I hire the clean-cut college grad or do I hire the guy who just did 20 years for armed robbery?

Tough decision.

We’ve got criminals like American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh suing the Indiana State prison for his right to “pray in a group” with another Muslim inmate. Lindh is in a cell block that is “restricted” so his contact with other inmates is limited. According to Yahoo, he’s claiming that “his religion requires him to pray five times a day, preferably in a group” and the prison is taking away that right from him.”

“Praying in his cell is not appropriate, he said, because the Quran requires a ritually clean place for prayer and he is forced to kneel “in close proximity to my toilet.”"

I wonder if the Bible lets you pray near a toilet…

The ACLU completely agrees with Lindh.

Shocking.

Then we have Rhozier “Roach” Brown, the convicted murderer who was serving a life sentence when Gerald Ford decided to commute his sentence. Roach has become a strong advocate for those who have been incarcerated and fought successfully to get back the voting rights for released criminals in DC. He’s now trying to get criminals legitimized as a “protected class” in society, folks who can’t be turned away from a job or housing simply based on their felon status.

Basically, he’d like to see us do away with backround and credit checks.

Roach claims, “If you can’t get a job, you can’t get a home, and if you can’t either, you can’t break the dependency. They can’t care for themselves or their families.”

Here’s the question: How does that help the rest of us who are law-abiding citizens? Do we not have a right to know that the guy in the next cubicle was a convicted rapist? Do we not have the right to know that our kids’ bus driver was once a child molester? Shouldn’t we be aware of the fact that the guy in the next apartment has a history of armed robbery?

When do honest people get rewarded?

This is especially important when we see the rash of illegal CRIMINALS breaching our Southern borders. As suggested by a new documentary, “Southern Exposure: Battle for the Border”, tens of thousands of felons- including murderers and sex offenders- are making their way to our country. The video, which was filmed near Tucson, Arizona, portrays the dirty little secrets within illegal immigration that our mainstream media won’t report.

WND reports “that in fiscal year 2008-2009, there were 378,000 apprehensions by the Border Patrol in the Tucson sector alone, which is only 262 linear miles. In the documentary, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Michael Scioli says the USBP estimates that agents apprehend one out of every three or four illegal migrants. He says that 15 percent of the aliens caught in the Tucson sector are convicted felons. That’s 57,000 convicts.”

“I’m talking about major things: homicides, sex offenders is one of the top three – hugely sex offenders,” Scioli says.

Should these guys get rights when they’re incarcerated? Should we give them mental health care and special prayer privileges?

In my home state of Minnesota, felons don’t have voting rights, yet in the 2008 election, it seems that many didn’t follow the law. An organization called the Minnesota Majority decided to investigate the number of convicted felons who voted and found that in 2 counties alone, there were a couple of hundred ballots cast by convicted criminals.

It is possible that these illegal votes gave Al Franken the 60th Senate seat.

It also means that illegal votes gave us the Health Care Law.

When initially alerted to the possibility of felon voter fraud, our Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie- who was heavily funded by George Soros in the last election- didn’t see a problem and turned a blind eye. This is the guy in charge of our elections, the guy who’s sworn to uphold the law.

When will the insanity stop? When will liberals start to identify the “good guys” and the “bad guys” in our society and realize that those of us who follow the law need to be protected from those who don’t? When will we learn that criminal activity has consequences?

Do a google search of sex molesters in your area and look at the pictures and profiles of those who come up on the screen. Look at their rap sheets. Most are repeat offenders. Do we want those guys sharing an apartment building with our college-age daughters?

Really?

Do we want them to vote to determine our laws, our judges, our legal system?

Do we want to give them the rights of a “protected class” ?

And should we have to tolerate and fund their every whim while incarcerated? Does the Quran get to determine how they live in jail- what they eat, where they pray? Isn’t this just a slippery slope that could ultimately get Shariah Law into our legal system?

When does the insanity end?

lsm
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Go to Home Page: www.awakentheelephants.com

After studying the ideals of the radical Left, I’m beginning to understand that there is an agenda unfolding inside of our public schools. Gone are the days when we taught our children Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. Along with other senseless drivel, we now teach our kids that global warming is threatening their very survival and that condoms come in many flavors and colors.

Here’s what I don’t understand: Where are we finding mindless teachers who willingly go along with this current program?

And how can these same mindless teachers give a portion of their salaries to a teachers’ union (NEA) which is actively working AGAINST our kids, AGAINST our country, AGAINST freedom for Americans, and FOR a radical, gay agenda?

Like giving candy to a baby, teachers and professors are selling a Leftist bill of goods to their students.

Our kids are buying it- hook, line, and sinker. Why wouldn’t they? “Mrs. X is a really nice lady with really pretty hair and she tells us that the world is getting warmer and the polar bears are dying- so it must be happening. Mrs. X wouldn’t lie, would she?”

“Mr. Y tells us that sex is OK with boys and girls- or both- as long as you like each other- and that oral sex is really safe because you can’t get pregnant. ”

In many schools, the days are filled with new, innovative ways to get the kids to learn, however, much of what they are learning is a waste of time. For example, the NEA website encourages teachers to create a Poetry Calendar with their students. This activity involves charting poets’ birthdays on a calendar, and then charting and discussing works from the various poets. There’s even a section about designing a Poet t-shirt and another about staging a “Poetry Slam” whereby kids will perform works of poetry in front of an audience.

This time-consuming adventure is now called “education.”

No wonder my child barely knows his multiplication tables; he’s been busy charting the birthdays of poets.

Few students are educated as well as they were 50 years ago. Why? With computers, technology, nicer schools, and all of these new, innovative learning techniques, why are the kids failing? The democrats claim that there isn’t enough money to go around. Throw a few more dollars at the problem and it will correct itself. Like all good-intentioned liberal ideas, this has shown itself to be a bust. The problem isn’t the money, it isn’t the schools.

The problem is much more complicated: It involves the systematic breakdown of our culture and our families. Because of the degradation of society, we no longer teach respect, we no longer hold kids accountable who don’t learn, we no longer teach the basics, we encourage indecency, we encourage kids to question authority, and we allow the “victim” mentality to permeate the schools.

No one can fail. Kids who have been handed $120,000+ of tax-payer money for 12 years of education are graduating without being able to read. Throw all the money you want at something dysfunctional and it will never change unless you get to the root of the problem.

For the past 50 years, communists have dedicated themselves to undermining the culture and the families in America- mainly through education- knowing that if successful, they could gain a stronghold in our country.

They seem to have done a very good job, indeed.

On this same note, the NEA website now promotes the reading of Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” by all of its members. This book, as you might know, is dedicated to Lucifer, who Alinsky admired as the “original community organizer.” Alinsky was a known Marxist, a communist. Why would the NEA encourage all members to “become familiar with his theories & materials” ?

What are his theories? Alinsky taught that the “end justifies the means”. He pushed radical tactics of intimidation, confrontation, polarization, and rebellion.

Is this what we want our kids to learn from their teachers?

When our kids finally graduate and go to college, they can take classes that would make you shudder. Occidental College offers a course called, “The Phallus.” It’s cited as studies “between the phallus and the penis, the meaning of the phallus, the lesbian phallus, the Jewish phallus, the Latino phallus….” It’s offered by the department of critical theory and social justice.

Gosh, I hope my kids can get into that one.

Queer Musicology is offered at UCLA. It combines queer theory- “the study of gender, feminism and gayness – with the science of music, to produce a very open-minded course”. The LA Times reported that the course will introduce debates like: “the idea that if you’re gay, then music by gay composers such as Benjamin Britten will sound different to you than it would if you were straight.”

OK then.

There’s also a major called the “Science of Harry Potter” at Frostberg University and another at Indiana University that combines Star Trek with religion.

And we wonder why our kids can’t get a job.

Imagine the money we are spending on this nonsense….

We now know that most of their college history books were written by Howard Zinn, a known communist who skewed historical facts to enhance his view of the world. Theology is often taught by educators who twist biblical teachings to meet their needs. We cannot even count on Catholic colleges to stand up for what’s moral. Notre Dame, for example, brought President Obama in as their commencement speaker and gave him an honorary degree despite his support for infanticide- and despite the cries of millions of Catholics against it.

In a new book by Dr. Tim Elmore, “Generation iY: Our Last Chance to Save Their Future”, the author writes that “I have spoken to employers who told me they will never hire another new graduate. I have heard teachers say they can hardly wait for retirement since they can’t do a thing about kids today. I’ve had parents confide in me that they don’t know what to do with their kids except scream at them.”

The breakdown of the culture, the breakdown of the family…..

Government officials have officially taken over our children. Once they’ve been “educated”, kids no longer think like us, act like us, or want to be like us. They have been warped in a school system designed to warp them.

“Give me 4 years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” Lenin.

What happens in 12 years, Mr. Lenin? What happens to our kids in 12 years?

lsm
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go to Home Page: www.awakentheelephants.com

Uniforms. My kids wear them. I’ve worn them. I remember working at the Country Kitchen during the “graveyard” shift and being required to wear an uncomfortable brown dress with a checkered apron and a checkered scarf on my head.

It was humiliating.

But I was thankful that I had a job.

Keep your mouth shut . Be grateful. Two things we rarely see from modern-day liberals. Those from the Left believe that the rules in their school, their organization, their company don’t apply to them. You see- liberals don’t believe that they have to act or dress like the rest of us because life has given them a permanent “victim” pass, one which they can conveniently pull out of their back pocket whenever they feel the need. We sometimes refer to their victim status card as “discrimination”, “racism”, “sexism”, or “anti-gayism.”

They have an excuse for everything.

Case in point: A Muslim woman, 26 year old Imane Boudlal, just sued Disneyland because she can’t wear her headscarf to work as a hostess at a Disney hotel. Here’s what’s interesting: Imane didn’t wear her headscarf for months, but suddenly decided she would like to- so she wrote to the company to ask for permission. When she didn’t hear back from the company, Imane took it upon herself to start wearing her hajib.

When the folks at Disney became aware of the issue, they informed Imane that her hajib was not acceptable. You see, they have a strict definition of the “Disney look”, one that doesn’t outwardly show religion. Company rules were as follows: If Imane wanted to continue to wear her hajib, Disney would give her a job “in the back” where she wouldn’t be seen. If she wanted to continue to hostess, she would have to do so without the headscarf.

At no time was Imane going to be fired; she could simply decide which job she preferred.

Well, as with all good activists, these two options weren’t satisfactory. Enter the ACLU, the civil rights group that comes to the aid of the protected class whenever they feel oppressed. The ACLU believes that Imane should be able to wear her scarf AND be a hostess because Imane is feeling “humiliated”. In her own words, “They’re saying because I’m Arab, because I’m Moroccan, because I’m Muslim, they don’t want to see me in the front.”

No, Imane, they couldn’t care less that you are Muslim or Moroccan- They hired you, didn’t they? Disney has a standard of dress which they want you to comply with, one which everyone else at Disney MUST COMPLY WITH. Just because YOU don’t feel like complying doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have to.

Either take off the scarf or go work in the back.

Slippery slope, folks. We’re on a slippery slope, one in which the squeaky wheel gets the grease- and the “squeakiest” wheel seems to be those who have been told that the rules don’t apply to them, they are “victims.” It began when African Americans learned from community activists like Reverend Wright, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton that cries of “racism” got them special treatment. Everything from getting fired from a job to being denied acceptance to a college was attributed to discrimination. It quickly moved on to women who learned to cry “sexism” or “sexual harassment” whenever their jobs were terminated. Now we see gay teachers who want to cross-dress- or better yet, invite their students to their gay weddings during class hours. They call parents who object to this behavior “bigots” and are now pushing a “safe school” crusade through our schools in the name of “anti-bullying”- a crusade which opens up the door to teach our kids about gay sex.

Those of us who want to see our public schools teach our kids math instead of gay sex are simply “gay-bashers”.

This same “victim” mentality is coming from the Muslims and they’re pushing their initiatives through at break-neck speed. They want special prayer rooms in businesses and airports. They want time off of work to pray. They want Muslim-only prayer in our public schools, asking for foot baths so they can wash their feet before prayer. They receive federal funding for their public schools which covertly teach Islam during the day.

They want to push ahead with a mosque in NY when CLEARLY, if they were aiming for “peace”, they should back away out of respect for those who were victims of 9/11.

Interestingly enough, the same liberals who are voting for gay rights and women’s rights are also voting to push Shariah law into our country. I’ve often wondered if these liberal groups have bothered to research the Shariah complicit countries and take notice of how they treat gays and women? How many gays are there in Iran? How many women are stoned or beaten or raped or forced to marry someone they don’t love in Saudi Arabia?

Here’s the irony: Do women’s groups realize that wearing a headscarf is not a sign of freedom, but a sign of oppression? Do they understand that at one time, they fought for their right to “burn their bra” and now they’re voting to be forced to wear a hajib?

Disney has refused to kow-tow to Imame Boudlal’s desire to wear the scarf. She has chosen to go home 7 times without pay rather than comply with Disney’s rules. She is also going ahead with her lawsuit.

We, as Americans, need to stand up NOW for the right of private companies to set standards of dress and actions for their employees.

The slope gets steeper every day.

We’re sliding fast.

lsm
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Go to Homepage: www.awakentheelephants.com

On August 18, the Cleveland City Council approved a $2.5 Million budget request for specialized garbage carts, ones that are embedded with a radio frequency identification chip (RFID), which will be given to 25,000 lucky citizens residing in their city.

Why? Well, these 25,000 lucky ducks will now have their garbage monitored by Big Government. The RFID chips inside these recycling carts will monitor how often the carts are brought down to the curb. When too much time elapses without enough movement, an official from the government- a “trash supervisor”- will assume that you aren’t recycling and they will come to your home and go through your garbage.

Nice.

Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that there will be fines for those who throw recyclables into bins with regular garbage : “Trash carts containing more than 10 percent recyclable material could lead to a $100 fine, according to Waste Collection Commissioner Ronnie Owens. Recyclables include glass, metal cans, plastic bottles, paper and cardboard.”

I’m not kidding. The Trash Nazis have come to America.

We heard about these folks when they invaded Britain a while ago. The city of Exeter in England took a 33 year old mother of 4 to court when “soiled nappies and food waste” were found in her green bin. It seems that the green bin can only be used for recyclables. The case was dropped when the council was unable to prove who was actually responsible for the “Nappy-gate.”

It gets worse…

The London Evening Examiner told a story of the plight of Michael Reeves, 28, who became “Britain’s first recycling martyr after being fined £200 by a court for disobeying rules for sorting rubbish.” Mr. Reeves was given a criminal record for “inadvertently placing a single piece of paper in a recycling sack meant for glass.”

Mr. Reeves claims that the criminal record has made his life difficult…and isn’t laughing.

And it seems that the old tactic of Hitler -pitting neighbor after neighbor- has hit Britain. One city council actually set up a free phone number for residents to report neighbors who do not recycle their rubbish.

This, my friends, is what will soon be coming to a city near you.

What has come to America is a government scheme to take more of your money in the name of “saving the planet.” Big Brother has found another way to control you, another way to get your hard-earned cash through a fine. Al Gore must have spent sleepless nights coming up with this plan…..

Cleveland started this “chip program” in 2007 with 15,000 residents. They plan on increasing the program by 25,000 people/year until they reach their desired level of 150,000. This past year, the trash collection agency issued 2,900 tickets at $100/ticket- nearly 5 times more than in 2008. Their goal is to issue 4,000 citations in 2010.

Somehow I think they will achieve their goal…..

Did I mention that you will also be fined if you put out your trash cart too early or don’t remove it from the curb in a “timely” manner? And there will be even bigger fines given to those who have “excessive” trash- some as large as $500. It seems that Big Government isn’t only going to monitor if you recycle, they also want to make sure you are following all of their rules.

It’s for our own good. And the good of the planet.

Long gone are the days of personal responsibility. We now live in a country that fines us if we don’t wear a seatbelt, if we don’t wear a motorcycle helmet, if we don’t have a life jacket in a boat, and if we don’t take our trash bin away from the curb fast enough. We are becoming mere minions to a government who wants to monitor our every move- claiming to help us- but actually wanting to control and tax us.

What’s next, folks? Will the government nazis fine us if our grass is too long, our mailbox is too full, our garage door is open, our house needs repainting? Will they fine us if we don’t plant enough trees or if we cut down a bush?

I have no problem with the government asking its citizens to pitch in and recycle, but when I hear that they will monitor whether or not my recycling bin has been sitting at the curb too long, then things have gotten out of control.

Sadly, it is those who sit on the city councils who are making these rules and levying these fines. It is the “people” who are trying to control the “people.” (You may want to call your city council candidates and ask them how they would vote on this issue.)

What happened to freedom?

The Founders are rolling over…and over.

lsm.
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We saw Rod Blagojevich walking confidently into the courtroom day after day, shaking hands with the by-standers and proclaiming his innocence. He assured us that he had done nothing wrong, that he was an innocent man who had been wrongly accused.

Just like O.J.

Yet there were tapes….MANY tapes in which we heard Blago talk about his plot to get something valuable for the Senate seat. Politico described it this way: “Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was captured on tape saying that unless he received “something real good” for the appointment of a top adviser to Barack Obama to fill the president-elect’s Senate seat he would appoint himself.

“Unless I get something real good [for Senate candidate 1], s***, I’ll just send myself, you know what I’m saying?” Blagojevich was taped saying on November 3, the day before Election Day. Blagojevich added that the Senate seat “is a f***ing valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing.”

This trial reminded me of the kid who gets caught with his hand inside a cookie jar and looks up at you, firmly stating that his hand is in his pocket, not the jar.

We call these folks, “Liars.”

So where did Blago’s confidence come from? How did a man who was clearly guilty KNOW that he would walk away with a slap on the wrist?

Enter Juror #106, described as “a black female believed to be in her 60s, a retired state public health director who has ties to the Chicago Urban League. She has handed out campaign literature for a relative who ran for public office. She listens to National Public Radio and liberal talk radio shows.”

She seems to be a democratic “activist”.

Her name? Jo Ann Chiakulas. It seems that Rod Blagojevich needs to be writing Jo Ann a big note of thanks- or a big check- because she was the lone juror who refused to find Blago guilty of the most egregious crimes against him.

The other jurors say that Jo Ann wouldn’t budge. She simply “didn’t see” what they saw- she didn’t see his guilt. Yes, she heard the same tapes, heard from the same witnesses. She DID vote with her fellow jurors on one count- that of lying to federal agents- but she didn’t see anything wrong with Blago trying to sell the Senate Seat for money or favors.

Interestingly enough, Jo Ann doesn’t seem to want to talk to the media about her strong vote of innocence for Blago, turning down numerous requests from news agencies.

I guess this woman grew up in Chicago, a Twilight Zone of sorts, where corruption is the norm and immorality is expected from our government officials. Either that, or Jo Ann had other motives…..

It is now being reported by a “second-hand aquaintance” that Jo Ann “has been saying for weeks that she would find Blagojevich not guilty.”

It is looking like this woman came into the trial with an agenda, one which she didn’t reveal during the jury selection.

Huh.

We need to ask the question: What was this woman doing on the jury? How did a team of prosecutors allow Jo Ann to get seated? Did they do their homework? Was she a “plant”- or did someone from the Blagojevich side “have a little talk” with Jo Ann?

It makes you wonder….

11 of the 12 jurors saw enough evidence to convict Blago on the most serious charges, giving hope to the prosecution team that they can get a conviction at a retrial. Blago’s defense team is now on a PR campaign, publicizing the cost of a retrial- estimating it at around $30 Million- hoping to get the support of taxpayers who won’t want to financially back another trial.

Prosecutors are disputing those numbers.

The opinions are mixed. Many in Chicago are numb to this political corruption, thinking that “politics” and “sleazy behavior” are one and the same. Others, including the Chicago Tribune editorial board, feel that a retrial is the only way in which we get to the bottom of the truth and said the following on Wednesday: “We very much anticipate that second trial. The government’s accusations of racketeering and conspiracy are too serious to go unresolved. We trust that another jury will tell the people of Illinois whether the state’s only impeached and ousted governor is guilty or innocent of more than one felony.”

Some of the jurors are supporting the notion of a second trial, claiming that on “many” counts, the vote was 11-1.

Yet, what’s to say that the jury selection in the next trial won’t be tainted? If Blago, Jarrett, Emanuel, and Obama can “get to” Jo Ann, then they can easily get to a juror the next time around. There are many potential jurors in Chicago- those who work within the “system” of government- who would love nothing better than to “help out” their friends with a “not guilty” verdict for Blago.

Which explains the ex-governor’s smile, his confidence, his seemingly happy nature. He’s not a man who’s afraid he’ll go to jail- quite the contrary. He’s a guy who’s happily living his 15 minutes of fame, hoping it will launch him into his next lucrative gig.

Chicago politics. The place where NOTHING is illegal.

Nothing.

lsm
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I’ve written about the link between the Catholic Church and Saul Alinsky in the past, and while it is uncomfortable for Catholics, like myself, to hear the truth, the only way to get to the bottom of this corruption is by making it public and demanding that this behavior be stopped. When I saw this video, I realized that the corruption goes even deeper than I knew.

I went to my own priest with this information and was greeted with a stone wall- He didn’t want to hear any of it. He pleaded ignorance, but more importantly, he refused to “look into” my facts, instead questioning my sources and denying my claims. I believe that in a way, this scandal is as big (although not as immoral) as the priest abuse scandal. The idea that our Church has been stealing money from the parishoners in the name of “helping the poor” and then using it to fund organizations which promote Saul Alinsky and his radical ideology is beyond belief.

Please pass these videos on to your Catholic friends or take them to your own priest and demand that this be stopped.

lsm
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While there are many things in life which we have a right to do; there are also many of those things which are not right.

We have a right to go to a ballgame and stand up the entire game, keeping those behind you from seeing the game.

In most communities, we have a right to paint our house neon yellow with purple trim or to let our lawn grow to an unsightly level.

But a little thing called “morality” keeps us from doing those things. We know that our actions affect others, and to live peacefully in this world, we must, at times, think outside of our “rights” and do what is “right.”

The same logic needs to be used when it comes to the building of the mosque, the controversial structure which may go up across the street from the World Trade Center bombing site. Do the Muslims have the constitutional right to build a mosque at this site? Yes, they do. Should they use this constitutional right, dismissing the cries from Americans all over the United States who feel that this is a disrespectful act and a slap across the face of those who lost loved ones on 9/11?

Of course not.

Why? Because it isn’t right. There is absolutely no reason that this mosque can not be built in another spot which is less controversial. “Keeping the peace” often means mediating, finding a solution which will benefit all. If the purpose of the mosque is simply to have a place for Muslims to worship, then they certainly can find another spot which will fulfill their purpose and won’t offend others.

If their purpose, however, is to spit in the face of America, then they will not mediate. They will claim their constitutional right to build this facility across from the bombing site and forge ahead. If past behavior is any indication, I will predict that the Islamic clerics who are pushing for the construction of this mosque will not concede.

Especially now that they have our mighty president on their side.

Obama stood before these Muslims at his Iftar Ramadan party and gave them the green light to build their mosque wherever they darn-well please. He never mentioned that it would be a gesture of goodwill if they would simply move the location of this project down the street a few blocks, nor did he mention that relocating would be a huge step toward convincing skeptics that Islam is truly a religion of peace. He didn’t talk of the harm this mosque could do to Islamic/American relations or the wedge it could put between New Yorkers- those who were the most affected by the destruction of the Twin Towers.

No, Obama stood with the Muslims, once again.

Shocking.

Barack Hussein Obama continues to baffle those who want to believe that he is pro-American. He makes it very difficult for moderate democrats to defend him because his actions continue to fly in the face of what we’ve seen from prior presidents. We have never seen a president who refused to defend our country or the American people from a dangerous, illegal population- or one who sued one of the 50 states for defending themselves. We’ve never seen a president go abroad and denounce our country or bow to foreign leaders. We’ve never seen a president defend the actions of Black Panthers and Gitmo terrorists, yet jump at an opportunity to say the police “acted stupidly.”

It’s unprecedented.

According to Politico, the democrats who are now running in tough congressional races are frustrated by Obama’s stance: “Democrats — at least some who were willing to comment — could barely contain their frustration over Obama’s remarks, saying he had potentially placed every one of their candidates into the middle of the debate by giving GOP candidates a chance to ask them point-blank: Do you agree with Obama on the mosque, or not?”

Few democrats are offering their opinion, yet every politician who is running for office should be asked this question.

Why? Because according to a CNN poll, 2/3 of the American people oppose the mosque- and Americans have a right to know where their elected officials stand.

After taking some heat, Obama is now backing away from his comments. He claims that he wasn’t giving the green light to the Muslims, simply stating that they had a constitutional right to build wherever they’d like. Some in the GOP, including Sarah Palin, aren’t buying this turnaround. In a recent Facebook posting, Sarah asked the President: “Mr. President, should they or should they not build a mosque steps away from where radical Islamists killed 3,000 people? Please tell us your position. We all know that they have the right to do it, but should they? And, no, this is not above your pay grade.”

Interestingly enough, the controversial Imam who is pressing for the construction of the mosque is now touring the Middle East on the taxpayers’ dime. Yes, the State Department- aka, Hillary Clinton- has given this man an “all expense paid” trip as an “envoy” to the United States. He will also be given the opportunity to visit a few rich friends who might help him fund the mosque.

And these rich friends may also repay the favor to Clinton or Obama during the 2012 election cycle.

This controversy has done nothing but once again divide our nation. Just as Obama has pitted democrats against republicans, blacks against whites, illegals against legals, and rich against poor, he is now dividing us on a basis of religion. What’s sad is that it doesn’t have to be this way. If those of the Islamic faith will merely come into our country, assimilate into our culture, follow our rules, and use some common courtesy, they would go a long way toward healing the negative feelings of 9/11.

Divide and conquer- that’s the communist way. It’s difficult for communists to defeat a united nation, but relatively easy for them to exercise power over a divided mass. Obama has studied Marxism his whole life- he knows this to be true.

Our president is not a bumbling idiot who doesn’t understand the ramifications of his words. Quite the contrary.

He’s very intelligent.

And very intentional.

lsm
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How many times does a citizen of Minnesota need to hit their head against a wall in order to learn that it’s painful?

Is there something in the water of the 10,000 lakes that lowers the average IQ when it comes to the cause and effect of elections?

Election after election, we scratch our heads, wondering what Minnesotans are thinking….

We are the state who worshiped Paul Wellstone, a socialist democrat, and a man who never saw an entitlement program that he didn’t like. While Wellstone seemed to be a nice guy and a good family man with great intentions, he was a man who had the same warped “dream” that we see in this current Obama administration. William L. Anderson, Ph.D., a economics professor at Frostburg State University describes that “dream” this way:

“That dream – of a peaceful socialist society that provides plenty for all – is just a dream; the reality of socialism, as demonstrated grotesquely by the hundreds of millions of bones that lie beneath the ground in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Asia, is war, starvation, and death. No more proof of statism’s evil is needed, but there are always socialists like Wellstone to tell us that he and others hold the “keys to the kingdom” that will make the system work and provide plenty for everyone, and there always are suckers out there who believe this nonsense.”

Obama, our Messiah, also thinks he holds the “keys to the kingdom”, and he is doing everything he can to unlock the doors of socialism so that we can all partake in its “glory.”

Lucky us.

Minnesota is the state that gave us Jesse Ventura, an ex-wrestler with a gruff sense of humor, and a guy who seemed to say what the average person was thinking. He won with a couple of funny TV ads which featured a “Jesse Ventura action figure” and a seemingly common sense approach to government which included his famous line of, “It’s the people’s money.” He was victorious because the folks in Minnesota were intrigued by Ventura’s candid “schtick” and thought it would be “cool” to elect a celebrity.

It didn’t take long before we were the laughingstock of the country.

Did we learn our lesson? Did we learn that celebrity doesn’t equal good leadership?

Obviously not.

Enter Al Franken, an embarrassment of the worst kind. Al is a two-bit comedian from Saturday Night Live. He penned an article for Playboy called “Porn-O-Rama!” in which he fantasized about visiting a made-up sex institute where he takes part in sexual acts with humans and machines. Let’s just say that it’s graphically pornographic, certainly nothing you would want attached to the resume of a U.S. Senator. He’s also an author of a couple of books, one of which is entitled, “Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot.”

Oh, and did I mention that Al had a little tax issue when he “forgot” to pay taxes for 4 years in 17 states?

None of that seemed to matter to the good folks of Minnesota. Al is now our Senator.

And what a Senator he has become!! He has voted with Harry Reid and against the American people on almost every piece of legislation, including the controversial health care bill. He has repeatedly embarrassed our state with his juvenile behavior- things like denying Senator Lieberman an extra minute to speak on the Senate floor and a recent mocking of Senator Mitch McConnell as he tried to deliver a speech denouncing Elena Kagan.

Franken was forced to apologize for his childish behavior.

A blogger summed up these situations perfectly: Senator Franken is a perfect example of DFL “Minnesota Nice”.

You see, the DFL hierarchy doesn’t seem to care about character, morality, ethics, corruption. They have no shame. Interestingly enough, the strongest DFL voters from Minnesota’s “Iron Range”, tend to have a number of strong, conservative principles, they just don’t vote for them. As avid sportsmen, they love their guns. Many have cabins and hunting property and want the government out of their business when it comes to their lives and their property rights. They are God-loving, church-going folks who would be appalled if they knew what a partial birth abortion actually entailed. They believe in legal immigration and the building of a border fence. They want THEIR taxes to stay low.

The problem seems to be that they have become so dependent on their entitlement programs, including SS, pensions, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment, food stamps, school food programs, etc., that they have no choice but to turn their backs to their own morality and vote for people who will keep giving them what they need to survive.

They’ve also been taught to hate the rich. Class envy runs rampant amongst this group.

Which makes the upcoming governor’s race, one which features the democrat-Millionaire Mark Dayton- against the Republican, Tom Emmer, very interesting. Dayton tries to portray himself as your average guy, never mentioning that he is being funded by a PAC which consists of other millionaire family members and friends. He was a prior U.S. Senator, making a name for himself when he was voted one of the 5 worst Senators by Time Magazine. He’s been through alcohol rehab a number of times and has struggled with mental health issues, yet his “PAC friends” have put out millions of dollars in ads criticizing Tom Emmer for 2 DUI convictions- Both over 20 years old.

Gosh, they never mentioned how many times Mark Dayton, a serial alcoholic, drove drunk but wasn’t caught. Face it, folks- anyone who’s been in rehab a number of times has been behind the wheel intoxicated.

Dayton closed down his Senate office in Washington DC and ran back to MN. immediately after 9/11 because he was “panicky” and “paranoid.”

Oh, and his platform? Raise taxes and spend more.

Leadership exudes from this guy.

Now he wants to be our governor.

Will the same folks who voted Wellstone, Ventura, and Franken into office, once again put on their blinders and vote for a governor who has clearly shown that he is not even capable of being a U.S. Senator?

C’mon folks, are you really THAT crazy?

Cause and effect. You vote for immoral, radical, crazy people because they have name recognition and you get a radical, crazy, immoral country. The head-banging is the source of your headache.

Life is one, big lesson. Time to grow up and learn a few things.

lsm

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