First Hand Account of a Pat Down

I had to fly to Phoenix last week on business and pleasure, escaping the sub zero temperatures of Northern Utah for the milder climes of the flaming bird. Got up to the scanner point and the TSA agent, noticing my shock of gray hair and other obvious tip offs to shady character hood, waved me over to the full body scanner. I politely refused. "Got an opt out here," spoke the agent into his shoulder mike, and had me stand to the side. After about five minutes, they shut down the full body scanner and the agent tending it waved me over to where my removable stuff had passed through the baggage scanner. While walking over, he was busy donning his latex gloves. Asking me to point out, but not touch my stuff, he grabbed the bin and directed me to the screening area. He informed me that I was going to receive a comprehensive pat down and began the process, informing me every step of the way. When he got to the "sensitive" areas, he said he was using the back of his hands. The entire pat down was minimally intrusive and did not invade my "junk." When he was through, I looked him in the eye and politely stated, "I hope you understand you have just violated my 4th Amendment rights." He made no reply and I departed.

In summary, I do believe TSA has backed off on the intrusiveness of the pat down, at least in my case. Maybe as an old gray haired guy, I was actually profiled. Or, it could be that they have been instructed not to be as aggressive in the past. Secondly, I found it interesting that they shut down the full body scanner shortly after I opted out. Perhaps only coincidence, but I do believe when they are short on manning they don't want to push too many people into the pat down.

I still believe that the full body scan and the pat down exceed "reasonable search and seizure of person and effects" and should be eliminated. I also believe that the only way to effect this change is through public pressure, Congress, and the courts.

JP

Powerful Stuff, If True

I came across this site and started reading the series supposedly obtained through interviews with a Democrat White House Insider. Amazing series, and since they were published before the election (for the most part), pretty spot on. The big story, of course, is that Hillary is getting ready to step in when Obama stumbles. See for yourself at  White House Insider

JP

Are TSA Scanners Safe? You Be The Judge

Here is some science to bring into question the safety of the TSA scanners.

Body Scanners May Be More Dangerous Than Feds Admit.



http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/health_stories/blaylock_TSA_scan_safety/2010/11/24/363489.html?s=al&promo_code=B2F7-1

How I Got to Flyover Country--Sort Of

From his boyhood home on a tobacco farm in Maryland, my great grandfather Raphael Morgan made his way West during the Civil War years at the age of sixteen. Finally settling in Montana, he married a 1/2 Indian woman and founded a large family and an even larger ranch. The following article, written by Linda Reno, a St Mary's County genealogical researcher, provides some interesting details. Her article was published in the latest issue of the magazine, Country Times.

"Raphael Morgan, son of James Alexander Morgan and his second wife, Mary Ann Delahay was born near Morganza December 16, 1849. Initially the Morgans were very prosperous and lived on the land James had inherited from his father, Raphael Morgan (died 1833).
The Morgan family went through some very hard times during the 1860s. In 1863, they lost their property through foreclosure, but things were to get even worse. On June 27, 1864 James Veasey Morgan (James Morgan’s son by his first wife, Ann Priscilla Howard), age 26 and Alice Morgan (Mary Ann’s daughter), age 20, both died. Alice had just been married three weeks before to William Burroughs. Then, just a little over two weeks later, on July 13, 1864, Mary Ann (Delahay) Morgan also died. All three were buried in the Old St. Joseph’s Cemetery at Morganza. James Morgan died in December 1871 and is buried beside his wife.
In 1865 Raphael left home and headed west. He went first to Cottonwood, Nebraska where he obtained employment herding stock. In 1870 he moved to Montana where he worked for several ranchers herding cattle. About 1875 he rented a ranch and began raising his own stock.
On July 28, 1880 at Choteau, Montana Raphael married Mary Weipert, daughter of Isaac Weipert (born in Quebec, Canada). Mary’s mother was from the Blackfoot Indian tribe. In 1886 Raphael and his wife secured 1,120 acres (Indian allotment claims) in Teton County, Montana.
In Teton Co. Becker and McLean of Medicine Hat, N W T have purchased 500 head of horses from Raphael Morgan and are now preparing to drive the herd overland to their destination. The brands will be vented near Cutback.” (Anaconda Standard, Montana, 7/20/1899).
At the time of the 1910 census, Raphael and his family were living at the Ft. Belknap Indian Agency in Chouteau County, Montana. Raphael was listed separately from his wife and 11 children who were in the same place but were listed as a part of the Indian population.
By 1920 the family had moved to Spokane, Washington where Raphael died on March 10, 1927. His obituary read: Pioneer Once Hunted With Buffalo Bill. Raphael Morgan, 78, whose funeral was held yesterday, was one of the pioneers of the Pacific northwest, arriving in Montana 64 years ago when Indians and buffalo were the chief inhabitants of that state. For two years he hunted game with Buffalo Bill, riding with the ox teams that brought freight from the Missouri river to Helena and shooting game for the drivers. Mr. Morgan later entered the cattle and sheep business and was one of the large stock raisers of Montana. He was twice shot by Indians and had frequent brushes with them in the early days. He came to Spokane in 1913.
Mary (Weipert) Morgan died in 1833. She and Raphael are buried in the Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery in Spokane, Washington."

By Linda Reno, Charlotte Hall, MD

JP

TSA--Some Facts to Consider

The TSA full body scan and pat down controversy has reached a fever pitch. Lot of rhetoric out there, but its time to calm down and examine this controversy from a factual, not emotional standpoint. To that direction, I offer the following:

1. Fact. In 2008 about 756 million Americans traveled on domestic airlines. I assume that they all went through TSA screening. As far as I know, there were no terrorist attacks that originated on U.S. soil. TSA must be doing a hell of a job.

2. Fact. Since 9/11, all attempted terrorist attacks via our airlines have originated overseas.

3. Fact. About 9 million passengers pass through Ben Gurion airport undergoing Israeli screening. It is considered the gold standard of air travel screening.

4. Fact. About 46 million passengers are screened at Las Vegas airport alone each year. Nationwide, about 756 million as mentioned above. Think we could fully apply Israeli methods to our system? Opinion: I think not.

5. Fact. Since and including 9/11 we have either uncovered or prevented or lucked out on numerous terrorist plots against airline travel or domestic high value targets. Sixty two of the plotters were Muslim with Muslim names. Of the numerous attempts, only one, Richard Reid had a non Muslim name, although he did admit that he was a member of Al Qaeda.

6. Fact. The full body scanners may not detect explosives such as the underwear bomber carried. (GAO report April 2010)

7. Fact. Michael Chertoff’s consulting firm represents Rapiscan, a company that recently sold TSA 15 million dollars worth of full body scanners. Michael Chertoff used to be the head of Homeland Security.

8. Fact. Tom Blank, the former Deputy Director of TSA, now works for Wexler and Walker, a lobby firm that represents American Science and Engineering, that manufactures another full body scanner.

9. Fact. The 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits un-reasonable search of person and property of U.S. citizens.

I’m not going to hop on my soap box here and offer my solution to this controversy. I know what I would do, but I’m not in charge. The facts speak for themselves. You draw your own conclusions. I do know that since I do fly often, that if given a choice of the scanner or the pat down, I will elect the pat down, and politely inform the TSA agent that he is violating my Constitutional rights as he performs his search of my person.

JP

New Jersey Challenges TSA--A Big Attaboy!

Now we are getting somewhere. Would be nice if some other states jumped on the bandwagon. Saw some cracks in the administration position this AM. Hillary Clinton, on Face the Nation, opined that maybe we should find a way to reduce the numbers of people undergoing the invasive screening. In other words, Positive Profiling, like they already have with the Pilots.

Watch the New Jersey news conference  at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EUJb_DJgBc&feature=related

Easiest way is to just click on the title above.

JP

TSA Caves on Youngsters and Pilots

Of course, that leaves the rest of us for the Peep Show and Grope. Ron Paul introduces a House Resolution to ban all touching. Pelosi sends it immediately to committee, where it will never see the light of day until after Jan 11, 2011. Keep up the pressure on your members of Congress, folks. We may just win this one after all.

Click on the Title to read the full article about the pilots.

JP

Where Now The Moral Outrage, Obama and Holder?

Over the past couple years, we have heard Obama and Eric Holder cite the importance of staying true to our values when dealing with terrorists. Obama was quite clear on this subject when he banned waterboarding as being torture, and Holder in citing the rule of law as a rationale for trying the nasty sheik in Manhattan.

Where now are Obama, Holder, and all their sanctimonious sycophants on the subject of American Values? They have suddenly gone quiet in the maelstrom of controversy surrounding the intrusive policies of Homeland Security’s TSA. Perhaps hoping the whole thing will blow away before they have to make any further brilliant remarks such as Janet Napolitano’s inane comment, “Well, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to fly.”

When Obama and Holder were talking about “American moral values” they were describing a  country defined by basic principles of integrity, rule of law, and a sense of fairness that permeates our unique experiment in governance. It thus seems strange that when confronted by a very specific example of the exact opposite, they choose to remain silent. I am referring, of course, to the enunciated moral values found in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the first ten amendments to the Constitution know collectively as the Bill of Rights. And, even more specifically, Amendment IV, which bears directly on the current controversy.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I assume there are lawsuits either under way or on tap that claim the searches by TSA are not Constitutional because they are unreasonable. I also assume the Department of Homeland Security, along with the Attorney General of the United States, will argue that the searches are reasonable since they are made to ensure security of the flying public. However argued, the government is on some pretty shaky grounds here, since the morality of carrying the searches to the point of sexual intrusion crosses a line that everyone knows instinctively is wrong. I would assume the nine wise men and women on the Supreme Court will feel the same, should the matter reach that far.

It is with this belief that I feel moral values will eventually trump the need for security. And since moral values have been cited by Obama and Holder as the very basis of the way we approach security from terrorists, I would also assume they will join with the American people in halting the invasive searches.

But I am not holding my breath.

JP

What The Fed is Really Up To (Hint: No Good)

What does "quantitative easing" really mean? You may be surprised. For a wonderfully simple explanation of what is going on with Bernake's actions, check out

Quantitative Easing Explained

JP

 

Are We a Nation of Sheep?

Or, are we going to stand up and fight against this latest affront to our personal dignity?

It is with grumbling compliance that we Americans accept the need for airport screening. So for the most part, we placidly put up with all the irritations and small humiliations that are part and parcel of the process. We shuffle through the Disney waiting line maze with detached annoyance, but resigned to do our part to keep our future flight from harm. The Thousands Standing Around (TSA) for the most part perform their duties with detached professionalism, not wanting to further irritate the masses of passengers who have arrived before them already irritated. So it is with an almost sheep-like acceptance we have come to cope with the realities of the post 9/11 era. Until, that is, TSA unveiled it’s latest technology that I call the Peep Show and Probe initiative. This, somehow, steps over some invisible line in the sand because it invades the very essence of our right to personal privacy. To pose, like a common criminal in a back scatter X-Ray device, knowing that some professional peeping tom is checking out the size of your privates, is a grave insult to our dignity as a human being. Or, as an alternative, to undergo an invasive pat down that ends only when “resistance” is met with a man, and the lack of “resistance” is met with a woman is the ultimate invasion of whatever personal privacy you thought was guaranteed by the U. S. Constitution. We have to stop this, and stop it fast. The time for action is now. With this in mind, I offer the following practical plan of action.

Forget individual resistance at the airport. If you refuse the back scatter or the pat down, at the least you are going to miss your flight; at the worst you are going to be detained unlawfully as TSA tries to figure out what to do with you.

First, we need to bring public pressure to bear by writing or calling our Representatives and Senators to make them aware of our concerns. (As an aside, it would be a good idea to require all members of our Congress to undergo mandatory back scatter or pat down screening when they fly).  In addition,  a campaign of writing Letters to the Editors of our local newspaper in order to raise the level of awareness of our objections.

Concurrently, employ that good old American tradition: sue the government in Federal Court to cease and desist a practice that observably violates our Constitutional right against unreasonable search. What better organization to assign this task than the ACLU? They have the power and the funding to carry this into our courts while showing us they really do care about our civil liberties. It would also give them something to do besides suing the Boy Scouts.

Finally, institute the practice of what I call Positive Profiling. Let me explain how this would work. I know who I am. I am not a terrorist. The problem is that TSA does not know who I am. They have their “watch list” of  thousands of potentially dangerous people, but they don’t have a “watch list” of the millions of Americans who pose no danger. May I suggest, that over a period of time, they develop the second watch list that would qualify for minimal airport screening. The key to this list would be a foolproof identification system which is technologically feasible today. This system would consist of either thumbprint or iris matching to positively identify the person on the list. Getting on this list would be akin to the process of obtaining a U.S. Passport--by vetting documentation of one's citizenship, occupation, and background and once vetted, the capture of your unique thumbprint or iris scan to be used at the airport to match the person with the “Go Fly” list. Positive Profiling would have the additional benefit of reducing passenger angst and speeding up the screening process.

I believe that with the application of the three positive actions listed above, we can put an early end to this terrible practice that so clearly violates the personal liberties guaranteed by our Constitution. The time for action is now, before all vestiges of our human dignity is taken away from us in the name of security.

James  P. Morgan
Sandy, Utah

See  http://tinyurl.com/39dpnlv  for a Washington Times article. Excellent. 

It is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius

Modern life is dictated by the clock. Up in the morning, kids off to school, out on the job--appointments, meetings, deadlines, eat, sleep and start all over. Pretty hectic. Not enough time in the day. I’m late, hurry, speed up; run Forrest, run. It wasn’t that long ago that our lives were dictated by a kinder, gentler, rhythm. In fact, for the most of human history, time passed in sync with the grand celestial dance of Earth, Moon, and Sun. The clock is a late invention, and just records the time intervals established by nature’s dance.

Up in the morning
Out on the job
Work like the devil for my pay
But that lucky old Sun
With nothin’ to do
But roll around Heaven all day.

(Beasley Smith and Haven Gillespie)

We used to live in a different world. We marked the passage of time with the light and the darkness; the equinox and the solstice; and the yearly pivot about the Sun, while the Moon roughly measured the months. We planted in the Spring, harvested in the Fall. We retired shortly after dark, and were up with the Sun. We measured our lifetimes by the number of orbits about our star. We marveled at the grand march of constellations across the night sky. In many ways, it was a kinder, gentler existence.

We tend to forget that our notion of time has been dictated by the movements of celestial bodies. And even when we do, we limit our concept the the movements within our solar system--the yearly cycle is about as far as we take it. However, ancient societies found an even larger cycle in the night skies, one that takes around 24,000 years to complete. With a little patience, you can discover it also. It is called “The precession of the equinox.” You are all familiar with the Zodiac, that collection of constellations that march across the night sky in the same plane as our own Sun. Every year, the Zodiac backs up about 1/60th of a degree. This is why it takes 24,000 years to complete the full 360 degrees.

What this means in a practical sense is that at the time of Christ, some 2000 years ago, if you looked into the eastern sky on the spring equinox just before the sun came up, you would see Pisces on the horizon. If you looked today, Pisces would be receding and Aquarius would be rising. Thus, “This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius, Aquarius, A-quar-ri-us.” (Name the group that made that song the number one hit in the 60‘s)

 The ancient Hindu, Babylonian, Egyptian, and perhaps even the Mayan were acutely aware of the cycle and imparted huge significance to the phenomena  in as much as it marked rising and descending ages of mankind. Supposedly, by their measurements, we are in an ascending age of man at the present. Lets hope so. Finally, though, a bit of astronomy to explain the movement.

The accepted scientific view as to what causes the backward movements of the Zodiac is that the Earth, spinning like a giant top, has a slow “wobble” that takes 24000 years to complete, thus the slight backwards movement is caused by a small change in the orientation of the Earth as it “wobbles”. This explanation his highly technical and subject to criticism due to some pretty obvious holes in the theory. And, it does not pass the “Occum’s Razor” test--it is so complex that there probably is a simpler explanation.

If our Sun was in a binary relationship with another star, and the two circled each other about a common point of gravity in an elliptical orbit, as binary stars do, then that motion would account for the precession as the Sun curved through space. About 80% of all stars are in a binary relationship with other stars, so the idea isn’t that far-fetched.  In the next installment of this blog, I’ll lay out the case for a possible candidate--and one that fits the ancient myths.

JP




  

All in the Family

My nephew Chris Morgan, a F-16 pilot with combat action in all three wars out there in the Middle East, was interviewed yesterday by a local news station. Did a great job. To view, click on the title, it is linked to the interview. Chris' dad was a RF4C pilot in Vietnam--yours truly a forward air controller in a C-130. Runs in the family.

JP

Victory Gardens and Arrow Shirts

By the time World War II ended in 1945, I was seven years old, so I do remember quite a bit about those times. One of my strongest memories is of our family cultivating a “Victory Garden” along with every one of our neighbors and relatives. A bit of research on my part found that these gardens, instituted as a national movement during the war, accounted for fruit and vegetable production equal to the entire commercial market at the time. Victory Gardens were ostensibly a way to ensure our troops would receive the lion’s share of the commercial growers output, but in reality the main reason was that they provided a way for Americans to feel like they were participating in the war effort. In addition, most every other commodity was rationed; for example, meat, sugar ,milk, butter, and so on. Hard to believe for anyone born after 1945. 

Shortly after the war, I remember that every Sunday we would take a family drive in the country. At the time, I did not realize that pleasure driving had been banned during the war, and that gasoline had been strictly rationed. (As a side note, the coveted “X” ration card with unlimited gasoline purchase was found to have been illegally issued to 200 congressmen--I guess things haven’t changed much after all.) The United States really had all the gasoline it needed, so the true reason for the rationing was to save on distribution costs and minimize the use of rubber in the tires. The Japanese had choked off our rubber supplies, so the military needed all the rubber we could produce with our limited capacity.

So what does this all have to do with investments? First of all, to demonstrate that it was only three generations ago that the United States was coming out of a deep, deep depression and that there was a time, in my lifetime, when there was not an abundance of foodstuffs and consumer goods. We are so used to the lifestyle we have now that it is hard to believe that it was not that long ago that there were shortages of commodities, whether man made or natural. It is only through complacency and ignorance that we deny that it could happen again.

But it can--in a heartbeat. The “big one” could hit California any time. Al-Qaeda could succeed in nuking a major city. A stray asteroid could slam into the Los Angels basin. An economic crisis as bad as the Great Depression could occur. (It nearly did a couple years ago.) Mt Rainier could blow its top and wipe out the Pacific Northwest. The list goes on and on--catastrophes could happen at any moment. Are you prepared? Probably not, and that is where I feel you can make the best investment you will ever make for your family.

You have to invest in your survival. That means instead of dumping money into the stock market, or the gold market, or savings accounts, that you invest some of your hard earned cash in the things that keep you alive, eg., food, water, shelter, and energy. Enough to last you for six months. No, I am not Mormon, although I live in Utah, but I do believe as they that it is prudent to prepare for the worst by ensuring your family can survive even the most dire man made or natural disasters. You cannot eat certificates of deposits, paper money, or even gold. Not so long ago, the main enterprise of mankind was the production of food because that was the very basic essential of life on Earth. If you don’t eat, you die. My little nest egg is worthless unless I can convert it into the essential commodities of life, and in a real crisis, I would not count on paper money having any more value than the ink that was used to print it.

Six month’s worth of food, water, and energy is surprisingly affordable. Basic commodities such as wheat flour, corn meal, rice and beans are cheap and easily stored in bulk. Water, or a way to produce potable water is essential. Energy in the form of charcoal or solar panels is available. I have spent less than $1000 in setting aside enough of the above to feed myself and my family for at least six months, keep us warm in the winter, and ensure a clean drinking supply.  Basic survival stuff, but the best investment I have ever made. May I also suggest you do the same. Its what we do out here in Flyover Country. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

In the past 60 days, soybeans 22%, sugar 51%. In the past 4 months, wheat is up 72%. This year, corn is up 48%. These numbers are the market telling us that the smart money is shifting from dollar investments to commodity investments as fears of devaluation of the dollar mount.  Better stock up--its a long way to Spring and getting your Victory Garden planted.

Lead story in the Wall Street Journal today--Cotton up 100% this year. Better stock up on your Arrow Shirts.

JP

http://twitter.com/minerjp

Its OK to be Paranoid

My old flying buddy Moose tells me its OK for me to be paranoid because the bastards really are out to get me. So it was with sullen suspicion I greeted the news that the Fed was going to pump another gazillion dollars into the U.S. economy by buying some of our own Treasury Bills. I immediately suspected that the Danes were letting their garbage pile up again, but since I am a complete pointy head when it comes to macro economics, I could not quite identify my unease. So I took to the kitchen table again, only to find that my $5.00 calculator did not handle numbers that large, so I had to create an analogy that made sense of it all. Here’s what I came up with.

Imagine there is a very large corporation that manufactures lots of “stuff.” This corporation sells their “stuff” to a super mega corporation and makes a ton of money doing so. Everything was going along just dandy until the management of the mega corporation made some bad decisions and they found they had a cash flow problem and were having trouble meeting their payroll. So they turned to the supplier corporation and asked them to loan the mega corporation some money so they could meet their payroll. Corporation number 1, not wanting to lose their best customer, loaned out the money and everyone was happy. Mega corporation then hired some new management but they made some decisions that only made things worse, so they turned to their supplier and asked for more loans. By this time, Corporation 1 was getting a little nervous, and thought the risk was going up, so figured it was about time that the Mega Corporation coughed up a little more in interest payments. Not so fast, said the Super Mega Corporation--you see, we can print our own currency and loan it to ourselves.

So China gets the message. If you want to keep selling “stuff” to us, we want you to buy our debt, but we are going to keep the interest rates low because we control the currency of trade. In fact, we can just print more of our currency any time we feel like it, since we are the biggest economy in the world.

The official reason for the Fed to buy our own debt is to keep the interest rates low so the economy can recover faster. But here is what is rotten in Denmark. We hear about trillions of dollars piling up in banks and corporations, waiting in reserve while the managers figure out if the U.S. mega corporate managers are going to get things right. If interest rates are kept artificially low, the banks and corporations will eventually have to invest that cash in capital improvements, goods, and services. Thats a good thing. The bad news is that I am getting shafted.

You see, I have reached “senior citizen” status and live on a fixed income. For years and years I sacrificed and saved my dollars so I could have a nice little nest egg for retirement. I figured that nice little nest egg would create some income in the form of interest. Last time I looked, I was getting a return of around a half a percent on all that hard saved money. So what am I to do for investments? Well, that will be the subject of my next blog. This one has grown a bit large.


One last observation. If the U.S. prints more money, doesn't that decrease the value of each dollar in circulation? I'll leave that question to someone who really understands macro economics.

JP   

http://twitter.com/minerjp

Maggie's Notebook: Cuba Iran Korea Review U.S. Human Rights Violations: Obama's Voluntary Shellacking

Maggie's Notebook: Cuba Iran Korea Review U.S. Human Rights Violations: Obama's Voluntary Shellacking

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Action vs Propaganda

Go to wsj.com to see the two articles that prompted me to write a "letter to the editor" of the "Wall Street Journal."  Here is what I wrote:  (This letter was actually published by the WSJ)

November 5, 2010Wall Street Journal

Letters To The Editor

Dear Sir or Madam (With apologies to Senator Boxer)

I was struck by the contrast between Rep John Boehner’s article in Friday’s WSJ (What the Next Speaker Must Do)  and the article just below his (An Undeserved Win for the GOP). In the first, Boehner offers four specific actions for the next speaker to take that would restore some confidence in our Congress.  In the second, and shorter opinion piece, Ms Henvel manages to absolve the Democrats of any blame, call for redistribution of wealth, slander the Republicans as the party of empty slogans, raise taxes, get out of Afghanistan, empower the downtrodden minorities, and for Obama to redouble his efforts that led to the “shellacking” he took. She is truly a gifted writer, being able to pack all that progressive pap into one short piece. Boehner’s article offers solutions--Henvel’s offers the same old tired propaganda from the left.

James P. (JP) Morgan
Sandy, Utah
http;//flyoverfeedback.blogspot.com

The Bubble Nebula

Out there in the night sky, near the constellation Cassiopeia (The big Dubya in the sky) is a fascinating object called the Bubble Nebula. Located only 11300 light years away, it is the result of a massive star (the bright area of the bubble) blowing out gases and intense radiation to form and light the bubble. This star is 100,000 times brighter than our own sun and is 45 times more massive. The bubble is about 10 light years in diameter.

Taken the night of 3 November 2010 with backyard telescope in Sandy, Utah.

JP

A Star is Born

I wrote the following blog a couple days ago, before the election. In his victory speech, Rubio reinforced my belief that he will play a huge role in the Latino voting bloc by asserting that the American Dream is still alive and well and with in reach of everyone. It was a positive message, and will resonate with those striving to achieve success in this great country.


In Monday’s Wall Street Journal, Matthew Kaminski published an article titled “Who’s Afraid of Marco Rubio.” Excellent article about the up and coming new Senator from Florida. The thrust of Kaminski’s opinion was that Rubio has the Democrats frightened since they sense a rising star in the Republican party, thus the ham-handed attempt by Bubba to stop Rubio by encouraging the Democratic candidate to drop out, thus throwing votes to Turncoat Charlie Crist. Kaminski does a great job outlining why Rubio has emerged as such a charismatic politician, astounding the political class with his rapid rise from the barrio. However, Mr Kaminski sidesteps the most compelling argument as to why the Democrats fear Rubio.

Simply put, Rubio represents a Republican candidate who has vast appeal to the Latino population. As the fastest growing bloc of political voters, the Democrats felt they had locks on the Latino vote. Rubio’s compelling story, in addition to his upbeat attitude and communications skills, mark him as someone who will be closely watched by the Latino bloc.

That is why they are afraid of Marco Rubio.

It will be interesting to see how he performs in the Senate and on the national stage. I predict bigger and better things for this exciting politician.

Kaminski Article:  http://tinyurl.com/2a8p4vl    or, just click on the title.





JP

What Comes Next?

The wait is nearly over. Tomorrow, the people of this great Republic will file to the polls, cast their votes, and hopefully restore some balance to our body politic. The pontificators and the pollsters have had their say, now it is our turn to voice the only opinion that really counts.

It is pretty obvious by now that the Republicans will regain the House, effectively firing Nancy Pelosi. That alone is a huge step in returning some sanity to the legislative process. Control of the Senate is a long shot, but even if the Republicans fall short, there is a good chance Harry Reid may take a long overdue retirement.

The important thing to remember is that change alone will not guarantee desired outcomes--look what our current President, elected with a mandate to “change”, has wrought. Hopefully, we are sending a new crop of legislators to Congress to accomplish two main goals. 1. Undo some of the extreme changes enacted by Pelosi and Reid and signed by Obama. 2. Govern intelligently and with the consent and support of the great American people.

This will only happen if we, the people hold our representatives and senators accountable for their actions. To paraphrase another conservative blogger found in these pages, “Be forever vigilant and remain true to our core beliefs.”

JP