Testing Sentiment

I’m going local with this post, but there is a national angle. There is an interesting election coming up in Natick – that of Selectman. Natick is run by a 5-person Board of Selectman, and there is an election this Tuesday for one of those members.

The candidates could not be more different, and actually represent the two ideological ends of the political spectrum. The incumbent is Josh Ostroff, a Democrat and free spender. As liberal as they come, he excels when the coffers are full and there is money to spend. The bigger the government the better. Very creative spender Josh be (he is well known for supporting a wide range of 'fees' to get around tax caps).

His opponent is Tony Lista. Tony is a Republican, and a fiscal conservative. He currently serves on Natick’s Finance Committee, which is a group of people who are responsible for figuring out Natick’s budget. Since joining the board, Tony has consistently put forth money-saving changes to the way Natick does business. Tellingly, Josh never served as a member of the Finance Committee.

Natick, a town of roughly 35,000, has a town budget of $100 million. Rough estimates for THIS fiscal year (ending THIS July) suggest the town may be facing a $4.5 million shortfall. The town is looking at major service cuts on its current spending path.

All five members of the Selectmen are Democrats, and have been so for a long time. Democrats outnumber Republicans in Natick 3 to 1. Hopeless for Mr. Lista? Perhaps not. The anti-governemnt, anti-spending sentiment erupting all over the country is certainly evident in the current campaign. “Lista for Selectman” lawn signs out-number “Ostroff for Selectman” signs by my estimate 4 to 1 in town. In chatting with neighbors around town, it is evident people are fed up with higher and higher taxes to fund larger and larger government, and that frustration may materialize this Tuesday in an upset election, if the voters are truly fed up enough to go vote. Here are some campaigning pictures.

There is a general ‘hope’ at the national Republican level that the crazy direction the national Democrats are taking the country will energize people to resist, and that the resistance will manifest itself first at the grass roots. If that is going to happen in Massachusetts, this is the perfect test election. Let’s see what happens.

Author: Mark

What! "Freedom Tower" without the Freedom?

News is that NYC Port authority wants to drop the name "Freedom Tower" from the the skyscraper under construction in New York to replace the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

On Thursday, it announced it planned to refer to the building by its address -- One World Trade Center -- because that was easiest for people to identify with...

What a load crock! Looks like they are running with the pack of liberal lefty, wishy, washy, politically correct , apologetic Obama-mania administrations ideology... How dare they! Yes, I suppose it's THEIR building and they should have the rights to name it whatever they want...but hey, come on guys, get some brass ones.

Apparently the word is that the NYC Port Authority are too worried that no-one will rent space in the building because they fear it will be a target of attack from the Muslim extremists....Hey, get this into your thick skulls guys, everything is a target for the jihad-fascists - Hospitals, High Schools, Universities....nothing is too heinous or immoral for them all they want is their 72 Virgins.

If the moderate-Muslim population in this country really wants to stand with people of the United States then they should have CAIR (Council for American Islamic Relations) rent space in the Freedom Tower. I know that some people would be appalled at this idea,but think of it - We the people of the United States would show that we DO understand that not ALL people of the Muslim faith are not Jihadists and that the Muslims in this country can (for once....) show that they would like to take a stand against these Jihad-Muslim terrorists by standing side by side with Americans in the symbol that stands to honor those who lost their lives that fateful day when the US was attacked on her own soils. They can make a stand in the symbol which stands to defy terrorism and celebrates Freedom.

And as for the NYC Port Authority, ask the Messiah to shovel some of the mountains of cash from the stimulus package your way to help the Freedom Tower rather than for a research project to count the number of average scales on a rattlesnake...I believe NO Taxpayer in the United States will argue on that.

Write to the NYC Port Authority and let them know your thoughts on their idea for changing the name on the "Freedom Tower". Also, write to the editor of your newspaper and let them know as well...

Corporate Headquarters
The Port Authority of NY & NJ
225 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10003
T: 212-435-700

Press Center
Public Affairs
The Port Authority of NY & NJ
225 Park Avenue South, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10003

Author: Mahesh

Say Cheese! - You are on Camera...coming to your state soon....

At one time Americans were proud of not being like the Europeans, you know Centralized health care, large government, over-regulated Financial Systems, bureaucratic politicians who were full of hot air from carefully crafted speeches read using teleprompters....

Aah yes, the United States was a land where we were free - freedom of speech, the free market system, liberty, personal privacy and respect for individual rights...

Seems like it's all going away so fast...the great messiah talking about the health care system needing overhaul and looking to use the European/Canadian model as a basis for the US, chastising Wall Street and looking to place even more government controls and oversight on the Financial system and money markets, the Obam(ination) administration is talking about implementing mandatory youth community service programs in place with "education" (Socialist translation: Indoctrination) centers, they were even discussing having a "uniform" for these youth volunteers. I suggest we save some money and ask Cuba if they have any uniforms left over....

But you all know this stuff already....but, did you realize that the number of "traffic cameras" has been slowing increasing across the country? Yes, say "cheese", chances are that that sometime soon you will get a ticket in the mail with a photo of your vehicle a couple of inches over the line with the traffic light was red together with a very polite letter asking for $200 or you go to jail....

These cameras are all the rage, I experienced them myself as a youth in London. They started off with the "Red light" thing....then they progressed to taking pictures of people who "looked suspicious..." and sending over a cruiser. I personally experienced this when waiting for a friend who was going to give me a ride. I sat on a wall waiting for my friend and a Police cruiser suddenly appeared and two of London's finest got out and started to interrogate me! (this was way before 9/11, and I certainly did not look like a terrorist...I was 17 years old!). Come to find out that the cameras had spotted me and contacted the cruiser to check out my "Suspicious activity..."

It's a very grey area between safety, Law & Order and invasion of privacy...we should be very careful not to step on this slippery slope....for it could lead to a place where I do not believe we want to go to, the founding fathers would turn in their graves....

These new traffic cameras are now able to read license plates and search whether the owner has any taxes outstanding and can automatically alert the authorities (Police) to immediately stop you and give you a ticket and fine and place a warrant for you to get the taxes. How's that for municipal revenue generation....oh, there is that bothersome invasion of privacy thing....but that's not so important with this administration, after all the people voted for CHANGE right....

It really does feel like the Carter years, doesn't it????

Author: Mahesh

Do Not Resuscitate

Bail out the newspapers? It was inevitable that the democrats would
suggest it. After all, the main stream media has been in the tank for the Democrats for years. The interesting question is: did the fall of newspapers begin when they threw impartiality out the window, or did they throw impartiality out the window as a desperate attempt to stay relevant in an Internet world?

Either way, it’s time for The New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the LA Times et al to fold up shop and go away. Alienating a wide swath of readers with “news” stories that are nothing more than dressed up editorials probably wasn’t such a good idea. I completely understand why the Democrats would want to keep these mouthpieces going. Perhaps the idea might be to put them under one government agency, and call them National Public Newspapers – NPN. A sister organization of National Public Radio? There IS a certain symmetry to the insanity.

From my own perspective, I am one of the last remaining subscribers to the Boston Globe. I read it to gain some perspective on how long these dinosaurs have left. I figure it’s just a couple of months now, unless some spare taxpayer billions can be diverted to keep them afloat and dependent on (and supportive of) the government. For local information, it’s pretty easy and free to go here if you live west of Boston: Wicked Local. For national news, there are hundreds of good sources of information, depending on the topic of interest. For sports, ESPN.com is a good place to start. It’s a world wide web world, it’s time to stop the presses.

So write your congressmen, tell them to let the newspapers die a
quiet death. Do not resuscitate with taxpayer dollars.

Author: Mark

Hey Democrats - One more apology please....

How dare Hillary Clinton apologize to the world and blame the United States for the problems with the drug cartels in Mexico. I think that just like her husband (you know, Lewinsky's boyfriend), she appears to have a sense of megalomania.

In fact, come to think of it a lot of democrats seem to be apologizing to everyone....Nancy Pelosi to the illegal immigrants, "Sorry, but the raids must stop...", Tim Geithner for the US Financial System..., Robert Gates for the War in Iraq and Afganistan..., Janet Napolitano for ICE and how they are supposedly misstreating the poor illegal immigrants in the US. Did Michelle Obama actually apologize to the American people for her statement that "For once she was proud of her country..." which implied that she was not previously...? Not sure on that one....

It's the false impression that democrats seems to have that people will like them the more they apologize...this is why the left make such poor leaders and why the liberal left is always "just a movement", there is no real "Leadership" on the left. It was under pure hype that their false Messiah was floated into power and as it is becoming very obvious, he is faking leadership (all be it very well...), but the cracks are now showing in the fake porcelain exterior that holds zero substance.

For Mrs. Clinton - Please do not speak to the rest of the world for me on my behalf, you do not represent me or my views. I AM a US Citizen, I am not a drug user, a gang member, a trafficker of illegal immigrants and guns or a money launderer so please do not tell the world that I am to blame for Mexico's drug cartel and gang problems.

Hey, since the liberal left is so free with apologies, I'm looking for Joe Biden, Barney Frank and a whole host of others on the left to apologize to the American people for well, being their stupid , idiotic selves...

It's also noteworthy that these apologies from the left are without any personal responsibility...Hillary Clinton neglected to add in her statement that her husband was the President of the United States for two terms and did little to nothing to increase the security of the southern border or help reduce illegal drug and arms trafficking across the US/Mexican border when he was in office.

It's typical of the liberal left in that everything is a speech with no substance. Maybe the democrats don't really believe that they won the election and they are in power...someone please tell them - they can stop campaigning now and, actually start to work fixing the issues that they were elected into office to fix....any time now folks....

Buy American Cars!

Hey folks, did you hear....Buick took the #1 Spot and dethroned Lexus in J.D Powers dependability study. All those naysayers can eat some humble pie now. Perhaps we can get them to start buying cars from American companies and keep the dollars and job here at home. In case there are some folks who cry "Fluke...", let me also tell you that Mercury took the #4 spot - no easy feat as they beat out Infiniti and Acura!

SO, be progressive and don't follow the anti-US movement. Show your optimism and faith in the people of this great country, make your next vehicle one from an American owned company. I have heard the whining about when folks bought American cars in the 70's and early 80's and how bad they were...blah, blah, blah...get over it. All you liberal pansies out there....even your great Messiah has a Caddy! (I'm also sure that he must be crying inside, as its powered by "nasty 'ol gasoline" and does not run on Hemp...).

Tangent - On discussing vehicles and wannabe celebrities, I turn my thoughts to Al Gore...I wonder what his ride is? I'm sure it's a Toyota Prius or some other sissy like car....I can just see it now....Al Gore get's up in the morning has breakfast with his family in his 20 room mansion in Tennessee that happens to consume more energy in a single MONTH than the average American household does in an entire YEAR, (yes, it's fact check http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp). Sorry, where were we - Oh yes, he then get into his hybrid Prius and drives to the end of his driveway where he is picked up by stretched bulletproof gasoline-based limo (6-8 mpg max) to take him to the airport where he will fly on his private jet to make a quick appearance to promote "An inconvenient truth". Only "Green" when it's convenient Mr. Gore?

So anyway, there are some fabulous vehicles made by Americans who work for American companies out there...go buy them!!

Chrysler makes the best Mini-vans and I'm not sure which is hotter - the new Chevy Camero or the Dodge Challenger, or even the new Mustang....and you can beat any Infiniti or other rice burner with the performance that the Pontiac G8 packs....too boy racer for you, how about the new Corvette or Lincoln models....so many great choices!!

Get out there and Buy American!

Hey Mexico - Enough is enough!

SO, here we are, at the place where every dictatorship, terrorist organization, wannabe superpower have become emboldened and wants to poke and prod the sleeping giant because they all believe and have seen that we have our hands tied and do nothing. The Mexicans with their tariffs on US Goods, the Iranians with sending over unmanned drones over protected airspace, the Europeans with saying the "Greedy" US Financial systems have caused the collapse of the world banking system, the Russians...just being, well, like the 'ol Soviet Union and shooting off their mouths about how bad the US free market business model really is and why the US is the cause of the worlds problems ...the list goes on...

They are all right about certain of these things - The United States is sleeping, our hands are being held together and tied, and we are doing nothing. That's right, our current administration with President Obama and his disciples are sleeping - they are all in a comatose state gripped by ideological fervor feeling guilty and feel that the US should apologize to the rest of the world, hold ourselves to their standards, and agree with them that we are bad and need punishing. Our hands are tied by our extremely liberal left wing mainstream media who continue to publish and post all the negative aspects of our country and none of the positives - everyone is intimidated and afraid to say anything that will incur the wrath of the left wing media thugs for fear of being attacked in the national press (just ask "Joe the plumber").

I say enough is enough, and even though I do believe in what Mahatma Gandhi says in that "An eye for an eye makes everyone blind..." I think it's about time we started poking back at these other countries. Let Mexico place tariffs on US goods, I say we scrap NAFTA and increase the cost of Rice, Corn Beans and Wheat that are exported to Mexico, two can play at this protectionist game; send back all the illegal Mexicans currently enjoying the opportunities, security and freedom in the United States; exercise tough judicial and police authority on criminal Mexican drug gangs in the US and send the US Military to secure the southern border from Mexican drug lords, gangs and all those trafficking in people, drugs or other contraband. Also, put more stipulations and strings on the provision of aid to Mexico.

These are all rantings, and I know that none of this will become effected, especially with the large number of the US populace brainwashed by the liberal left and the false messiah. There are just a few of us not intimidated by the left, we are wide-awake and watching the infuriating slide of this great nation toward the "dark side". We need to shake the country awake one voter at a time...

It won't be easy, but a good start would be if someone could break the presidents teleprompter, we will see the "real Obama" as we have done each time he has attempted to speak sans teleprompter, maybe the brand will begin to show the tarnish that some of us already see ....

Don't ask...Don't Tell - Moran the Moron

I read that Democratic Rep. Jim Moran (Virginia) said he has requested monthly updates from the Pentagon on the impact of the Military policy of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” until it is repealed.

The policy refers to the military “practice” of not asking recruits their sexual orientation. In turn, service members are banned from saying they are gay or bisexual, engaging in homosexual activity or trying to marry a member of the same sex. In my mind, this Military practice seems reasonable; the sexual preferences of individuals are their own private matter and need not be flaunted unnecessarily creating tensions within our fighting forces.

I am not a homophobe, if you want to be openly gay, then there are plenty of places and occupations where you can be openly gay and flaunt your lifestyle choice…I, like many others in this country don’t want the US Military to be one of them! I am not a soldier, nor do I pretend to know what soldiers feel about openly gay personnel in their ranks….but I can make an educated guess. I can also make an educated guess on how our enemies will perceive our fighting forces if they were openly gay soldiers and staff in the US Military.

The ridicule, loss of respect and loss of confidence from the rest of the world that our military would be subjected to would cause irreparable damage to our US forces and create National Security issues for the United States of America.

SO, this Moron, sorry – Moran asks "How many more good soldiers are we willing to lose due to a bad policy that makes us less safe and secure?"

Sorry Jim, many of us in this country say “As many of them that do not respect the military’s decision on this policy”…We think this practice strengthens our military, makes our country much safer and more secure and respects the rights of those in the military of are morally opposed to homosexuality. It still provides privacy and a career in the military for those individuals that are homosexual, so long as they respect the rights of those morally opposed to their lifestyle choice.

My suggestion to you Jim Moron is to go back to sponsoring the bankruptcy reform bill from your home that you bought with the home equity loan given to you under favorable terms from a major credit card issuer….I’m sure the two are not related in any way. Chris Dodd and Barney Frank must have the same contacts in their rolodex as you do.

Dare I say it, even the great Messiah is cringing away from this one - The White House has said President Barack Obama has begun consulting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen on how to lift the ban. But the administration won't say how soon that might happen

Obama's "Enemies" list

This week it was disclosed that the Obama administration maintains an ‘enemies list’, with people such as Rush Limbaugh and Jim Cramer on it. While this certainly does bring back references to Richard Nixon, I really don’t see a problem with it. One always must know who is working against ones efforts, and work to defeat those people. I have no problem with an "enemies" list.

Along those lines, I thought it would be useful to put together a list of those people who are actively working against the best interests of the United States. A “US enemies list”. To that end I have created two lists: one domestic (top 10), and one international (top 5). Let me know if you think I missed someone that should make the top 10. Unfortunately, there are a lot to chose from.

The hard part with the domestic list was limiting the number of Democratic politicians. Note that there simply wasn’t room for John Kerry, Howard Dean, or Harry Reid. And I left off the Democratic ‘talking heads’ such as Bagala, Stephanopoulos, Couric, and Carville. I did add Paul Krugman, because even though he falls into the ‘talking head’ category, he is billed as an ‘economist’ (he was one years ago believe it or not), so that added level of legitimacy makes him just that much more harmful than the regular crew of left-wing gabbers.

I would note that I did not put any actors on the list. Although many of them (if not a majority of them) are indeed working against the best interests of the US, I believe they have neither the intelligence nor the ability to sway anybody’s opinion, so they do not make the list (sorry Susan Sarandon). They are loud, but without influence (I hope).

It’s important for the President to know who is working to thwart his socialist agenda. It is important for the rest of us to know who is working against our interests.

Here’s the list:

Domestic

1. Jimmy Carter (top of the list, no doubt. Worst President, worst ex-President ever)
2. Nancy Pelosi (San Fran does not speak for the country Nanc)
3. Barak Obama (let’s just hope his little detour into socialism can be reversed)
4. Paul Krugman (he’s not an economist, but he plays one on TV)
5. Barney Frank (after torpedoing the economy, what does he do for an encore?)
6. Adrianna Huffington (she’s not stupid, I’ll give her that)
7. Chris Matthews (just one inane comment after another)
8. Bill Clinton (not particularly active now, but his selling of key technology to the Chinese for campaign cash merits a spot on the list for a long time).
9. Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger Jr. (When the NYT and the Boston Globe finally go broke, we’ll take Pinch off the list. Shouldn’t be long now).
10. George Soros (money bags to a lot of counter-productive organizations)

International

1. Hugo Chavez (drive a hybrid, boycott Citgo)
2. Vladimir Putin (drive a hybrid, grab some popcorn, watch Russia collapse)
3. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (drive a hybrid, grab some popcorn, watch Israel attack)
4. Kim Jong-Il (just wait, the walls will fall in on him)
5. Osama Bin Laden (just wait, some large projectiles will fall on him)
6. Sadam Husein (whoops, scratch him, problem solved)

Investors heading to Gault's Gulch

Economics is a fairly well understood discipline. When X happens, Y follows. Always. When Mugabe drove off the farmers in Zimbabwe, anyone with a basic understanding of economics knew that the country had just shot itself in the head. When Chavez nationalizes companies in Venezuela, those sectors die. Populist and socialist policies often lead to bad economic decisions, which end up hurting the people they are suppose to be helping.

Which brings us of course to the nationalizing of the US economy currently under way. For those who understand basic economics, the 10 year view of the damage these policies will bring to the country is startling. Wealth re-distribution, huge federal deficits, and tax hikes are exactly the wrong answer. How an administration gets elected with no understanding of basic economics is a mystery. A lot of people understood going into the election the capital devastation that an Obama administration would unleash. Unfortunately, not enough people.

The people who do understand economics, and have a crystal clear view of the carnage huge government deficits are about to unleash, are investors. And investors are fleeing the market in droves to save what they can. It’s been called a ‘capital strike’, but that implies some general coordination. What we are seeing with the crashing markets is millions of individual investors deciding the economy is on the wrong path, and that this is not the time to be taking risks with capital. There simply is no upside. In the modern era it’s hard for people to go to “Gault’s Gulch”. But they can send their money there.

The current administration is getting a quick lesson in economics. Let’s hope they take the constructive criticism from the stock markets seriously, and alter course. Otherwise, we will continue to march down the road that leads to Zimbabwe and Venezuela - the road to ruin.