Feral Cats II There is Hope!

I posted a note up here a few weeks back about a Cat that we have here at the ranch. The thing used to be as mean as Pelosi giving a private speech about Rush Limbaugh and the CIA to a group of fellow socialists. We took her in, and she turned out to be a mellow house cat devoid of any spirit at all. With all of her needs cared for by my family, she has no drive or desire. She had kittens and I ended the post by writing about my concerns of an entitlement generation... I copied it and placed it below for your review.




Fast forward seven weeks. The kittens are ALL OVER the garage, the pasture behind the house, the kids swings, EVERYWHERE.





And, We have the one I hoped for! Yes, that is a mouse in her mouth, and yes, she chased all of the others away from her catch if they got close. The world needs more of this and fewer hands outstretched because they somehow "deserve" the fruits of someone else's labor. Go make your own, and make America proud and strong again. It may not be easy or pleasant, but it's the right thing to do. I can relate to this little beast!

Until next time, you know the drill.

What Are They Thinking?

Yesterday the citizens of Postville, Iowa marched in memory of the largest immigration raid in American history. There were some forty of these vigils held nationwide yesterday.

On the 12 of May, 2008, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the Agriprocessors plant in Postville and arrested 389 illegal workers. Most of these people were using stolen social security numbers and false documentation. It has come to light recently (although it was always obvious) that Agriprocessors knew these documents were false, but looked the other way in order to maintain a low paid high profit workforce.

Although this raid brought some of America's dirty laundry out into the public eye exposing the ugly side of the free market, and the general greed of the American populous, it was a very positive thing. It could be argued that illegal immigration corrupts the entire market.

We have all heard there are some jobs that Americans won't do. I say that is false. If it pays enough, Americans will do it. If it is cost prohibitive for American businesses to pay the wage required by the worker, you can rest assured business will develop a machine to get it done.

Additionally, we have heard that immigrant workers are vital to keeping costs to the consumer down in the industries which employ the immigrants. False. The costs far outweigh the benefit. Your food might be cheaper, but if you took half a million folks off public health care and public housing, and kept the wages in America, and out of public schools, and and and ... you get the picture.

In this one instance, and this one instance only, I say hats off to the Bush administration. Upholding our laws and maintaining our Sovereignty is paramount to maintaining our national identity and well being. I feel for the families that were torn apart. There were probably some good folks that got hurt here. We HAVE to remember that the situation was self created for these individuals. They made their beds, illegally. The law that landed them under arrest was not unjust.

I find it hard to believe there are folks out there protesting the invasion of our nation. Many of the protesters, I am sure are also mad about the current unemployment rate.

Until next time........Keep your powder dry and your eyes open.

Taxes, Local News, National Social Issue

Where have we gone as a nation? Last summer, Iowa was flooded. The damage was tremendous. There were weeks that trucks were detoured on interstate 80 in Eastern Iowa. The town of Cedar Rapids was pretty much devastated. Our local officials st on their thumbs and did little other than lip service due to it being an election year. Sometimes, it seems that doing nothing is the only safe thing politically. There are no morals or conviction in today's politics. It's all about protecting personal power. Alas, that is another topic best saved for a posting of its own.

In their infinite wisdom, these folks, without meaningful help from FEMA or Des Moines, decided that proposing a sales tax increase upon themselves may help them rebuild. How this wasn't immediately seen as flawed logic defies explanation. We can't afford to rebuild our houses and businesses, so we will have money taken from us in order to do it?

This tax actually passed! These folks are taxing themselves to rebuild their own homes. Why not simply dot it yourself? Taxes never sunset. Every time a sales tax has been set to go away in Iowa, the local government stepped in and made it permanent. It may be noble to pool resources in order help each other out, but the notion that the government will be noble enough to give up a portion of it's standard of living when the need is gone is foolish. It simply isn't human behavior!

Obviously, America will not be able to pay off our debt for many generations. Another debate could be had on whether or not there is any desire to pay it off. If for the purposes of this example, we say that we could levy taxes to pay for the projects (taxing those over $250K a year) that are now either law or proposed ($10T). Once these "programs" are paid for, and the economy rebounds, does anyone believe these dollars would cease to be collected?

Example: A citizen works to pay their bills and live comfortably. They buy a home and a car. Upon making the final payment on their car, their employer tells them they will have their monthly pay reduced by the amount of their prior car payment. Is this plausible? I think not.

The above example is the way that the government is supposed to work. The system has been bastardized to the point that if it actually worked in that fashion politicians wouldn't be able to protect their positions of power because they wouldn't be bringing home federal dollars in a disproportionate amount to what was paid in. That too, is another topic.

Until we begin to hold the Federal Government responsible for their unbelievably poor actions, it will never give us our proper standard of living. And yes, that wording is intentional. As it stands now, we are all servants to the government and they have the ability to make or break our standard of living....Our only hope is the ballot box and a study of the history of this great Nation. Of course, we would have to begin teaching civics in the public schools as it was taught generations ago. Again, another topic.

Until next time, keep your powder dry and your eyes open.