Every now and then, it’s worth reminding ourselves what the opposite of freedom and liberty is. When I was growing up, it was communism. How is a communist to live? The planks and goals of the Communist Manifesto: 1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rents of land to public purposes. 2. [...]
Author Archives: Cultural Limits
Better Men Than Obama Tried to Silence the Church – They Failed
Feb 7
Like every other Sunday Mass attending Catholic, I was treated to a letter from my archbishop Sunday morning decrying the political maneuvers of the Obama administration in regards to human reproduction, the medical efforts to stymie it and the dictation that all employers, and medical facilities must finance and provide it. For a man as [...]
Much Ado About Not Reading the Whole Story
Feb 3
This week, breast cancer juggernaut The Susan G. Komen Foundation (Komen) publicized that at a national level they would no longer provide grants to organizations currently under criminal investigation by the federal government. One such organization under investigation by the government is Planned Parenthood (PP), brainchild of Margaret Sanger who had to have been the [...]
Time to Face Ugly Social Realities
Jan 8
One of the things that bugs me about being a “conservative” is the way my brethren behave when stories of “free lunch” surface. In an election year, the stories are going to start coming pretty quickly and in a truly bad economy, there are plenty of them. Maybe it’s time, as a movement, for a [...]
Advent Will Be Better Next Year
Dec 23
Yesterday, an old and busy friend who just happens to be the mother of three active boys with a consulting business to keep them in parochial schools, posted on FaceBook, “Since Sunday is actually the first day of Christmas, people can get their Christmas cards next week, right?” I had to laugh because this year, [...]
Caught in the Trap
Dec 19
It’s been a while since I’ve written on feminism, that scourge to women everywhere. This time of year brings to mind all the havoc that mindset has wreaked on the rest of us, and so I’ve been collecting little thoughts, notions and quotes that come up every day, none of which can be confected into [...]
Just Who Is Fighting the Class War
Dec 17
When the left gets desperate, their “go to” move is to play a card, usually race, but from time to time, class. (That would be class in the milieu of caste or socio-economic strata, not good manners. Two completely different concepts.) The race message, the one that said middle America wasn’t ready for a black [...]
American Freedom…What Freedom?
Dec 5
Not too long ago, I read a quote from a non-American who says that Americans are one of the most enslaved peoples in world history. Really? Most Americans would argue that we are free. After all, that’s what all the founding documents tell us and what our beloved eagle is supposed to symbolize. We are [...]
MUST READ: How to Counter the Other Side
Nov 22
For some time, a good many of us conservatives have been pretty frustrated with liberals’ abilities to counter without thinking. Never mind facts, create an echo chamber and create a new reality. That’s the modus operendi and quite frankly it really works. Well, it is time to fight fire with fire. Blogger LaborUnionReport of Red [...]
The Price of Emasculation
Nov 13
The past couple of weeks has been rather painful for those who believe in college sports and, more specifically, college football. (I’m not really one of them, but now that the whole story is out an pieced together, it’s easier to be objective about it) After all the NCAA scandals over the years involving recruiting [...]
Skipping the Debates; Cultural Limits Goes to CONfession
Nov 11
Cultural Limits: Bless me, Father, for I have, well, sort of sinned as an American conservative…I’ve skipped all the debates so far. Father: Why would you do that? Cultural Limits: Well, I had other things to do and the debates honestly remind me of the weed-out classes I took in engineering school. You know, like [...]
Opting Out of Corporate America
Oct 24
One recent morning, I read an interview with Jeffrey Berwick, finance maverick and world wanderer, where he claimed that Americans are the most enslaved people in history (I would add by majority vote after brainwashing, but you have to actually live in the U.S. to understand that). After the knee-jerk, But, We’re free and what [...]
October Must Be Women’s Month
Oct 22
Maybe it’s just that it’s October – one of the months that we Catholics honor the Blessed Mother and her humility and the month that the Pink Campaign has appropriated for “Breast Cancer Awareness” when there is no way on this earth that we Americans can’t be aware of that affliction (the PR flacks have [...]
Split Loyalties – why I’m not a feminist
Oct 19
One of the hallmarks of the feminist movement is that women were supposed to be more equal with all the moving up in the ranks of the employed as well as being financially independent and on “equal” footing in a marriage. Women were (and are) supposed to have it all. Family, job, financial security, lifestyle [...]
Priorities
Oct 17
From the Gospel According to Luke, Chapter 10:38-42, Douay-Rheims, 1582 Anno Domini. Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord’s feet, heard his word. [...]
America the Distracted
Oct 16
For quite some time, we in the United States have been under assault by an avalanche of information. In the 20th century, with the unleashing of a myriad of communications media, anyone and everyone selling ideas, information and entertainment vied for our attention. This has not changed as the years have marched on. So, here [...]
Courtesy of My Local TEA Party
Oct 14
Blogodidact has a great blog post that is worth promoting. It’s titled: Occupy Your Own Street: Questions to ask yourself, If… Then… Use it or lose it! The primary thrust is education, but this blogger makes the case that Occupy [Name your Town] is all about the path to socialism. Quite well written and very [...]
High-Priced Astroturf
Oct 11
Somebody’s undergarments are in a bundle. In the last couple days, after admittedly waiting for the story to develop once I knew about it and saw one too many facebook posts, I’ve been reading up on this Occupy “movement,” checked out websites and Twitter content and after the PR degree antennae went up have pretty [...]
Ken Burns’ “Prohibition” – One Heck of a Good Show
Oct 6
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Earlier this week, Ken Burns’ “Prohibition” premiered on every conservative’s least favorite network/channel – PBS. For a long time, this era has been an interesting period of our nation’s history for me and so I took the time to watch the three part mini-series (twice). What I did not realize, or at least had not [...]
Seriously, THIS is War – extra Danish tax on saturated fat
Oct 3
Okay, now an idiot government has done it. Denmark has passed an extra tax on foods with saturated fat content. (That includes DANISH BUTTER. ARGH!) The tax isn’t really all that much in the larger scheme of things and according to the AFP article that was referenced in an American Thinker blog this morning by [...]
Subjectifying Crime Enslaves Victims
Oct 2
I have a friend who is a nice girl. She is someone who was raised to be respectful of others, particularly parents, is nice to to the point of advantage taking being one of her main business problems. She has rotten luck with men, always attracting the sort that are borderline criminal stalkers, and in [...]
It’s All on the 990
Sep 30
Please, consider this as somewhat of a public service announcement from someone who has worked in non-profit most of a career: Most of it is pretty profitable and the people pouring cash into them really don’t have the best interests of anyone but themselves at heart, no matter what the ads say. (Shocking, isn’t it?) [...]
Using Art to Promote the Profane
Sep 24
This morning, I opened my email to a digest posting from one of my favorite conspiracy theory/big bank blog and info web-sites, The Daily Bell. Usually, to get to the useful information you have to side-step some pretty out there assertions when it comes to the over-riding theme of the conspiracy. But, today an editorial [...]
Do Unto Others….
Sep 23
The past few weeks in my life have been a series of life lessons in one of the great commandments of Christianity: “Love your neighbor as yourself” which plays out as the Golden Rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In plain words, this is how one should always [...]
So, Who Pays for Bridges, Roads, Sewers and other Civilizing Infrastructure
Sep 21
Of late on any number of conservative blogs, commentators and those responding have correctly railed against the White House’s “stimulus” programs, aka the Recovery Act and all peripherals. Grants.gov lists all federal government grants and on that site, it is not difficult to see how a good amount of that cash has been spent on [...]
Per Red State: Action Needed
Sep 20
This morning I beg the indulgence of my fellow ConClubbers as I am compelled to pass on this post from Red State “Take Action: America’s Job Creators Are About to Be Sucker Punched & You Have Until Wednesday to Comment” from poster LaborUnionReport. According to LaborUnionReport, the pending legislation will put into law the push [...]
When the Greenies Are Right
Sep 14
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The following is the tip of the iceberg of an untold story of corporate consolidation and corruption in regards to some of the food we eat. It is one that is largely unreported, but hardly unknown. This account is not a complete rendering, but a taste of what forces control not only our food supply, [...]
Set Up to Fail
Sep 7
A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done. – Vince Lombardi Those [...]
Official Launch of the ASCOB Campaign
Sep 4
And now it’s time for the post I have been trying to avoid, but can’t since my colleague, The Rat, keeps posting images of socialists with less than colorful wardrobes. People, we are obsessed with the color black. Has anyone else noticed this, that half the country is dressed as if they are in mourning [...]
Labors of Love – Lost
Sep 2
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Last weekend, as part of a family tradition, my mother and I trudged to a local all-purpose orchard and picked seventy-five pounds of peaches (due to the hot weather this year, they were absolutely gorgeous, too). Twenty-five pounds of sugar and a ten hour day later (it wasn’t the same day. We had to let [...]
Time to Resurrect the Golden Rule
Aug 25
From the Gospel According to Saint Luke Chapter 10:25-28 (Douay-Rheims, 1582 Anno Domini) And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying, Master, what must I do to possess eternal life? But he said to him: What is written in the law? how readest thou? He answering, said: Thou shalt love the Lord [...]
Deep Savings
Aug 17
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For some time now, the proposal to switch from fiat currency to something more stable like precious metals has been making the rounds. With the possibility of default of said fiat currency a definite potetial action, especially with the Federal Reserve printing dollar copies like we the people have nothing to lose, a legit question [...]
We’re Being Watched
Aug 11
And now back to our regularly scheduled and pretty much justified paranoia…. The last week has been a whirlwind news-wise (are we sure it’s August?), what with the budget “deal” where no one got what they wanted other than the current Resident of the White House and the subsequent U.S. Government Securities/Bond notes downgrade to [...]
Yet Another Must Read
One thing that the entire budget/debt/deficit argument has done for us is continued discussion out in ether-space on the name calling. It’s gotten pretty out of hand. Jeffrey Kuhner of the WorldTribune.com has a piece from Friday called Tea Party ‘terrorists’? The Ruling Class Comes Unglued that is worth a read. Despite the president winning this one, the rhetoric has been ratcheted up considerably. Mr. Kuhner believes this is the beginning of the end for the socialist utopia dream in the US. We’ll see.
NewsFlash: Not Enough Rich to Soak
Guess what: the IRS looked through it’s database and has declared that there are not enough “rich” people out there to pay off the debt or really make much of a dent. The Daily Mail article IRS: Not Enough Rich to Cover the Deficit says it all. Enjoy!
For Sale: One Super-Volcano; Going Once….
Aug 5
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As I perused the digests sent very conveniently to my email this morning, I came across yet another article from a strict constitutionalist with a list of tasks that should be accomplished to bring government spending in line. As usual with these sorts of articles, the idea of “selling all non-defense related government lands” was [...]
TEA Party Dilemma
Aug 1
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Here we are the day after a historic and more than a little potentially disastrous government finance deal in Congress. In the entire fiasco, the TEA Party took it on the chin from the political establishment. Seriously. The sad thing is, from a broad perspective, the TEA Party is the one faction in American politics [...]
The Federal Government is a Big Mess
Jul 29
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I’ve been toying with a post on the whole budget/spending soap opera. Everyone else is doing it, why not join in, right? My angle was going to be defense spending and that so many of the cuts on the table are defense related rather than entitlements. See, in the sky-high view of things, defense [...]
Satan’s Playground
Jul 25
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One of the Twitter accounts I’ve been following is Andrew Breitbart’s. Mr. Breitbart is really living the American dream. With a vision and a lot of hard work, he set out to create a conservative media outlet, and, quite frankly, he has done it in spades. Kudos. His Twitter account, on the other hand, is [...]
Medical Apps Are FDA’s Next Target
Today’s daily digest had two articles presenting the FDA’s case that regulating medical apps is a good idea and they should do this. They can be found here and here.
Since the FDA routinely approves drugs that have to be recalled due to patient deaths – this is stuff that goes in the body and is digested – and allows the seed producers of genetically modified grains such as soybeans (that would be Monsanto) to police themselves and does not require animal testing on the crops even when genes are added to the seed – also, something that is digested – what makes FDA officials think that regulating mobile medical apps is a trustworthy endeavor for them?
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Reality Check: Judge Napolotano’s Lies the Government Told You
Jul 20
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For some time, Judge Andrew Napolotano’s Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power and Deception in American History has been on my “To Be Read” list, and has been sitting there as other tasks took precedence. After reading it, I can’t imagine why anything would. Published last year with a stirring forward from Congressman Ron [...]
Everyday Economics of Saving the Planet
Jul 16
Does anyone else remember when saving energy was Dad walking around the house turning off lights? Or waiting until the last possible day in June before caving in and turning on the AC? Or having a single window unit and mom and dad, all the kids and the dog sleeping in the same bedroom during [...]
The Age of Narcissism
In my daily perusal of various article digests, I came across an article from Yahoo!News titled Down but not Out: Voices of the Long-Term Unemployed. Having more than one family member who has not had an actual full time job in some time, and as I am about to join the ranks of the underemployed soon myself (the job still exists, but my hours are being slashed – and worse, the person “in charge” has no clue about some of my job functions that are being eliminated, the ones that will pull us out of the mess we’re in eventually), I started reading the article with some interest.
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REVIEW: The Faculty Lounges
Thinking that it sounded like a good idea at the time, I found a little book titled The Faculty Lounges: and Other Reasons You Won’t Get the College Education You Paid for by Naomi Schaefer Riley and decided to read and review it. Being no stranger to the academic environment having spent entirely too much time on campuses in both my educational and work careers, I was curious as to Ms. Riley’s thesis as the book had a reputation of tearing apart the tenure system.
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So Long, Atlantis
Jul 8
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It was a bittersweet moment this morning watching the Space Shuttle Atlantis lift off for the final time. The final primary ignition, the final hold at 31 seconds, the final time we all collectively held our breath as the solid rocket boosters separated. Bittersweet, because in killing off the Space Shuttle program, our idiot in [...]
Yes, Liberals Do Not Like Smart, Beautiful, Happy Women
Jul 5
This week, the 235th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence from the Crown of England, a truly repugnant thought is stuck in my head: American Liberals, for all their feminist protestations, really don’t know, understand, appreciate or respect women – and smart, capable, beautiful and creative women get the worst of it (and I’m not [...]
Forgetting the Soul
Jul 2
Not too long ago, I was watching an evening news story where a number of dead bodies resulting from a disaster were placed in a mass grave and covered with soil by an earth-mover. The reporter said, “Twenty souls buried.” Twenty souls? How can a dead body be a soul? A soul is spirit, the [...]
Taking Advantage of the Onslaught in the Patent Office
Jun 23
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Under normal circumstances, the patent office is not a big news maker. It just isn’t. The procedure has been pretty plain over the decades: come up with an idea, develop it a little, make a model or write it down, fill out patent paperwork, submit it to the patent office with the fee, wait while [...]
Are we sure Wal-Mart won?
Jun 20
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Today’s coverage of the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. vs. Betty Dukes, et.al., presents a delicious microcosm of the state of American journalism. More or less, need a quote guaranteed to stoke some fires? Find “experts.” I thought I had read some of the dumbest, most inane and downright stupid comments over the years, but the “experts” [...]
The $20 Worth of Gas a Week Game
Jun 20
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Out here in flyover country, all summer, quite a number of us have been playing a game of sorts – how far can we make $20 worth of gas go. Honestly. Once a week, I put $20 worth of gas in the tank, combine trips as much as possible and leave the windows open when [...]
Miracles Do Happen: the Senate voted to repeal ethanol subsidies
Jun 17
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Well, what do you know. In a 73-27 vote, the U.S. Senate voted to repeal ethanol subsidies, of all expenses. It’s doubtful that the Obummer White House will sign it, but, hey, ethanol is not so much of a sacred cow as it used to be it seems. Consider the irony of ethanol production: it [...]
Should Conservatives Take the Low Road?
Jun 13
This morning, the American Thinker blog carried a piece by J. R. Nash titled “The Alinsky Alert System” in which Nash advocates following Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals number five, “ridicule of the opposition whenever there is opportunity”. Not that there isn’t ample opportunity or temptation, but is this really what conservatives want to do? [...]
Susan G. Koman – Get Out of My Wardrobe!
Jun 11
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This post is written both in memory of and with complete apologies to the seven women in my family who have had or have died from breast cancer. I love pink. As a female of the species, it’s just fine for me to say that. I love pink. It compliments my coloring, is suitable for [...]
On Ann Coulter’s Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America
Jun 10
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Having some time kill this week and being a bit of a bookworm, I splurged and bought Ann Coulter’s latest offering, Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America, and devoured it between various chores. Being a good conservative, Ms. Coulter’s work is always on the radar, but not always as easily digested and appreciated [...]
A Capitalism Story
Jun 6
Once upon a time in a state far, far away, there lived a really rich guy who hit middle age and decided that he needed a new yacht to replace the aging sloop he all but trashed on the last trip from the Cape. So, this really rich guy had his regular driver take him [...]
USDA Food Plate is Making US Hungry
Jun 3
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Yesterday, the First Wookie introduced the USDA’s latest visual gimmick aimed at getting people to eat the way the government wants us to. It’s now a plate with portions of fruits, veggies, grains, protein (not meat and fish) and a little circle of dairy. Gone is the pyramid that recommended so much starch that American [...]
Small Reminder of What the Enemy Can Do
Jun 2
Every now and then, it’s a good idea to remind ourselves of what we are up against when it comes to standing for liberty, life, human dignity, market forces and the public face of God. For the most part, we conservatives agree that the enemy is communism which masquerades as any number of other “isms.” [...]
What Would Herman Do?
For those among us who are searching for a candidate to back and have read resumes, curriculum vitae and the like of the various people out there, a huge red flag is Herman Cain’s involvement with the Federal Reserve Bank. Joseph Lawler of The American Spectator has written Herman Cain and the Fed that answers a lot of questions. Worth a read for the information and opinions of those who worked with him.
Just Exactly Where is the Center and Does it Really Matter?
May 27
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In the United States, for some odd reason, we’ve adopted French nomenclature for where one stands in the wider range of political opinion. That would be left, right and center. Short history lesson – that terminology came from 1789 around the beginnings of the French Revolution in the National Assembly of France. Those who supported [...]
Well, Ray, There’s More to Sundays than Football
May 23
One Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens opened his mouth and put one big ‘ole foot in it today when he said, “Watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up if you take away our game.” (Link to a story on the interview here) Uh, pardon me? I hate [...]
Herman Cain’s Presidential Run Kick-Off Speech
This link takes an internet surfer to Herman Cain’s speech from Centennial Olympic Park which is his announcement of a run for the White House.
Please, note that this self-made man speaks well, in complete sentences, can rouse a crowd and doesn’t need a teleprompter to do it. Take the time to listen. He’s not running for second.
This is going to be fun to watch.
What we need is a little charity
May 18
One of the aspects of Catholic culture that drives most Americans insane, Catholic and not, is the super formal way the clergy communicate. They go out of their way not to offend unnecessarily and think of all sides of a situation before completing their thought or publishing an instruction (at least, that’s what they are [...]
Rainy Saturday Musings
May 14
This morning, after my exercise class (where there was a lengthy discussion on personal responsibility and that American culture used to stress that one was to go out of the way to not inconvenience others and respect other people’s property and space) I stopped at a chain discounter to pick up a few household staples [...]
Seriously? Skype, too?
May 12
Just when you thought gentlemanly business competition was coming back to America…. Back in the ‘90’s, when all the bank mergers were happening and there was a massive consolidation of the defense industry going on, The Onion featured a headline that read something to the effect that Business has been Consolidated to Six Corporations. That’s [...]
The Real War on Women
May 5
Of late, various Americans have opined that there is a war on women. Usually, this claim is made when funding to Planned Parenthood operations is on the federal budget table or when peer reviewed medical studies are released that conclude that now routine testing is not necessary for female specific diseases. Along these lines, one [...]
Vacuuming Leadership
Apr 29
We Americans have been bemoaning a “leadership vacuum” in politics – and other matters – for some time now. Is there really a leadership vacuum, or has it been vacuumed away from us? Allow me to explain. In multiple parts of life, this author has been accused of “taking over” when a job needs to [...]
Replacing God
Apr 22
Not too long ago, a co-worker asked me a question about doing something in the environmental/recycling arena. I looked at her and said, “I’ll do it because it’s there and when it’s easy, but I’m not going to make a religion out of it.”This particular person fell away from the Church, as we say, due [...]
Call it what it is: a holy war
For quite a while, I’ve wanted to call all the conflicts in the middle east a holy war, basically the Crusades all over again. Little did I know, that the people in the middle east didn’t necessarily feel that way in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries until we told them they should. This article, Four Myths About the Crusades, was quite an eye-opener.
De-Funding NPR and PBS
Mar 19
For the past couple days members of my circle on facebook who are known to be not-so-conservatives have been whining and nashing their new crowns on the House of Representatives “de-funding” NPR and PBS. Any viable enterprise should be able to survive without government support. In the case of NPR spinning out on their own [...]
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