About Me

Name: Katy Grimes
Email: fetchingjen@gmail.com Biography
Loading...

Create Your Own Blog Find Other Townhall Blogs

Comments

Blog Roll

 

Shameful Low Voter Turnout

I stayed up late enough to watch the local news and results of the election. The coverage was embarrassingly "local." When the tree branch fell on the patio at the Heather Fargo party, the drama was unsurpassed. And embarrassing. A tree branch fell. No fireworks went off as was originally claimed by the news guy.
 
By 10:35 pm, I went to bed disgusted. Sam Shane on Channel 13 should not be allowed to speak without a cue card. The nonsensical and irrelevant comments he makes should be played back at him endlessly until he bags for more education.
 
This morning, I read that only 50,000 people in the City of Sacramento voted. We are a city of 475,000 residents.
 
Why don't people vote? I asked several people leading up to the election. The two standard answers were: "I am too busy," and "I am only one vote, and one vote doesn't count."
 
Only 10 days ago, I received a phone call from my son who was preparing to fill out his absentee voter ballot. He resides across the country at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.  We walked through the issues, he voted and mailed his ballot. this morning I received a phone call from him inquiring about the election results. He is a 19-year old who voted absentee and called mom to find out the results from 3,000 miles away. So how is it that locals can't get themselves to the polling place or sign up for an absentee ballot?
 
People have become complacent and lazy in their prosperity. They also are not learning or caring about history and why every vote matters. Voting is a privilege, and honor. And unless we vote in every election, we don't deserve to whine about the way things are. And that is why Sacramento was stuck with heather Fargo for so many years, and why she nearly became Mayor for a third inadequate, term.  
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (4) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Barrack Obama's Biggest Problem? Michelle Obama

with this explanation:
The Michelle Obama Rant Tape was filmed between June 26th - July 1st 2004 in Chicago, IL at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference at Trinity United Church: specifically the Women's Event.

 

Michelle Obama appeared as a panelist alongside Mrs. Khadijah Farrakhan and Mrs. James Meeks.

Bill Clinton spoke during the Conference, as did Bill Cosby and other speakers, but not at the panel Michelle attended.

Michelle Obama spoke at the Women's Event, but referenced Bill Clinton in her rant --- his presence at the conference was the impetus for her raving, it seems.

For about 30 minutes, Michelle Obama launched into a rant about the evils of America, and how America is to blame for the problems of Africa. Michelle personally blamed President Clinton for the deaths of millions of Africans and said America is responsible for the genocide of the Tutsis and other ethnic groups. She then launched into an attack on "whitey", and talked about solutions to black on black crime in the realm of diverting those actions onto white America. Her rant was fueled by the crowd: they reacted strongly to what she said, so she got more passionate and enraged, and that's when she completely loses it and says things that have made the mouths drop of everyone who's seen this.

The "tape" is a DVD that Trinity United sold on its website, and possibly offered free for download up until March 2008 when Trinity's site was scrubbed and the DVDs were no longer offered for sale.

This outburst happened just one month before the 2004 Democratic Convention, when Barack Obama delivered the keynote address.
Original Post:
The buzz about a tape surfacing of Michelle Obama ranting about "Whitey" together with Louis Farrakhan and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright is interesting, if not a deal breaker. When it comes out, Barack will be permanently branded with the Nation of Islam - not a good tag when running for President of the United States.
 
There is no coincidence that Barrack Obama "quit" his controversial church yesterday, just as news of this tape hit.
 
But his ties with the Nation of Islam do not get cut just because he "quits" the church. "Barack hired two members of the Nation of Islam to work on his staff—Jennifer Mason and Cynthia K. Miller. If Jeremiah Wright and Michael Pfleger (now placed on leave by the Cardinal of New York for his recent rant) had kept their yaps buttoned none of this would mean much. But the fact that both men have been—until scrubbed from the website in recent weeks—listed as spiritual advisors to Barack Obama and also are very close to Louis Farrakhan, forces the question about Barack’s faith and beliefs." (hat tip NoQuarter)
 
The word is that one of the Republican candidates no longer in the race (Rudy) acquired the tape. Republicans will most likely hold the tape until the fall. Because if Hillary had it, she'd let it out now to get rid of Obama.
 
Things will only get more interesting. Either way, Michelle Obama has using her own mouth, put her husband's foot in it.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (16) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (1) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

USS Reagan and USS Clinton

USS Reagan and USS Clinton



There are two new Navy ships.

USS REAGAN and the USS Clinton

Seeing the USS Reagan next to the Arizona Memorial really puts its size into perspective... ENORMOUS!BEAUTIFUL!
 
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

What If? President Bush Speaks

If President Bush resigned today, this is what his speech would be....

 
Normally, I start these things out by saying 'My Fellow Americans.'   Not doing it this time.  If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore.  I do know something terrible has happened, and that you're really not fellow Americans any longer.

 
I'll cut right to the chase here: I quit. 

Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, let me assure you: There's been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

 


The reason I'm quitting is simple.  I'm fed up with you people. I'm fed up because you have no understanding of what's really going on in the world.  Or of what's going on in this once-great nation of ours.  And the majority of you are too damned lazy to do your homework and figure it out.


 
Let's start local. You've been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media.  Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that's despite record numbers of homeowners, including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. 

And while we're mentioning minorities, I'll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high.  Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton administration.

I've mentioned all those things before, but it doesn't seem to have sunk in.

 


Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets.  Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too damn stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there's increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

 
We face real threats in the world.  Don't give me this 'blood for oil' thing. If I were trading blood for oil I would've already seized Iraq's oil fields and let the rest of the country go to hell. 

And don't give me this 'Bush Lied; People Died' crap either.  If I were the liar you morons take me for, I could've easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be 'discovered.'  Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty. 

 


Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as me.  Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office.  Some guy named 'Clinton' established that policy.  Bet you didn't know that, did you?

You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off.  We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do.  We were simply able to out spend and out-tech them.


 


That's not the case this time.  The soldiers of our new enemy don't care if they survive.  In fact, they want to die.

That'd be fine, as long as they weren't also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can.  But they are.  They want to kill you, and the bastards are all over the globe.

 
You should be grateful that they haven't gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11.  But you're not.  That's because you've got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement, and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that. 

When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight.  I'm disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of 'Survivor.'

 


Instead, you've grown impatient.  You're incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do.  You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops.


 
Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy.  Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat's political campaign, well, dang it, you might just as well FedEx a grenade launcher to a Jihadist.  It amounts to the same thing.

 


In this day and age, it's easy enough to find the truth. It's all over the Internet.  It just isn't on the pages of the New York Times or on NBC News.  But even if it were, I doubt you'd be any smarter. Most of you would rather watch American Idol.

 
I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you're too stupid to leave a city that's below sea level and has a hurricane approaching.

 



 
I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from.  But I've come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

 
So I quit.  I'm going back to Crawford.  I've got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient. 

No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I'm done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again.  Maybe I'll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.

 


Oh, and by the way, Cheney's quitting too. 

That means Pelosi is your new President.  You asked for it.  Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there are just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.


So that's it.  God bless what's left of America.  Some of you know what I mean.  The rest of you, kiss my Texas born and bred butt.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

CA Assembly Passes Paid Sick Leave

How would you like 9 paid sick days each year, 1 to 2 weeks of vacation, and 9 paid holidays?
The California state Assembly just approved the bill that would to require employers to provide 9 paid days of sick leave for every worker.
 
As an employer of more than 50 employees, we already offer paid vacations, 3 "floating days," 9 paid holidays and subsidized health insurance. Forcing us to add more paid sick days is nothing more than giving every employee a raise.
 
Which means that there will probably be no raises this next year as we are already operating without a profit.
 
From The Sacramento Bee: Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, said her Assembly Bill 2716 would protect more than 5 million Californians – about a third of the work force – who are forced to choose between working while sick or losing pay.
"(It's) a win-win for workers and employers alike and is an important part of maintaining a healthy economy here in California," Ma said.
When employers offer paid sick days, employee morale is better, turnover is less, and health care costs decrease, Ma said.
Really? Does Fiona Ma employee workers? Does she know this first hand? No. Ms. Ma has only worked in politics - first for the esteemed John Burton, then as a San Francisco Supervisor, and now an Assembly woman, annointed by Fabian Nunez as Assembly Majority Whip.
 
She's been embroiled in scandals: Norman Hsu helped finance her assembly race, and has been embroiled in scandal with known Triad bad-guy Raymond Kwok Chow.
 
Bottom line: Fiona Ma is a San Francisco socialist who will continue to force employers, who she obviously sees as expendable, to pay out more and more to employees, for not showing up. California already has paid sick leave, funded through the EDD.
 
Employees are being gifted ridiculous time off days. Employers, especially small private sector employers, cannot operate with employees gone. We do not have layers of people all doing the same job the way the State does. When one of our employees is gone, the work does not get done, or other employees have to cover, sacrificing much of their own work.
 
As long as the California legislature continues to sell votes to the masses, we will move closer and closer to socialism. And slip firther and further away from individuality and personal responsibility, while penalizing the very employers who go out on a limb, take all of the risks of owning a business and who hire the employees.  Any profit that most small businesses once realized, are gone in the way of taxes, regulations, fees, workers health and comp insurance and absurd lawsuits.
 
Employers will be shutting doors rather than continue to pay out more than 65% of all sales to the government in one form or another.  
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (3) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Great Quotes from Snobama and Wife

I cannot take credit for this compilation of stupendous quotes.
 
John Hawkins at Right Wing News has put together a list of more than 50 quotes from Barack Obama, his wife, and Jeremiah Wright among others. You can read it here:
Some of those quotes include:
"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That's not leadership. That's not going to happen." -- Barack Obama
 
"...White folks' greed runs a world in need..." -- Jeremiah Wright
 
"(Obama) really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time." -- John McCain
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (1) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Manipulating An Election

Last evening Mayoral Candidate Kevin Johnson trounced Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo in the only debate in this election cycle. He was on fire, lucid, prepared, had his facts straight and made her look like the "neighborhood activist" she is.
 
Today in the Sacramento Bee, the editorial board chose to ignore the debate win and instead published above the fold: Fargo leads Johnson in mayor poll; 29% undecided. The story is a fabrication - or perhaps a poll of the Sacramento Bee Editorial board. The debate coverage instead was a blow by blow of he said, she said. The writer's bias came through loud and clear.
 
It's despicable how the editors at The Bee don't believe in democracy or the voice of the people. They think they know what's best for Sacramento residents regardless of the fact that we will overwhelmingly and symbolically toss Heather Fargo out of office and elect a new Mayor.
 
I have interviewed Kevin Johnson twice for The Sacramento Union. Last night's debate showed the candidate I have come to know: confident, knowledgeable, passionate about our city, sincere and energetic. (read my interviews here: The Man Who Wants To Be Mayor; Kevin Johnson Talks with The Union)
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Legislating Approval

The decision last week by the California Supreme Court  to uphold same-sex marriages will do very little in the way of gaining the approval that homosexuals are so desperate to receive. It will instead, produce in pro-marriage groups more determination to fight the idiotic pro-gay rights that have infiltrated so much of sane society. We must ask ourselves, why gays are so desperate for this "approval?"
 
Our state constitution already defined marriage as "a personal relation arising out of a civil contract between and man and a woman, to which the consent of the parties capable of making that contract is necessary." Citizens already know that civil unions do not have the same respect and equality as marriage. So gays worked to steal the word "marriage" for their own relationship description, hoping it would lend more credibility to their union. But almost more importantly, gays cannot produce children, meaning that they cannot continue creating and furthering society the way man/woman marriages can.
 
In a man/woman marriage, sexual relations also produce children. In gay marriage it's nothing more than sex for gratification. Man/woman relationships produce children and society continues. What gays do sexually is for pleasure only, and does not produce the "results" of a hetero sexual relationship. Homosexuality cheapens sex in that by claiming that what they do sexually is "okay," then any and all sex is okay. That's not a healthy message to send kids. For a society that has been trying to stop teenage promiscuity, STD's, illegitimate children and abortions, telling high school kids that it's okay to be gay (and having gay sex) is a conflicting message. 
 
No amount of legislation or judicial activism will produce the approval homosexual couples are seeking for the gay lifestyle. Marriage cannot be and will not be legislated. Marriage is more than the legal description, and that's why gays are fighting for this same societal approval. 
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (2) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Mayor Fargo Panders To Gay Community, Stupidly

Our illustrious Mayor Heather Fargo sent out this idiotic press release yesterday in response to the California Supreme court decision to legalize gay marriage: 

Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo Responds to

State Supreme Court Decision Legalizing Gay Marriage

 

 

Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo released the following statement regarding today’s historic decision by the California State Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage:

 

“Today, the California State Supreme Court made an historic decision validating the equality of all Californians and indeed, all Sacramentans, by legalizing same-sex marriage. 

 

“Our City is proud to be a City that celebrates and encourages diversity.  The Court’s decision finally allows all of Sacramento’s residents to enjoy the right and freedom to love and have the legal benefits and protections that come with a commitment to marry.

 

“I share the joy of many of my friends who have waited so long for this day to come.”

 

Mayor Fargo will attend a special rally celebrating the Court’s decision this evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center, 1927 L Street in Midtown Sacramento.
 
I am always intrigued when people describe Mayor Fargo as intelligent. Based on this statement, she does not know the difference between feelings and law, nor does she understand constitutionality.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

California Supreme Court Re-Writing Constitution

Today, the California State Supreme Court decided 4-3 to recognize same-sex marriages in California.

Once again, extremest activists have done what is best for them, for the adults, without any consideration to the wake of destruction left heaped upon the children of these selfish, self-indulgent relationships.

Men and women are not interchangeable. A marriage between a man and a woman is not the same as a marriage between two men or two women. Marriage between a man and a women is what brings the unique power of self-respect, self-confidence and security to children - two opposing viewpoints in one household is mentally healthier for children.

In this era of gross misinformation about the realities of homosexuality, Dawn Stefanowicz, author of Out From Under: The Impact of Homosexual Parenting, whose own father led an openly homosexual life, writes, “From a young age, I was exposed to explicit sexual speech, self-indulgent lifestyles, varied GLBT sub-cultures and gay vacation spots,” Stefanowicz says in a warning to those who would give the nod to same-sex adoptions. “Sex looked gratuitous to me as a child. I was exposed to all-inclusive manifestations of sexuality including bathhouse sex, cross-dressing, sodomy, pornography, gay nudity, lesbianism, bi-sexuality, minor recruitment, voyeurism and exhibitionism. Sado-masochism was alluded to and aspects demonstrated. Alcohol and drugs were often contributing factors to lower inhibitions in my father’s relationships.”

Understandably, such an environment contributed to pathology in her life as well. “Over two decades of direct exposure to these stressful experiences caused me insecurity, depression, suicidal thoughts, dread, anxiousness, low self-esteem, sleeplessness and sexuality confusion. My conscience and innocence were seriously damaged. I witnessed that every other family member suffered severely as well.”

She adds, “Government and judges need to advance and defend marriage as between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others for the sake of our children.” The tragic realities of the homosexual sub-culture have already affected the offspring dramatically. But because the very nature of much of the homosexual lifestyle is one of selfish, self-indulgent hedonistic pursuits, the children are a throw-away by-product, that apparently Judges and gay activists feel is acceptible.

ProtectMarriage.com wrote this about the decision: As over 1.1 million signatures are being validated for the qualification of constitutional marriage amendment for the November 2008 ballot, the California Supreme Court today overturned Proposition 22, the initiative passed in 2000 by more than 61% of California’s voters. The Court declared a right to “same-sex marriage” in direct opposition to the definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman, established by Proposition 22.

In the majority decision authored by Chief Justice Ronald George, he wrote “an individual’s sexual orientation — like a person’s race or gender — does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights.”

"The Court’s rationale for its decision should prompt outrage from the majority of California’s citizens,” said Ron Prentice, chairman of the ProtectMarriage.com coalition. “The will of the people has been completely undermined by four individuals. In November, the people will have an opportunity to overrule the Court’s decision by passing a constitutional amendment – and California’s voters must respond by voting,” concluded Prentice.

ProtectMarriage.com is a coalition of grassroots organizations, churches and voters, formed in order to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2008 ballot. The Supreme Court’s ruling coincides with the submission of 1.1 million signatures to California’s 58 counties. Known as the California Marriage Protection Act, the initiative’s signatures are now undergoing a review for validation. Based on the current projection of valid signatures, it appears the initiative will qualify for the ballot.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Marvin Baxter stated, “…marriage is, as it always has been, the right of a woman and an unrelated man to marry each other.” Baxter added “…there is no deeply rooted tradition of same-sex marriage, in the nation or in this state.” Concurring, Prentice said, “Since time began, marriage between a man and a woman has served children and societies best. Today, the California Supreme Court dishonored marriage’s tradition and historic purposes, as well as the will of the people.”

The Court’s ruling will take effect in 30 days, unless a “stay” is requested. It is likely that legal representation for ProtectMarriage.com will seek a stay in order to allow the people to vote on the constitutional amendment in November.

The decision is outrageous and unconstitutional. I suspect that there will be backlash.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (2) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

USNA Plebe Year Almost Over...






For those who visit my blog regularly, you know that my son is in his first year at the United States Naval Academy - he's a Plebe.

Today, the class of 2011, the Plebes, participate in Sea Trials. U.S. Naval Academy Freshmen, known as plebes, participate in "Sea Trials" at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., May 17, 2005. "Sea Trials" is an 11.5 hour action-oriented event, modeled after the U.S. Marine Corps' 54-hour "Crucible" and the Navy's "Battle Stations" training tests, which requires plebes to use skills they have learned during their first year at the Naval Academy.

Sea Trials, which begins well before dawn, consists of six phases lasting approximately an hour and a half each. During these phases, the freshmen, or “plebes,” are tested physically and mentally in a variety of challenging scenarios.

Under the supervision of upperclassmen, senior enlisted leaders and company officers, the midshipmen navigated challenging obstacle courses, confronted realistic damage control scenarios, and motivated each other through long-distance runs. Squads of midshipmen also tackled riverine training, zodiac boat drills, and endurance courses. More than 1,000 plebes participate in the capstone event, modeled after the Navy’s “Battle Stations” and Marine Corps’ “Crucible."

My son Morgan has actually been looking forward to this day. He is ranked 79th out of 1142 Plebes militarily, and has outstanding scores of 96% in his PRT's (Physical training). He played on the Brigade Championship 6th Company Field Ball team and is described by his commanding officer as a "Warrior."

He is ending his first year having not just survived, but thrived. Academically, he is ranked 377, and overall, ranked 257 - the top 23% of the class. He has worked very hard academically; his grades are stellar, with a solid "B" average. This is how he spent his year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxi_hfRJHFI&NR=1

Click this to watch a short video of the USNA Sea Trials. You'll be glad you are already out of school.

And then The plebes will become third class midshipmen, or sophomores, upon graduation of the Class of 2008 on May 23.
What a Year. What an accomplishment. Three more years to go.
This summer he is assigned to a submarine, with three weeks off in August. Did I already say what a year?

Does your school let you do this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDk5s4WrKcI Great video about the USNA.

************************

photos: Winter Formal event, Snow for a California boy, "C" Company Jackalope warriors during Plebe Summer
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

More Liberal Drivel

The Sacramento Bee has done it again. This time they are advancing the cause for the "Fairness Doctrine" under the auspices of "it's not fair."

On the Forum page in Sunday May 11, 2008, former Capital Public Radio personality Sue Wilson penned an opinion piece whining about how conservative talk radio is unfair because it dominates talk radio. She complained that liberal local talk radio was "taken" off the air (unfairly).

Wilson prattles on to support her opinion: In the political realm, three local radio stations program 264 hours of partisan Republican radio talkers beating up on Democrats every week. Now, zero stations program any Democratic view whatsoever: 264-0. This follows the national trend revealed in the 2007 Free Press and Center for American Progress study, "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio." Nationally, 90 percent of commercial talk radio is conservative; only 10 percent is liberal. (This study does not include Public Radio, which by statute is required to provide differing points of view. One is as likely to hear a Republican's views as a Democrat's. And NPR hosts don't beat up on anybody.)

Sue Wilson obviously never sat through a semester in Economics or even U.S. History. She does not understand that "if you build it they will come" only works in the movies. Basic economics tear her theory and whining apart. If not enough listeners tune in to a radio show to sell the advertising necessary to keep it on air, the owner of the radio station pulls the show. It's called supply and demand - not fair or unfair.

That's just the economic aspect. The political aspect is that people are obviously bored with the radio personalities and their liberal rhetoric. They spend entire shows whining, complaining, but never offer solutions or ideasIf we don't like it from our kids, why would we subject ourselves to it on the radio? They use foul language, they say horrible things about people, and it's pretty obvious why they do not have a listening audience capable of supporting the programming. What advertiser wants to have his company name associated with whining, anger, foul language, liberal rhetoric?

The Liberal agenda already controls most of our news and information sources: television news, newspapers, news shows, as well as the entertainment industry which slants almost all movies to the left and rewrites history. Additionally, educators indoctrinate students with the liberal agenda from elementary school through college.

And now liberals want to eradicate radio of any conservative thought. That's called censorship and is a violation of free speech rights guaranteed in our constitution - Amendment l to the Constitution, ratified December 15, 1791.

Ms. Wilson lives in a bubble. She needs to branch out and listen to some of the "conservative" radio she claims is dominating the air waves. But that's too much to ask. A differing opinion is unacceptible to most liberals. And don't bog them down with facts, research and history.

One aspect conservatives have over liberals: we are constantly bombarded with the liberal message everywhere we turn. Consequently, we are able to sort through both points of view and derive an educated opinion.

Sue Wilson cannot say that. Her opinion piece was an embarrassment - full of holes, a purely emotional argument, and used faulty, skewed research.

Read her opinion column for yourself: http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/927485.html The Sacramento Bee has exhibited an incredible lack of journalistic professionalism, judgment and once again demonstrated to readers that it is no longer a credible news source.
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (2) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

The Deceit of Sacramento’s “Traffic Calming”

Are you calm while you sit in city traffic, or are you or agitated, angry and charged up? Do you imagine that while you sit in one lane of traffic that used to be two lanes, while cars around you are idling and spewing fumes in the air for neighbors, pedestrians and cyclists to breathe, that you are somehow helping the environment?

 

I attended the most recent Land Park Community Association (LPCA) meeting, where additional “traffic calming” projects were on the agenda. However, these were discussed by only a couple of enthusiastic residents. The rest of the neighbors sat upright in their seats, arms crossed against their chests, eyebrows raised in disbelief. The downtown neighborhood of Land Park has recently had “traffic calming” projects completed on two major streets; conversions of once-flowing one-way streets to two-way, and lane reductions from two lanes, to one lane. Councilman Rob Fong proudly calls this a “lane diet.” Several other downtown neighborhoods have also undergone lane conversions and lane reductions. But no one is calm. In fact, we are experiencing more traffic congestion, worse air quality and are left with dangerous road conditions because of these changes. So what’s the real motive behind the innocuous sounding but fallacious “traffic calming” in Sacramento?

Traffic congestion increases fuel consumption and the release of harmful emissions. If motorists avoided idling their vehicle for just five minutes per day, millions of CO2 would be not enter the atmosphere. Yet city traffic planners keep drawing up and executing plans that create more traffic problems than they solve. Numerous traffic engineering studies in cities across the United States show that arbitrarily interrupting traffic with "nuisance" or "speed-breaker" stop signs, speed bumps and round-abouts, increase intentional violation and can actually increase the overall speed on the road where they are used. The devious plan to force us out of our cars is not working.

We should instead be working on traffic signal synchronization, removal of unwarranted traffic signals, stop signs and traffic undulations. Increasing traffic flow is far more beneficial to neighborhoods as well as safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.

When unreasonable restrictions are continually imposed, drivers become careless and/or contemptuous about the need to obey the law. Greater air pollution and neighborhood noise is created due to braking, deceleration and acceleration of vehicles. This is fact and the city doesn’t want to talk about it. They have their own agenda.

According to the National Motorists Association (NMA), another public misconception is that speed limits reduce vehicular speed and improve public safety. In fact, speed limits posted lower than dictated by California Vehicle Code leads to a greater risk of driver, pedestrian, and cyclist accidents. A driver's speed is more realistically dictated by the roadway appearance and traffic conditions than by posted speed limits. Traffic studies clearly show that reducing speed limits has no influence on vehicular speed. Unrealistically low limits cause some drivers to obey them and others to ignore them, which disrupts uniform traffic flow and increases accidents. Pedestrian and cyclists injuries increase because of their difficulty in judging the varying speed of traffic. Downtown Sacramento is a case in point.

Safety on the road should come first and foremost, and not through the indiscriminate use of traffic control devices. Instead, city officials and neighborhood activists bombard us with messages of “traffic calming,” which is nothing more than a euphemism for traffic obstruction and diversion.

A significant portion of vehicular fuel consumption is wasted due to unwarranted traffic control. Traffic engineering studies have demonstrated that in cities with excessive numbers of traffic signals and stop signs, the fuel consumed by vehicles stopping and idling accounts for approximately 40% of all vehicular fuel consumption.

However, it is obvious that the decisions for traffic control devices are made in response to undue public pressure by special interests. People who purchase a home on a major thoroughfare in a neighborhood want reduced traffic. Neighbors fear for their safety when there is no traffic enforcement. Instead, they should be advocating for realistic traffic safety enforcement and efficient traffic flow on thoroughfares.

Then there are the extreme groups of bicycle advocates, which is what’s driving Sacramento’s “traffic calming” scheme. They absurdly and unrealistically advocate for no cars on the road, and use burdensome traffic control devices as their instrument. Traffic engineers know that what the extremists are asking is actually jeopardizing public safety, but on the surface, it looks as if they are fighting for bicyclists and pedestrians, and doing their part in the politically correct fight against global warming.

Traffic signals are only an asset to traffic control if installed at intersections that really warrant a signal; stop signs are intended to help drivers and pedestrians decide who has the right-of-way and not for speed control; crosswalks are only for the guidance and control of pedestrians and not to ensure safety; lower speed limits do not slow down traffic; speed bumps are more hazardous than helpful on public streets, especially on streets designated as emergency vehicle routes; and unnecessary traffic control devices cause pollution.

The rise in road rage and the increasing dilemma of  red lights runners, is linked to the proliferation of needless traffic control devices and the nonsensical “traffic calming” techniques being used across the country. Practical, levelheaded traffic control and enforcement would solve many of these problems, rather than using punishment techniques against people who drive automobiles.

“Traffic calming” devices, such as speed bumps and traffic circles (round-abouts) are being installed in communities across the United States, without regard to their risks. Deflection devices built to slow passenger vehicles, create even greater delays to large emergency response vehicles. The longer wheel-base, stiff suspension, and high vehicle weight, requires drivers to slow almost to a stop to negotiate the devices safely. On our downtown streets, large delivery trucks cannot navigate a right turn around the newly installed jutting street corners, or the many round-abouts that sit in the middle of small intersections.

Stop-and-go traffic creates an environmental impact that takes a toll on health and quality-of-life. “Traffic calming” is the tool used by city officials to regulate and deliberately inconvenience, as well as hinder, the legitimate travel of motorists. As a community, we must put an end this obstruction and abuse.

Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Groping Around For A Political Game Plan

 There is nothing like a good old-fashioned political scandal to obfuscate the truth. The chips are down as well as her poll numbers; the truth is that Mayor Fargo et al (Richie Ross) glommed on to old accusations of sexual impropriety by challenger Kevin Johnson, in order to bewilder and confuse the good, caring voter. The truth is that Mayor Fargo cannot run on her merit, so a scandal must be the answer.

 

But what Fargo did not count on is that many voters feel that she’s dishing out the justice. Together with The Sacramento Bee editors, Mayor Fargo has made sure that Johnson has been tried, convicted and sentenced to life. Or so she thinks.

 

Remember when Arnold Schwarzenegger was accused of being a “groper?” Oh how the media relished that issue, playing the accusations over and over, while assisting his challenger in the inevitable take down. But the manipulators forget that voters actually do have the ability to reason, and possess the olfactory senses that are so necessary for smelling a rat. Witness Governor Schwarzenegger and not Governor Bustamante.

 

Professional athletes have certainly had their issues surrounding sex and violence. However, what few people are willing to talk about is the professional athlete as a victim. Professional athletes are stalked more than any other group of famous persons. Pro athletes are targeted by gangs of ruthless women for several reasons: Bragging rights, shakedowns, calculated set-ups for monetary gain, pregnancy, and the like. Unscrupulous mothers coach their teenage daughters on how to set up the pro athlete for a sexual shakedown. That’s how bad this phenomenon is.

 

Today’s professional athlete cannot walk to his hotel room without women lurking about, waiting for opportunity. Golfers on the PGA tour report flocks of groupie women throwing their proverbial panties at them, attempting pickups and hook-ups at every restaurant and bar on the tour, just for a piece of the famous (and rich) guy.

 

And let’s be straight about one thing: we are talking about men, with all of their drives and appetites. Some men, married or not, accept the proposals. Some do not. But the point is, that with millions of women behaving very badly, offering sex to men they do not know, there are going to be a few takers. And the taking has a hefty price.

 

In his 1991 biography, Wilt Chamberlain bragged that he had sex with at least 20,000 women. Magic Johnson contracted the AIDS virus during his bachelor days, probably through the revolving door to his bedroom. Neither of these men is an example of a victim, but the easy access they had to women is despicable.

 

Women learn how to affect men from the first flirtation with our fathers when we are still toddling around in diapers. Teenage girls know and love the reaction they are able to elicit from men, young and old. Many of today’s teenage girls are built like Marilyn Monroe, and dress like Madonna and Brittney Spears. The only message men get from the sleazy attire is “I’m easy.”

 

Today’s young women have been trained as predators, to whiff out the scent of money, fame and power. There have always been women who are attracted to powerful rich men, but today’s phenomenon of girls giving “it” away, of relentlessly pursuing male professional athletes, is diabolical. The powerful regret the women have after giving “it” away is often what leads to claims of inappropriateness. Women are not wired the way men are; we don’t hunt down “prey” for the sport of it. However, after several generations of feminists telling us that we are just like men, and raising daughters to deserve everything men have and are, women can’t live with the aftershock. When women behave like men, and suffer the consequences of their actions, they hate themselves. And now, women are dragging too many men through the emotional muck alongside them.

 

We have no idea what famous professional athletes go through. Some guys love the attention the way Chamberlain and Magic Johnson did.  And yes, even as protected as they are by the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and the PGA, they are vulnerable. Female predators are just as dangerous as their male counterparts, and usually more emotionally unstable.

 

Pro athletes are more aggressive, more confident, and bigger risk takers than the average man or woman. And some are just jerks, just like the average guy or gal. Most just wanted to play basketball, baseball, football or golf. The fame was a ticket out, as well as a side effect. But did any of these talented men ask for throngs of crazy, sleazy women to hunt them down at every turn? Did they want to be marked as easy prey for predatory women?

Tom "Satch" Sanders of the Boston Celtics works as Vice President of Player Programs for the NBA. “Their (players) prominence means they will take much more heat from the media and the public for similar situations that befall other people with normal lives,” Sanders explained. Sanders expanded on this: "Everyone feels that athletes have to take the good with the bad, the glory with the negative publicity. However, no one appreciates the broad-brush application that is applied in so many instances. Of the few thousand that play sport on the highest level, if four or five individuals in each sport - particularly if they are black - have problems with the law, people won't have long to wait before some media people are talking about all those athletes."

Mayoral candidate Kevin Johnson has been tried and convicted in the media on what has unfortunately become customary; women bent on getting whatever they want, for whatever the reason, regardless of the cost. And because he is a famous, black, professional NBA star, it’s a media shakedown. God help anyone who wants to run for political office; you either have to be willing to live with the horrifying, negative media, or be as dull as Mayor Fargo.

Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (1) | TrackbacksTrackbacks (0) | Flag as offensiveFlag as Offensive

Hunting In The Park

There is a big problem brewing in Sacramento's parks; illegal hunting, fishing poaching. Domestic geese are disappearing, being captured, killed and sold to Asian markets. Ducks are being slaughtered and their carcasses left for park visitors to find. Fishing is no longer a recreation, and if I step on one more barbed fish hook, I may stick it in someone's tires.


 
I wrote to my neighborhood association and the Sacramento City Council. And last night another goose disappeared. The island where ducks and geese nest was ravaged. Eggs are gone, nests destroyed.
 
I wrote a very sad blog post here http://fetchingjen.blogspot.com/search?q=geese about the two darling geese I raised, and let move into the park. They were taken a couple of weeks ago.
 

(From a letter I wrote to the city:) People are poaching, hunting and fishing in the park by my house. Since the end of January, the pond nearest my house on is missing 14 domestic geese. There are no domestic geese in left in the big pond. And domestic geese do not fly and/or migrate.

 

The two geese that my husband and I raised, (after they were abandoned by their parents on our doorstep), just disappeared as well. I have been in contact with Animal Control as well as the park management, and what we have discovered is appalling. Southeast Asian persons are poaching in Land Park very regularly. The gentleman who works for park maintenance and is in charge of the area near my house, is well aware of this and has caught many people hunting geese, ducks and other birds, even squirrels. Not even the ducks and geese on the island are safe; the children are instructed by the parents to swim into the pond and catch and kill the birds. This is not done for personal consumption – the captured birds are then sold to Asian markets. This is mercenary and illegal.

 

The other problem is that the people who illegally fish from the ponds (permits are required) leave their discarded barbed hooks and lines strewn about on the grass and walkways. Fishing has become a daily occurrence in both ponds. Ducks and geese get tangled in the fishing line so severely, that several wild geese now have lame legs from being constricted by tangled line. My husband and I have rescued and saved a few geese that had three-pronged barbed hooks caught in their feet, and line wrapped around their legs. I even pulled 4 feet of fishing line from the throat of a choking goose recently.

 
The fisher persons are also using fishing gear that one would use for ocean fishing. They throw their lines in the water hoping to snag anything with the excessively large hooks. It is inhumane as well as illegal.
 

The very people who have no compunction about hunting and fishing also treat the park with utter disdain, throwing their trash right into the pond water (right in front of other park visitors), leaving trash in the picnic areas (next to garbage cans) as well as allowing their teenage (and older) children to aggressively and cruelly chase the geese and ducks, and hit them with sticks. I’ve also seen teens and adults ravage nests for eggs. This is cruelty to animals and is legally known as “Animal Abuse in the First Degree" when, except as otherwise authorized by law, the person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes serious physical injury to an animal, or cruelly causes the death of a animal." A person commits the crime of "Harassment of Wildlife" when the person chases, harasses, molests, worries or disturbs any wildlife except while engaged in lawfully angling for, taking, hunting or trapping such wildlife.

 

I'm not anti-gun or anti-hunting. I am just repelled and disgusted at what is happening right under our noses, while city officials continue to claim they are understaffed and can't do anything about it.  I will continue making noise about this. This isn't about people hunting to eat; it's about a culture that refuses to assimilate and ignores our laws.

And who is going to do something about it?
Email ItEmail It | Print ItPrint It | CommentsComments (0) | Trackbacks