November 22, 2012

Today is Thanksgiving Day. This uniquely American holiday is used to celebrate thanks for the gifts God has given us. For some people, those gifts are obvious- a loving family, a good job, a nice home. Some celebrate their many gifts, some are internal, some are spiritual, and many are material. Others are thankful they escaped the recent Hurricane with their lives. I guess I should be thankful that I survived Hurricane Sandy with all the major stuff safe and dry, and with a FEMA grant that will allow me to move to a place that actually has electricity and heat (although I don't currently know whether I will stay in NYC after the hotel voucher expires in 9 days or else move to Colorado Springs, Texas, or Nebraska). I guess I should be thankful that I'm spending Thanksgiving with relatives in Chambersburg that I haven't seen in years. But it still doesn't mean there is a lot to not be thankful for, indeed to be irate at.

There is still poverty. Jesus said "The poor will always be with you" (Matthew 26:11). But then that passage does not denigrate the poor, it is meant to show compassion and the Christian need to care for those who cannot help themselves. Too many people cannot help themselves anymore. They need help, but the type of help they need is subject to debate. As someone who spent 8 of the last 19 months in homeless shelters, I can argue that you don't help the homeless by building cardboard boxes to "show solidarity" with them (as a report this morning on WHP-TV suggested), but by getting them off the cold streets, getting them into indoor shelter, and helping them find meaningful work so they can afford real housing.

There is still injustice disguised as "help"- Obamacare being a prime example. This program that was intended to get more people to get health insurance does nothing to control health care costs. Indeed, it shifts some of those costs to the lower middle class who cannot afford health insurance and make too much for Medicaid through the insurance penalty tax. It is driving up operating costs for small businesses and franchises (who now are forced to pay for costly insurance) (see: Denny's, Papa John's). To avoid those costs, businesses are reducing hours for employees and hiring fewer employees. It doesn't take an economist to know what that will do to the unemployment and underemployment rates. And by re-electing President Obama, the American public has approved of his undeclared wars on the unborn (by increasing aid to the eugenics loving, abortion profiting Planned Parenthood) and the Catholic Church (by the Obamacare/HHS mandates that force the Church to pay for anti-Catholic health care practices).

For many, the solution to poverty seems to be by throwing money at those who have none. Yes, part of the problem of being poor is lack of money. Just giving a block grant to someone who has no idea on how to spend that money for needs is like burning that money in a fire pit. A block grant that qualifies as poverty in New York would be a middle class grant in Middle America. Many doesn't even know how to budget- something that should be taught in schools. Too many teachers are focused not on educating their pupils, but on their pay. There is so much bureaucracy and waste in some school districts that taxpayers are paying near 5 figure property taxes for schools that pay their administrators and janitors more than their teachers and the students who do graduate know more about President Obama's personal life and Spongebob than about Algebra and Science.

There is still general insanity- the sausage making nature of American politics, the left wing activism creeping into the American education system, the various wars throughout the world, the Satanism that pervades Al Qaeda and radical Islam, disease, hate crimes, NBC News, materialism, and the worship of money which is in full bloom this time of year. But I'll leave those discussions for other blogs at another time.

March 28, 2008

I guess this is becoming more of a news commentary blog. Now that Spitzer is out of office, another political atrocity rears its ugly head- in the Far East.

For years, I've been boycotting businesses and politicians whose actions I don't support. Some of the most famous on my boycott list include NBC and Planned Parenthood. But it is high time to add the world's most populous nation to that list.

Why?

For starters, view the videos below. Many (especially in the Republican Party) thought by increasing trade with this brutal regime after the Tiananmen Square massacre that it would help the millions who were victimized by the evil Communist Party and encourage them to protest, uprise, and eventually overthrow that evil government. After all, a similar policy help bring down that other evil empire called the Soviet Union, right?

Not quite. If anything, the Soviet Union collapsed due to being outspent by of all things the US Military. Ronald Reagan's defense policies may have made nuclear alarmists and the peacenik left go bonkers, but they did indicate to the Soviet Union that we would spend whatever we could to defend our nation against their nuclear threat. It may have ballooned our national debt, but it spent the Soviets into oblivion. By the time the people could uprise against the Communists, the Communists could not pay their own army to defend them against the people, and the army side with the people (and Boris Yeltsin), and Communism is no longer a force in Russia.

Unfortunately, our trade dollars with China did not help bring down the CCP (Chinese Communist Party, to use the Epoch Times's abbreviation). Indeed, it has had the opposite effect. The CCP is using its newfound wealth to attract the Olympics (whose US broadcast partner I have been boycotting for over 11 years, but for other reasons). And more disturbing, the CCP has been building up their military. If the US spent as much of its budget on military purposes as the Chinese have been doing lately, the leftists would be howling. And right now, the Chinese army has the capability to wipe out most of the West Coast with their nuclear weapons. This is not quite the threat that the old Soviet army posed (enough nuclear weapons to wipe out most of civilization), but it is potentially even greater a threat than Al Qaeda. But the CCP won't launch their nukes yet- they still need our money.

Most people know know about the Chinese atrocities in Tibet. But the main test of the CCP army is that little island off their SE coast- Taiwan. The CCP has pledged to do everything within their power (even to the point of nuclear war) to prevent Taiwan from declaring complete independence from China. Such a war would almost certainly involve the US- and if that happens, I wouldn't want to be anywhere west of the Rockies.

To quote Chinese general Zhu Chenghu in 2005, "if the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory (Taiwan), I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons," and that "we [...] will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xi'an. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds ... of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese."

It is insanity to keep trading with (and de-facto arming) one of the biggest threats to the existence of the United States. At the very least, the US Olympic Committee (based about 8 miles south of my current residence) should boycott the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The United States should halt all trade with China until the CCP is out of power. To continue trade with China and to give any type of aid to the CCP is not just against the ideals of American morality, it is greatly increasing the chances the United States will be in a nuclear war. Right now, the US could win such a war, but as long as we keep funding this beast, our chances of winning such a war decrease. And a US victory could still result in over 30 million American civilians killed (and over 300-400 million Chinese and 20 million Taiwanese). That is over 6 times the worldwide casualties of the costliest war in human history- World War 2.

March 12, 2008

A little over an hour ago (4PM EDT/2PM MDT, March 12, 2008), I e-mailed the following letter to David Paterson, who as of Monday will be replacing Client 9 the Job Killer as Governor of the great state of New York:



As a longtime New Yorker who moved to Colorado last year, I have taken great interest in the recent news over your predecessor and the scandal that finally drove him from office. I feel sorry for his wife and daughters because his behavior has ruined their lives and harmed the state as a whole. I won't go into detail on the other ways in which Spitzer has harmed this state (note: read the Spitzer tags on this blog for that), but since you will be replacing him, I hope you will not make the same mistakes he did.

First of all, don't antagonize the public. Spitzer did and thought he was above the law. He thought he could get away with illegally laundering money, with illegally using the state police to snoop on his opponents (many of whom he created by his actions), and all sorts of other sleaze. Everything I have read about you indicates that you have none of the character flaws of Mr. Spitzer. Right now, you have the moral authority and the mandate to take the initiative on ethics reform in the state. Too many public office holders in New York have been forced to resign because of ethical or criminal reasons. New standards need to be implemented to prevent future Spitzers or Alan Hevesis or Guy Vellelas from destroying the public trust with their illegal actions.

Second of all, you have the opportunity to do something your predecessor could never do, and that is make amends with Wall Street. Wall Street and the financial sector is the biggest economic engine in the state. This is an industry that your predecessor nearly drove out of the state because of his character. If anyone in the industry is breaking the law, they should be prosecuted, but to demonize the state's biggest industry and rally the whole state around those lies because of the actions of a few is downright asinine. Is it any wonder that Wall Street has been in a jubilant mood (in the middle of a nationwide economic downturn) since the Spitzer scandal broke? The laws concerning business regulation need to be revised to prevent future abuses (and pointless job losses) by overzealous lawmakers while at the same time preventing businesses from thinking they operate outside the law.

Also, don't succumb to the left wing's desire to give drivers' licenses to illegal aliens and to expand the state abortion policies. The whole illegal alien debate is an issue that Congress and the Federal Government need to come to an agreement on first. There are demagogues on both sides of this issue, but the potential Presidencies of either Barack Obama or John McCain mean that common sense and a national policy will happen within the next couple of years. Hopefully, there will be a major increase in the number of immigrants allowed to come here legally, and with their legal status, allowed to become productive workers, taxpayers, and helpful citizens of both this nation and this state. But at the same time, only the Federal Government can craft a meaningful policy that also weeds out the criminals and the disguised terrorists that see New York City as their next killing ground. We don't need the state legitimizing someone who is hellbent on destroying it.

As far as the divisive issue of abortion, the last thing the state should be doing is forcing the non-profit groups that oppose it to do what is against their beliefs or else be punished. That is just un-American, and the RHAPP bill S.5829 must not be allowed to become law for that reason. Spitzer outraged the state's largest religious group (Catholics) with his advocacy of this legislation. The last thing New York needs in these rough times is a government-instigated religious war.

I wish you the best in your new job as Governor, and I pray that you will be able to heal the divisions in this state that your predecessor helped create and that you wisely guide my former home state in a new, conciliatory, and productive direction.



Thomas D. Clarke

formerly of Ridgewood, Queens, and Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn



Notes: Guy Vellela is a Bronx Republican former state senator who did jail time for accepting bribes. Alan Hevesi was convicted on felony charges in late 2006 for among other things using state funds (and state vehicles) to chauffeur his wife around NYC and Albany. And if David Paterson moves too far to the left or tries to become the second incarnation of Eliot "Job Killer Client 9" Spitzer, he will be hammered in my blogs as much as Spitzer and the Hildabeest are. But I will give Governor Paterson a chance to redeem himself first. After all, it will take a while to fumigate the Governor's mansion once Spitzer moves out.

And you didn't think I would celebrate the demise of Spitzer without a video of his resignation?

December 9, 2007

While there are a lot of things I missed about not living in NYC anymore, one of the things I didn't miss (besides having Eliot "Job Killer" Spitzer for a governor) was the relative safety from terrorism here in Colorado Springs. NYC is Al Qaeda's number one target. The last time they struck, I was about 5 miles downwind from the towers. One of the priests from my parish at the time (St. Francis of Assisi on W 32nd St) was killed in those attacks. I knew at least 3 people who barely made it out of lower Manhattan alive. Nearly every parish in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn has a plaque or memorial of one of their parishioners who died that day. No American should have to go through what thousands of New Yorkers had to go through back in 2001. And one would think with President Bush's War on Terror and Al Qaeda on the run in Iraq that America is safer now. And certainly, a mid sized city on the edge of the Rocky Mountains that is probably unknown to the head killers at Al Qaeda would be safer than NYC, wouldn't it?

Not at all.

Around 1PM MT today, someone decided to shoot up the New Life church, which is about 3 miles from where I'm writing this blog. They got as far as the parking lot, and 4 people (including 2 young girls) were wounded by the gunfire. Now most of the area near Voyager and Interquest is on lockdown. About 13 hours before the New Life shootings, another gunman shot up a Protestant youth missionary site in Arvada, killing 2 people.It's pretty obvious that the New Life and Arvada shootings are anti-Christian terrorist attacks. (For the record, I have major theological disagreements with the New Life crowd.)

No one knows yet if the Colorado church shooters are involved with Al Qaeda. It certainly wouldn't be beneath Al Qaeda to kill a few Americans at a soft target such as a church- in fact, it might be their Christmas wish for the year. But more likely, these shootings were single or dual party cells, fomented by extreme religious hatred. There are numerous examples of anti-religious bigotry in this country. At least one odious example is a so-called religious group called Westboro Baptist in Topeka, KS. Their hatred includes such infamous websites such as godhatesfags.com, godhatesamerica.com, and godhatessweden.com. But the bigger purveyors of religious hatred in this country are on the American left, aided by the ideology of politicians such as Eliot "Baby Killer" Spitzer (see the Dec. 1 2007 blog for his war on NY's Catholics), Hillary Clinton, Sheldon Silver, Air (anti) America, and the liberal Hollywood and atheist movements. In some ways, the anti-religious left has become a type of Al Qaeda ideological movement. But up until now, that movement hasn't driven anyone to kill.

Now it has.

Pat Buchanan may be extremist on many issues, but he was dead on in the 1990s about the culture war. This is why it is vital to the survival of the United States of America that someone not on the anti-religious left becomes President next year. An anti-religious President will polarize this already fractured country, and since the militia movements tend not ally themselves with the anti-religious left, the next bloodshed in the culture war could lead to another civil war. Imagine the Irish Troubles, with 200 times more victims, 200 times more guns, and millions of casualties.

Maybe regardless of who wins in 2008, I should be looking for jobs and real estate in Ireland.

November 8, 2006

After seeing the results from last night's elections, I can't believe how out-of-touch American and New York voters have become. The Democrats (led by leftist Nancy Pelosi) have taken control of the House of Representatives. With a few exceptions (most notably Independent Joe Lieberman), anti-war candidates won big, which means a pullout from the front line on the War on Terror and another high probability of another US attack by Al Qaeda. Lawsuit-happy Job Killers (Eliot Spitzer) and soon-to-be-indicted crooks (Alan Hevesi, Robert Menendez) have been elected in New York and New Jersey. Democrats even won key races in Pennsylvania and Colorado, although those Democrats tend to be less corrupt and more conservative than New York Democrats. I am truly ashamed and disgusted to be from New York after seeing the local election results. But I have a right to complain. Unlike many who stayed home, saying their votes won't count, I did vote on November 7. And to the leftist crooks who won big last night in New York, you can have this state. I'm moving out in a few weeks. But I do have a lot of friends who can't afford to leave New York, so don't completely fuck up my former state and city.

September 30, 2006

This month sure sucked. I have spent most of it unemployed and not collecting unemployment. In addition to Eliot "Job Killer" Spitzer way ahead in the polls, now his ideological soulmates are poised to take control of Congress. Instead of trying to win in Iraq, they want to leave Iraq to the Al Qaeda types. This country is definitely headed in the wrong direction- and the only ones who can save it are ridiculed and way behind in the polls.

January 15, 2006

Well, it's 2 weeks into the New Year. Al Qaeda is still in business, as is the tobacco industry, NBC, the Spitzer for Governor campaign, and other unworthy industries.

I'm still alive. My sister got out of the hospital. My niece Allie turned 14. I am unemployed, but I collect unemployment. I've sent out at least 6 applications this past week alone. And I have a nice job fair to go to this Friday (the 20th).

Due to problems with my free ISP, I switched to the Netscape ISP. The switchover went fairly well, although now I have to pay $12.45 a month for internet. But once I get the so called Accelerator CD-ROM, I'll see if the internet really can go at a decent speed on dial up. Of course the problem could be the old laptop that a friend gave to me last year. It runs on Windows 2000, and I had to install Firefox (and later, Netscape 7.2) just to get online. It freezes up from time to time, but unlike my desktop computer, it runs most of the time. My desktop (complete with games, a CD burner, and half my music collection) stopped running on September 11, 2005. Between catching up on rent (and paying other bills), I don't have the money yet to fix the desktop computer.

Between interviews, applications, and my normal Sunday church usher position, I've spent more time online. I updated my online family tree. I've sent e-mails to friends I haven't seen in person in years. I'm even working on some websites. One has my old newspaper columns from Brooklyn College and forum posts from 1993-2004. The other, when complete, will be an anti-Spitzer website, complete with details on how many jobs he's already cost this state. So far, I've tabulated close to 25000- all in the private sector.

So far, the year 2006 hasn't been that eventful. But there's still 50 weeks left to go.

September 10, 2005

Well, tomorrow is the 4 year anniversary of those terrorist attacks Downtown. And back on August 29, an even bigger disaster hit the Central Gulf Coast.

I'm still trying to forget what happened 4 years ago. At the time, I lived about 5 miles downwind of the Twin Towers. I was unemployed at the time, and thanks to the attacks, my least favorite media outlet (NBC-4) got knocked off the air for about two months. I got a security guard job at a site in Staten Island which overhired security after one of their employees was suspected of being linked to Al Qaeda. Like most of my jobs since I moved to New York, that security job last only a few months.

About two weeks ago, a Category 4 hurricane named Katrina hit the Gulf Coast around Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The storm was huge- causing major damage from Hammond, LA, to Mobile, AL. Most of the damage was on the eastern side of the storm, which is why my sister's residence in Denham Springs, LA, saw far less damage than eastern areas such as Mobile and Biloxi, MS, that were further from the eyewall than Denham Springs. (And yes, my sister and her family escpaed the storm unharmed. Don't send her any money since she'll probably waste it on booze or cigarettes.)

Some disasters just aren't that preventable. Katrina would have still caused a lot of damage because it was an act of nature, not an act of war. But a lot of the deaths from Katrina were preventable. There was hardly any warning for 9/11 before that plane hit the North Tower. There was advance warning for Katrina- at least two days warning from the Weather Channel- and a Hurricane Warning that stretched from Morgan City, LA to the AL/FL border. Most of New Orleans evacuated, but approximately 100,000 people didn't leave the area. Instead of working in advance to evacuate the poorer residents to locations such as Shreveport and Montgomery, the city government opened a shelter of last resort (appoximately 18 hours before the hurricane hit) that only accomodated 10,000.

And now the blame game begins- when they're still evacuating hurricane survivors. Some blame the President, as if he had the authority to re-route a hurricane or to (legally) override the Louisiana authorities. Others blame the New Orleans and Lousiana officials. But it's over, it's done with- now all we can do is to aid the survivors and bury the dead (which according to recent reports looks like it will be less than the 10,000 feared dead originally).

At least with 9/11, there was someone responsible for that carnage- a Wahabist psychopath and terrorist icon by the name of Osama Bin Laden. He even bragged on videotape how the attack went "better than expected". And this psycho wants to do even worse. Recent US actions in Afghanistan and Iraq have hampered his ability to strike the US again. Unfortunately they have not captured Bin Laden. Until then, I can always dream of dragging him by his beard and feeding him to a bunch of hungry piranhas.

And to totally get off topic from the previous discussion, there are piranha feeding videos available for free on the internet- a couple featuring live rats. Now animal rights wackos say those videos are cruel. Hello- piranhas have got to eat, and live rats are considered a delicacy to those fish. And there is a Siamese Fighting Fish called the betta- whose fights the animal rights wackos want to outlaw. I have owned bettas before, and when a male betta sees another male betta, their first instinct is to plume up and attack. (Try putting a mirror in front of a male betta and you will get the same reaction from the fish. I guess this also means there is no such thing as a gay betta.) Male roosters have the urge to attack each other too- yet 48 states have made allowing roosters to attack each other (in a popular-in-other-countries sport called cockfighting) a crime. Only in Louisiana and parts of New Mexico can you legally allow roosters to fight. Other things the animal rights wackos have outlawed are bullfighting, horse meat, and dog meat. This country could save millions by turning over the dogs that the shelters plan to kill over to butchers. Either way, the dogs die- but by using them as food, people actually benefit from dead canines. If you look at the wackos' anti-dogmeat sites, you'll see their true objective: the criminalization of any type of meat eating. Yet these hypocrites see no problems with injecting deadly chemicals into a condemned animal at a shelter, or worse, with the wanton slaughter of human fetuses that occurs daily in the guise of legalized abortion. You know our system is messed up when dogs and lobsters and mice have a greater right to life than the unborn or brain damaged or suicidal humans.

So petition your legislatures to allow dog meat, bullfighting, and cockfighting. Help those hurricane victims any way you can. Pause for a moment of silence at 8:46AM EDT tomorrow. And to all piranha owners with tanks of 2000 gallons or greater- do the world a favor and start feeding your fish members of Al Qaeda or ALF/ELF/PETA.