New video post (yeah, it's Jon's, but I helped)

NY and planes and stuff...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_LOW_FLYING_PLANE?SITE=AZTUC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

OK, just to note: NYPD knew about the flight... why weren't THEY out warning the Mayor, etc....???? or talking to the press say, 10 minutes prior to flight, etc.? Is an empty AF1 really that important a target that we have to do photo ops in complete secrecy? No, as much as I would like to fault Obama on this, I agree he has a right to be furious about this one => his people warned NY and NJ, yet no one there chose to warn anyone.

BUT NOTE: I don't think we do the conservative / right / republican cause any good if we press on something like this, when there is too much evidence to say that it really was not his fault this time... just makes us look like a bunch of 'rabble-rousing' RWE's adding to their list of 'birth certificate evidence' and 'muslim in disguise' conspiracy theories. You want the conservative movement to be relegated to being just a "fringe group" this is a quick and easy way to do it. Might as well go out in public with the tinfoil hats...

This is a time to pick our battles. Stick with easy-to-understand principals. Small government, reduced spending, deficit reduction - and how Obama's choices over the last 100 (or so) days have been in the exact opposite direction. This is going to be the only way to bring in the numbers of moderates needed to swing the votes our way. Show them how small government, reduced taxes and personal freedoms benefit them more than increased socialized programs and the resulting tax increases to cover the cost of the programs ever will. 

The last tea party was a great example of this. There were many different people, of different social backgrounds coming together, not over social issues, such as abortion, gay rights, and the like... but over fiscal responsibility. There were very few 'bash obama, pelosi, et al' signs floating around - and the paper now has nothing to use to mock the tea party protest with, except for some humorous signs such as the 'what next, tax on farts?'. Heck, it took them a week to find ANY signs anywhere, before they found the one 'anti-semitic' sign ONLINE, not even at a tea party itself... which quickly faded from the public eye once it was realized that the sign never made it to an actual tea party... We must take the high road, avoid marginalizing ourselves by latching on to ANY story that comes out that might be a blemish on Obama, think over the message it conveys, check facts, then decide: "Is it worth arguing over this?"

 ***Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.***
Peter Schmugge
http://thebigshmoog.blogspot.com

Yet another stanton piece (of poop).

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/all_headlines/114911.php

When I wrote them, my child was not yet 4. Now she's 13, and I've learned what a messy process parenting is.A lot of good parents are starving for help, guidance, answers.

Ok, I want to know where her kid goes to school, cause I am NOT going within firing range of that place for the next 5 years... 

It almost sounds like she is preemptively apologizing for some future tragedy that her kid is going to be involved in. Don't apologize, you had it right the first time. Until they are 18 and out of the house -YOU are the one responsible for them. YOU are the parent, act like one. I don't understand why we have this generation of parents that feel it is necessary to be their kid's "friends". Yeah, it would be nice if they felt that close to you, but we are not here for that. 

We are here to be their parents. To lead and guide them, to love them when they need love, and to discipline them when they need discipline (and don't even start with thinking I am equating discipline with beating them). I am talking about instilling a true sense of personal discipline in them. Teaching them personal and social responsibility - but more so personal responsibility. Showing them that THEY are the cause of their problems, and the source of their solutions, not others, not government. Taking them to Church on Sundays. Taking them to volunteer in the community. Teaching them how to be a good citizen by the example you lead. Teaching them the civics, philosophy, and history public schools do not teach them. 

But most of all = to be their PARENTS, not their best friend!

Gone Green Update

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/289323

OH, the walls between us and nature, and by nature I mean the mountain lion prowling for my neighbors cat for dinner; the wall that separates me from the rabid bobcat, fox, or skunk; the wall that keeps the Junta-virus-infected rat out of my bedroom; the wall that keeps the owl, hawk, and eagle from eating cinnamon, my bunny.

Oh, and leave that plant litter where lies, to dry, in our sun, when it's 110, and the humidity is in the single digits. Oh, and when that little spark hits it? Hope you have enough water saved in your rain-harvesting-cistern to put out the fire before the house burns down.

I too envision a future where the wild Jaguar prowls majestically down The Mall at the U of A, hunting for the fattened freshman, too laden with books to make a hasty retreat. For the day when the skunks have taken up residence in every green park withing Pima County. A bright and glorious day when the Black Bear decides that the middle of I-10 during rush hour is as good a place as any to hunt for trout... And trout return to the Santa Cruz, reveling in the reclaimed waste water - providing a food source for the Home-Challenged Homo Sapiens.

Meh.

 ***Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.***
Peter Schmugge
http://thebigshmoog.blogspot.com

Glassman rides Jon's Trolley

http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/blogs/politics/14398/glassman-on-serving-out-council-term-no-answer

Ok, I'll fill in the details later, but wanted to at least post this before I forget the address to it...

 ***Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.***
Peter Schmugge
http://thebigshmoog.blogspot.com

Huffington post piece...

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=78384791751&h=GYtWW&u=eoHyk&ref=nf

did you read this one yet?  I think somewhere in there is a valid point, but what I think she missing is that the people are regaining control of the Republican Party, and taking it out of the hands of the select few that have run the party for the last umpteen years...  Yes, there is going to be pain, yes there is going to be struggles for the conservative viewpoint to be heard through all the rhetoric, but that is what is truly happening right now... this is what is scaring the Dems... the GOP of a year ago was a 'given' a 'known entity' - easy to fight, easy to control... but just like after the fall of the USSR, the US won the Cold War, but then had no 'enemy at the gates'; so is the Democratic Party. They are scared, they do not know who or what is coming, and cannot figure out how to protect or defend themselves from it. I think yesterday was truly a turning point - there is a weakness, the conservatives stumbled upon it, directly or indirectly while holding the tea parties... now we must continue to exploit it!

The weakpoint?  = Logic and reason. They did not 'mess with' the tea parties because we gave them no chance to. The only questionable was the CNN report, poor guy, he tried, but he did not know how to talk on the camera to keep the reporter in her place - I thought he did quite well for being ambushed like that... but if that is the worst they can jump on, then yesterday was a huge success - because continued ambushes and attacks like that will only lead to further alienation of these MSM outlets by the 'masses in the middle' as they realize that MSM really does have an agenda to their broadcasts.

Besides, Rush as a valid spokesperson for the party? Republican, yes, conservative, yes, but also a talkshow host that makes a huge living off of his ratings. So, yeah, give me Boortz or JD over blubberbutt any day, people who hold to their convictions day to day to day; not for ratings, but because that is what they believe in.

 ***Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.***
Peter Schmugge
http://thebigshmoog.blogspot.com

Helpful links for tea party crowd.

Ok, so below is a list of links to help you get in contact with the people that matter most. Want things to change? These are the people that can do that for you, so tell them how you feel:

Tucson City Council and Mayor's Office: http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/mcc.html

Marana Council and Mayor's Office: http://www.marana.com/index.asp?nid=29

Oro Valley Council and Mayor's Office: http://www.ci.oro-valley.az.us/TownOfficials/

Sahuarita Council and Mayor's Office: http://www.ci.sahuarita.az.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=43&parent_id=43

Pima County Supervisors: http://www.pima.gov/bos/bos1.html

Arizona Independent Redistricting Commissioning Website - Interactive "Locate Your State LD District Map": http://azredistricting.org/mapping/default2.asp?tname=Interim.2009.Legislative.Map&service=ircmaps&Layer4=on&Layer1=on&action=zoomin&ActiveLayer=16

Arizona State Senate Roster: http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S&SortBy=1

Arizona State House Roster: http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=H&SortBy=1

Representative Raul Grijalva, CD 7: http://grijalva.house.gov/

Representative Gabrielle Giffords, CD 8: http://giffords.house.gov/

Senator Jon Kyl: http://kyl.senate.gov/

Senator John McCain: http://mccain.senate.gov/public/

Barack H. Obama, President of The United States: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Seriously, another Mucho B story?

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/288333

I still go back to the theory that while some researchers had an agenda behind getting the jaguar trapped, overall G+F did not, so if anything, we should be on this fired employee and the Borderlands Jaguar Project... The researcher just didn't realize the results of what her actions were going to be, and now everyone is playing CYA. Especially Emil McCain from Borderlands Jaguar Project, who's funding relies on proof of a jaguar taking up residence, not seasonal migration into, Southern Arizona.

Not the G+F departments fault. 

As far as they knew, when they showed up to the trap, it was a complete surprise. They were used by Emil McCain and Janay Brun to further their agenda with the Jaguars. And why do I think they had an agenda? More fence is being built along the border, more illegals are crossing through the very terrain that the Jaguars rely on, and if the jaguars are merely opportunistic seasonal residents, and not permanent to the area... they go away, so does the Borderlands Jaguar Project.

Here's quote from Emil McCain I found, think it sheds some light on the subject:

EL: DO YOU SEE, CURRENTLY OR POTENTIALLY, ANY EFFECTS ON JAGUAR HABITAT WITH THE ONGOING EFFORTS TO CURB ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM MEXICO?
EM: Yes. The Border Patrol policy right now is to completely cut off all traffic in the lowlands, forcing all illegal traffic (both migrant workers and narcotic traffickers) into the mountain ranges that span or approach the international border. Those mountains also happen to be the only existing habitat in the U.S. for a species that is very sensitive to human disturbance. The 14-18 foot steel pedestrian fences that have recently been built were said to not likely affect jaguars because they could just walk around the end of the wall. (It took awhile for border patrol to figure out that the human border crossers could do the same thing.) Because jaguars are sensitive to human disturbance, the remaining unfenced areas are likely no longer suitable habitat for jaguars since the level of human activity from border crossers has greatly increased. Jaguars need cross border connectivity with populations in Mexico to sustain/recover in the U.S. There has not been any known reproduction [in the U.S.] since 1910 and the last female was killed in 1963. Therefore, jaguars in the U.S. are completely dependent on dispersal from a reproducing population in Mexico. Maintaining habitat connectivity across the border is essential. http://www.switzernetwork.org/viewArticle.taf?id=106

Read: they are not a local population, but migrate in from time to time (not since 1910, 100 years ago) and a fence is bad!

And again:

Although there is no evidence of a female in Arizona—the last breeding female on the U.S. side of the border was documented in 1963—McCain figures that if only one were present in those 13 years since Macho B's been here and she had cubs every two to three years, if half survived, she would've had three to five young in the borderlands area in the last 10 years. "If one of those was a female cub, there could be more," he says.

With 30 percent of the land in Arizona suitable habitat for jaguars and only 12 percent surveyed, the idea of a resident female isn't that farfetched. But either way, the survival of a U.S. jaguar population is absolutely dependent on the Mexico population, says McCain. The 700-mile border fence being erected to stop Mexican immigrants from illegally entering the United States will dash any hopes of establishing a larger population in the cat's historic northern range. "Without cohesive habitat spanning the border, there can be no gene flow and no dispersing cats," he says 

http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/defenders_magazine/winter_2008/wildlife_the_comeback_cat.php

 

Again, fence is bad. Again: with the violence on the other side of the border escalating, and human residents on the border becoming more and more vocal about finishing the fence, increased patrols, etc... the 'clock is ticking' so to speak. If they don't have proof of residency for Macho B, and soon, well, it may be too late.  Add to that, the knowledge that Macho B (the only recognized male thought to have some amount of permanence in Southern Arizona) is approaching 16 years old, the average life span of a wild jaguar, and the clock really begins to tick away...

***Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.***

Peter Schmugge
http://thebigshmoog.blogspot.com

Woohoo! I'm a big time TV star!

Well, not really... but I did get interviewed on my position on immigration reform.

And, the Hein fallout begins...

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/all_headlines/113950.php

City Manager Mike Hein's dismissal could sink Rio Nuevo's tax increment financing unless Rio Nuevo is taken out of the city's hands, two Tucson legislators said."

Wow... starts right off with this statement, like it was a big surprise, or something. Obviously, no one at the Tucson Citizen listens to 104.1...

"State Rep. Steve Farley, a Tucson Democrat, thinks Hein's firing could help salvage Rio Nuevo.
"I think this could be a positive step forward," Farley said. "The Rio Nuevo board could reassert its control of the district. You could have the board go with an outside project manager with expertise in such projects."

No, too little, too late. The Democrats (and the Republican, God only knows why) who thought that firing Hein, after being specifically told that his firing could jeopardize the project, chose to fire him. Here is a City Council that has wasted MILLIONS of taxpayers money, wasted 10 years on constant changes in direction of the project, failed when it came time to approach the State to answer questions about Rio Nuevo, and now are thumbing their noses at the State? Is this REALLY a wise choice?

Rankin said both the Rio Nuevo board and the city would have to concur to end the agreement. The Rio Nuevo board had rarely met in the past two years before new board members were installed last year.

So now we learn that they weren't even bothering to meet? On a project of this scope? And just when you finally install new board members, who have a learning curve, have a chance at maybe meeting the State's requirements, the Council steps in and screws it up even more? This City Council must go, plain and simple.

"Our structure hasn't changed at all," Letcher said. "People will report to me as they were reporting to Mike."

Yes, but there is one little problem here... Letcher is slated to retire soon. So we lose Hein, and will lose Letcher in a few months, people who knew the intimate day-to-day operations of Rio Nuevo... It's going to take yet another year now, before this project, if it keeps it's state funds, will get up and moving again. 

Bridge to nowhere, indeed.

No He Can't!!!

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/all_headlines/113940.php

April 08, 2009, 6:31 p.m.
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - If President Obama expects an honorary degree when he gives the spring commencement address at Arizona State University, school officials will have to tell him, "No we can't."

Obama, who will speak May 13 to ASU graduates on the Tempe campus, will not be given an honorary degree, an honor universities typically give to commencement speakers.

"It's our practice to recognize an individual for his body of work, somebody who's been in their position for a long time," Sharon Keeler, an ASU spokeswoman, told The Associated Press. "His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency."

The school, in fact, has no plans to give out any honorary degrees this year. A six-member academic committee oversees the process, reviewing nominees which usually come from faculty. The group then recommends candidates to the university president.

Recent recipients of honorary degrees at ASU include J. Craig Venter, an internationally known scientist credited for developing high-volume genome sequencing, and Wu Qidi, vice minister of education of the People's Republic of China.

Obama will, however, receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Notre Dame when he delivers the commencement speech May 17.

University spokesman Dennis Brown said it's customary at Notre Dame to confer a degree on every guest speaker. The university tries to select speakers who have made significant contributions to society or can give a compelling message.

But Brown said any comparison of the two schools' differing decision on extending Obama a degree was inappropriate.

"ASU is an outstanding university," Brown said. "Every university has its own traditions and has its own missions. I don't think it's at all fair to gauge one against the other. Everybody's different."

Keeler said people should not look upon ASU's withholding of the honor as a presidential dis.

"First of all, they should inquire as to what the university's practice is before making a judgment by what another university might do," Keeler said.

Unlike Notre Dame, ASU has not heard any protests surrounding Obama's commencement invitation. Many Catholics have been angered by Obama's planned appearance at Notre Dame, the nation's largest Catholic university, because of his decisions to provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and his stance on abortion.

"We've only heard the opposite," Keeler said. "Everyone within the university community and everyone we've heard from are ecstatic about him coming."

So, is it wrong for me, a lifelong Wildcat, to jump up in praise of the Scum Devils? Finally, someone in academia has got it... that we don't know what Pres. TMT's legacy is going to be, as we have very little history of him as a man and politician. I back ASU's decision 100% in this instance, they are doing the right thing, and it's about time.

This also tells me the honeymoon is coming to a close. The rosy afterglow of the post-electioin coitus is wearing off...  Like a frat boy on a Saturday at 10 AM, we are beginning to roll over, and see just what we did during that alcohol-fueled night of debauchery. 

Let's just hope like most frat brats, we don't fix our mistakes with a little hair-o-the-dog-that-bit-ya'... 

So where to next?

If all my time spent on other people's blogs has taught me anything, it's that we are too busy grinding out the same conversation and same logic to the same small set of people over and over and over again...when we should be working together to get the word out. This is why I have begun getting involved in politics, since politics is involved in my life whether I like it or not.

First of all, I am hopefully going to set up a GOP precinct in my area - there was none set up -  and the GOP wonders why they lost the last election? It can't even organize enough to have every suburban and rural/urban area covered... So, I am trying to change that, rather than sit back and complain, and hope someone else does it for me...

I am also getting involved with the local TeaParty group here, trying to promote community involvement to a group that, by nature, does not like to coalesce into a group - 

Did you know conservatives are fiercely independent? Who would have thunk...  How do you take a group of people that are largely independent, and make a group out of them?

Not to mention the serious technology curve - I went to a meeting the other day - not one person there knew how to text message on their phone, didn't know twitter, etc... While there is a huge amount of iterconnected people out there that we could be reaching out to, but how?

Lastly, debating people like Derek (my favorite blogger), for me, at least gives me some ideas on the left's talking points and debate strategies... the more practice I get while debating on blogs, the better equipped I am when debating someone in public. It also forces me to look things up, research topics, etc... as the saturday cartoons taught me, knowledge is power!

Great blog post

This is a cut-n-paste from the comments section of a blog that I visit quite often, The National Conversation (RAW), by maddypie2.

Thought it was so good, I would post it to 1. keep it for posterity and 2. use it to start dialogue...

One more thought.

Many libs want to extinguish us like a cigarette.

They are out for their own power and control. The only people they want to debate or convince of their views are the poor, the illegal and the young people who they have brain washed with the fantasy of a utopia made possible by them alone.

Any one with a brain can see a look back in history doesn't back up what they promise. And the only winners with their agenda are the people who are too lazy to do for themselves. They have no pride, they are "victims" of society. They want every thing given to them because are told they are entitled to it. The rich are "evil" And yet without them who will pay the taxes to keep all of these useless people sheltered and fed?

These people who are so willing to give up their rights and freedoms are as bad as the last of the Hurricane Katrina victims who after 4 years will not leave the trailers(even though the vast majority have moved on and made lives for themselves.) And all these people have to do is get out of the trailers and move to another government run housing project,but they are too lazy. 
They have trashed those trailer because they are trash themselves.

My point is there are so many people out there who have no values or morals that it blows our minds to think about it.

Between the people who don't care and the people who are so naive to believe all of this government spending is the key to having all of the things they want but don't have to earn, it is easy to see where our Country is going in the immediate future.

We should never stop trying to have our view points and ideas heard, but we are wasting our time talking about this with people like gant. There are many many people out there who think like us and want to make a better future for our children and ourselves. There are shell shocked people out there that realize they voted for the wrong person, the wrong hope and change.

Let conservatives start thinking of new ways to get our ideas across and not be put off by the effort we may have to make to do it.

This is our "1776" a time to reinforce the Constitution of our Founding Fore Fathers and to learn from mistakes we have all made. History does prove that you can fight the good fight and win. But it is a commitment and every one who believes in our Country has to live that commitment every day.

The libs have waited and bid-ed their time to get to this point of turning our lives and our world upside down.

If they can do it for their self indulgent evil reasons. We can surly do it for the good of all.

Wow, I guess that was a pretty long thought!

Christian Nation

http://www.redstate.com/warner_todd_huston/2009/04/08/what-are-we-if-not-a-christian-nation/

Just going to leave this here... there is not much more to say.

Program to detect lies.

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/287532

Ok, so, I say we run this video through first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojeTr9P7ax4

I could just see the screen on that computer right now... It would be flashing so hard, and so quickly, that people three buildings over would be suffering epileptic fits.

Heck, why don't we take this one step further, what about using it at court? Maybe get rid of the judges, and have one of these systems act as the judge? Or how about mount them in police cars? Get pulled over, you get put in the back and questioned by Icop, I mean, a computer can't racially profile someone?

Do we really want to continue to take the human element out of law enforcement? Do we? 

Tax Day Tea Party...

Original Post Here

Ok, I you haven't had a chance to listen to Jon Justice's podcast of his discussion with the Tea Party People, listen to it here.

Now, there are some disturbing things that came out of this segment on the Justice show...

The first is armed response? Already?

Really?

No.

NO NO NO NO!

Yes, Jefferson has said that the tree of Liberty is watered with the blood of patriots. We are not to that level yet. Nowhere NEAR that level yet. Maybe one day we will. But April 15th is not that day. At this rate, not even 2012 will be the day...

Another thing that came out: That this is a one-shot deal...
It must be more than just one day of protest. It needs to be the starting point of getting rid of our ineffective leadership AT ALL LEVELS. Even now it is already having an effect. Gingrich has come out to the GOP saying pay attention to the party base, or the GOP will split in two. City Council would be a great local starting point. And trust me, I am so glad that we are at City Hall for this event.

Another point that came out? Lack of involvement on the right:
But that is not enough. I have been proudly touting myself as an Independent Conservative. Why? Because I have felt that the GOP has abandoned it's conservative principals. Which it has.

Yet, the Party, just like the US, has it's course set by the people at the bottom that get involved. I sit on the outside looking in, saying I don't like what I see...
Well, that accomplishes nothing. Splitting off to join a 3rd party? Well, that's a sure recipe to lose the 2012 elections.

So, I will put my efforts into a more productive vein, and that is working within the Party. Yes, it may take some time before I see any changes, and if I put my time and effort in, and it still stays what it is, well, I am not there for life. However, I can't just sit on the outside anymore.

And I say to all those coming out to the Tea Party, you cannot sit on the sidelines anymore either. Get involved. Join a group, if not the GOP.

The next question then is who to put into place?

This is the hardest question to answer, but it is also a little early to even look. Yet, maybe what we need right now is to rally around a set of ideals, and look for the candidate that fits the bill later. Maybe by showing a base of support, we can get people to stand up that normally would never have considered it.

So come on out, understand that it's a chance to meet like-minded individuals, and let's have a safe, sane and fun rally that we can carry into further activism!

Out of the mouths of babes...

My daughter just had a little funny (or at least I thought it was)...

She asked me who the first person born on the planet was, since Adam and Eve weren't born, they were made... I answered Cain...

Her reply? "John McCain?"

Ahhhh.... not quite sweetie, but close...

TJ quote...

"The several states composing the United States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government; but by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a general government for special purposes [and] delegated to that government certain definite powers and whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force. To this compact each state acceded as a state, and is an integral party, its co-states forming, as to itself, the other party. The government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself, since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution the measure of its powers."
-- Thomas Jefferson