While checking to see if there was actually anyone reading what I put forth here in my little corner of the B'sphere, I noticed that my TTLB ranking had dropped to the status of "Wiggly Worm"...I had always said that I didn't do this Blog as anything other than a way to vent my opinions, but I must say that it IS bit discouraging that I don't have the talent to evoke any more interest in my opinions than that of fish bait.

Too bad for those unfortunates that stumble in here that I have waaaaay too large an ego to just quit. I intend to continue to the bitter end.

I do have just one question..just how are these ratings concocted anyway?
Two days ago I was at least a "Slithering Reptile", just how do you far so far so fast? I remember the heady days when I was a "Marauding Marsupial", and I know why I fell from that stage, but I just don't get the quick fall in two days with no variables seeming to have changed in that time.

Enough whining for now, lest you think I may be turning into a Dim-0-crat.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:31 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Here is a story of a Goblin that found out just a minute too late that he had bitten off more than he could chew, even though he had come prepared with both a firearm and a baseball bat.

The story of what ensued when said goblin accosted two (seemingly) defenseless naked (?) homeowners in an attempt to redistribute the wealth they possessed (goblin MUST be a Democrat who thought he was a politician!) puts the lie to "submit when faced with a violent criminal act to prevent getting hurt"..while they DID sustain some minor contusions and one bite, the attacker fared far worse, and if convicted of all charges (after he's discharged from the hospital), he will have approximately 10 to 15 years in the grey bar hotel to contemplate his folly.

The only thing that would make me happier is if the Angevines had been a little more aggressive and used the goblins firearm against him and sent him to the morgue instead of to the court, still, I LOVE it when a crime turns out right for the good like this one did. Lets just hope the Court doesn't mess this one up and let the SOB back out with a slap on the wrist and a "play nice now" admonition.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 09:17 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The sentiment of this sign encapsulates the stark IDIOCY of the Dem's base.

Right now they keep saying "you can't drill your way to energy independence", yet they think that the "Rich" are an inexaustible source of revenue ?!?

Interesting question: IF the federal government would tax confiscate 100% of any personal earnings over $500,000.00, how long could it operate the government on those funds at current rates of expenditure?

I'm still researching it, but I think the answer will/would shock most taxpayers.
If you happen to know the figure, please let me know.

In the mean time, here are some (outrageous to me) Tax Facts:

1. There are 1.2 MILLION paid tax preparers in the US. (that is SIX times the number of troops we have in Iraq. These are some of the best and brightest minds we have in our populace and all their efforts are expended to feed the greed of the Federal government; instead of contributing to the GNP, they are working to be accountants on the drain of the GNP by government.
Think of it...we have a veritable "Tax Army" working right here in the good ol'e US of A !

2 The number of pages in the tax code and regulations stands at 54,846 in 2003. (according to tax publisher CCH.) Any wonder that no can understand the Tax Code any more? (Complexity is one way to increase and/or hide revenue; when even two IRS agents can't agree on the answer to a majority of tax questions; it's easy to abuse the system against the payor in favor of the government.)

3 AMT designed to catch 155 taxpayers will soon catch 37 million.
The alternative minimum tax is an unneeded parallel tax system alongside the ordinary income tax. It began life in 1969 after Congress was shocked (shocked!) to learn that 155 wealthy individuals were not paying tax because they used too many of the deductions that Congress had provided them. The AMT has been a complex nuisance ever since. But this dumb idea aimed at the rich is set to explode on the middle-class as the number of AMT taxpayers skyrockets from 3 million today to 36 million by 2010.

4 Taxes are an overwhelming burden on every family's budget planning.
Shouldn't saving for education, retirement, and other items be as simple as putting money in the bank? Instead, Congress has manufactured hundreds of special savings rules, such as for 401(k)s, Keoghs, deductible IRAs, nondeductible IRAs, education IRAs, Roth IRAs, traditional pension plans, annuities, SIMPLEs, SEPs, MSAs, and others.
(The IRS guide to IRAs alone is 105 pages long!)

5 American taxpayers spend $200 billion and 5.4 billion hours working to comply with federal taxes each year. That is time,money, and effort that is not contributing in any way to the GNP, but wasted on compliance with government mandates.

The complexity of the tax code encourages evasion, and gives inordinate power to our elected officials and the lobbyists for special interests that would co-opt them. It is also the single largest drain on our GNP, as it is estimated that over $1.5 TRILLION is sequestered in offshore accounts to evade taxation. That is money that is NOT working for our economy, but for the economies of foreign countries.

I have said it before, and I am going to sound like broken record in the future for any constant readers here (as if I HAD any! LOL), but we need to
PASS THE FAIR TAX NOW.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 11:58 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The subject of the role of religion in the Socio-Political Sphere has been visited often in the last thirty years or so, usually as the result of Atheistic/ Humanist /Progressive protestations of outrage at any mention whatsoever of a Supreme Being in any Public discussion.

The A.C.L.U. has often led the fight in the courts for the precept of "there being absolutely no room for any religious thought, precept or even MENTION of same in the Public Arena." Many times activist Judges have used their good offices in promulgating/promoting that same view into the Law. And as is noted in the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers DID (RIGHTLY) decree that there should never be a State established Religion, stating in part: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.."
The Secularists have taken that statement to mean that the precepts of Religion have no place in the Public sphere, but did the Founders really mean that to be the case? Personally, I don't believe so. I believe that they wished all men to be free to let their religious convictions to be their personal guide in public concourse, but with no singular religion to be forced upon anyone.

Not all the Founding Fathers were Christian, but every single one of them DID believe in a Supreme Being of some type, and that Being had endowed every Human being with certain Rights by virtue of simple existence. That was the truly singular revolutionary idea behind the American Revolution; that Humans had rights by virtue of simply being CREATED Human by a Higher Being. They also believed that every single Human had the right to believe (or not believe) in that Higher Power in any way they wished to without coercion or favor.
WITHOUT that singular belief, this country would never have been created in the form it was in the first place, as there would have been no authority to establish, as the FF's stated in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed..."

That was the revolutionary idea here; that Men were created with innate rights, and that they held the power to constitute a government to secure those rights, and that the power was to flow FROM the People TO the Government rather than in the reverse , which was the standard order of the period.

Such a system cannot succeed without a general consensus of the People believing in a Higher Power of some sort, for without that unassailable moral authority, sooner or later the system will break down.

The A.C.L.U. and the activist Courts have been denigrating that Higher Moral Authority for at least the last thirty years, and we have demonstrably suffered for it.

As John Adams notably said on October 11, 1798 :

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

The governments of EVERY state in the Union acknowledged a Higher Power/Being in the preambles of their own State Constitutions. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

After reviewing these acknowledgments of God by ALL 50 state constitutions, one is faced with the prospect that just MAYBE, the ACLU and the out-of-control federal courts are wrong!

(Please note that at no time is anyone told that they MUST worship God.)

'Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.' - William Penn

God Bless America!!!!!

Do you know the Preamble for your state? Here are the Preambles of all 50 States in alphabetical order and the year in which they were ratified:

Alabama 1901, Preamble: We the people of the State of Alabama, Invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution...

Alaska 1956, Preamble: We, the people of Alaska, Grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land...

Arizona 1911, Preamble: We, the people of the State of Arizona, Grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...

Arkansas 1874, Preamble: We, the people of the State of Arkansas, Grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government...

California 1879, Preamble: We, the People of the State of California, Grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...

Colorado 1876, Preamble: We, the people of Colorado, With profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe...

Connecticut 1818, Preamble: The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy...

Delaware 1897, Preamble: Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences....

Florida 1885, Preamble: We, the people of the State of Florida, grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish this Constitution....

Georgia 1777, Preamble: We, the people of Georgia, Relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...

Hawaii 1959, Preamble: We, the people of Hawaii, Grateful for Divine Guidance ... Establish this Constitution...

Idaho 1889, Preamble: We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings....

Illinois 1870, Preamble: We, the people of the state of Illinois, grate full to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors...
( Too bad you don't prescribe to your "native State's" precepts Obama!)

Indiana 1851, Preamble: We, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our form of government...

Iowa 1857, Preamble: We, the People of the State of Iowa, Grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuance of those blessings...

Kansas 1859, Preamble: We, the people of Kansas, Grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges...

Kentucky 1891, Preamble: We, the people of the Commonwealth are grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties...

Louisiana 1921, Preamble: We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy...

Maine 1820, Preamble: We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity. And imploring His aid and direction... .

Maryland 1776, Preamble: We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty...

Massachusetts 1780, Preamble: We...the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe In the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction...

Michigan 1908, Preamble: We, the people of the State of Michigan, Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom....

Minnesota, 1857, Preamble: We, the people of the State of Minnesota, Grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings...

Mississippi 1890, Preamble: We, the people of Mississippi In convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work....

Missouri 1845, Preamble: We, the people of Missouri, With profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness. Establish this Constitution. ..

Montana 1889, Preamble: We, the people of Montana, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty.....

Nebraska 1875, Preamble: We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom....

Nevada 1864, Preamble: We the people of the State of Nevada, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...

New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V: Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience....

New Jersey 1844, Preamble: We, the people of the state of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors... .

New Mexico 1911, Preamble: We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty....

New York 1846, Preamble: We, the people of the State of New York, Grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings... .

North Carolina 1868, Preamble: We the people of the state of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those...

North Dakota 1889, Preamble: We, the people of North Dakota, Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain...

Ohio 1852, Preamble: We the people of the state of Ohio, Grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common...

Oklahoma 1907, Preamble: Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty....

Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I Section 2: All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences...

Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble: We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance...

Rhode Island 1842, Preamble: We the People of the state of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing...

South Carolina, 1778, Preamble: We, the people of the State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties...

South Dakota 1889, Preamble: We, the people of South Dakota, Grateful to Almighty God for our civil a and religious liberties... .

Tennessee 1796, Art. XI.III.: That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience.. .

Texas 1845, Preamble: We the People of the Republic of Texas, acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.....

Utah 1896, Preamble: Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty....

Vermont 1777, Preamble: Whereas all government ought to enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man...

Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI: Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator can be directed only by Reason and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other ....

Washington 1889, Preamble: We the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties...

West Virginia 1872, Preamble: Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia Reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God ...

Wisconsin 1848, Preamble: We, the people of Wisconsin, Grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility. ..

Wyoming 1890, Preamble: We, the people of the State of Wyoming, Grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties... ..

Think about sending this list to your congressman or congress woman the next time you hear any public Progressive historical revisionist blathering about how we have "a total separation of Church and State with no Public references to God allowed under the Constitution."

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 01:07 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I have been meaning to add a new blog to the collection that is the A-I Empire.

Please welcome Nicki of The Liberty Zone.

She recently returned from Kosevo, having completed her last hitch with Uncle Sam's own, the U.S. Army. HOO-AH! (Yeah, the Marines may take land, but the Army KEEPS it ours!, so There!)

On a sad note, my "Nephew", 'SlagleRock', has decided to take down his blog for personal and professional reasons. His is a voice that WILL be missed in the MilBlog set; no matter that he wasn't one of the "Big Dogs".
He is, and will always be, one of my personal heroes (regardless of the fact that he joined the wrong service branch lol ).
I just learned this afternoon that he is returning to the Sandbox tomorrow afternoon for his third tour there. Stay safe and keep your head down Rob!

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 06:29 PM | Comments (18) | Add Comment
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I'm tired, I don't have the energy to be truly original, so here is my plagiarized post of the day, after all GMTA, and I do provide a link to what I think is the best solution at the end.

The class-warfare elitists such as Barack "don't call me Hussein" Obama say:

"The rich don't pay their fair share"

OH, Really ? According to the Tax Foundation, in 2005 the top 1% of wage-earners in this country payed nearly 40% of the burden (an 11% INCREASE, BTW, over 1999, when WHO was President? Oh that's right...Bill Clinton).

Not fair?!?

'Well', you may be saying, 'that's because they have ALL the wealth!' Wrong again.

The top 1% of earners account for just 21% of the total adjusted gross income. Hmm. Come to think of it...you're RIGHT! That really isn't fair. They're paying DOUBLE what they should be.

By the way, the top 10% of earners pay 70% of the load. When you get all the way down to the top 50% of earners, they account for 96.4% of the entire tax burden. The next 10% pays 3.6%. And the bottom 40% of wage earners...pay NOTHING. That's right, nothing. In fact, they pay nothing, and then often get a "refund" (in reality it's a handout) at years end.

The Leftist politicians continue the pandering to the electorate by saying:

"The working class carries the full load in this country, while the rich just keep getting richer, and paying LESS"

The facts prove that this is more than just incorrect, it's plain out-and-out LYING... in fact it's an argument straight out of the "Communist Manifesto" by our friend, Karl Marx (no, not Groucho Marx, the comedian...this is the OTHER Marx brother) Simply substitute the words "working class" for proletariat and "rich" for bourgeoisie, and voila! Class warfare, Marxist style. Besides, do you know ANY rich people who don't work hard? Only 2% of this country's rich inherited their money, like the Kennedy's...the rest, earned it.

'Well', you say, 'How about those 50 hedge fund managers Barack Obama talks about all the time who made $29 billion, but actually paid less in taxes than their $60,000 a year SECRETARIES!'

The "50 Hedge Fund managers' who made a combined $29 billion in profit is one of my favorite Barack Obama campaign stories pandering lies. It's true, of course. At least the part about how much money they made. (Legally, by the way) But to say that a billionaire pays less in taxes than his secretary is preposterous at best. It's impossible. I would need to see their 1040 form to even begin to believe it. Even IF they would pay a smaller percentage than their secretary did, their accountant needs to be made President of the United States of America, immediately. No campaign, no election. Just based on amazing skills, he would be the best-qualified person to direct our economy EVAH !

It's also interesting to note that one of those Hedge Fund managers, of whom Obama speaks, but never names, is....George Soros. $2.9 Billion last year. Keep those Moveon.org ads coming, Georgie! (being the big-hearted, big government guy he is, it's surprising he hasn't voluntarily written out huge extra checks to the Federal Government to make up any discrepancy).

Another oft heard bleat from the Leftist Politico is:

"I'm sick and tired of all the corporate welfare in this country"

For a case in point, I refer you to all the recent attacks (mainly) from the Left on the "evil oil companies"...who, from 1977-2004 made over $643 billion in profits.
But, during that same time span, their disgusting "corporate welfare" situation allowed them to pay a paltry $1.343 TRILLION in state and federal taxes. What a free ride! Is it just me or am I the only one who sees a little disconnect from reality there?

My big point here is that the present tax system is tailor-made to make it all too easy to allow pandering to the economically illiterate electorate by demagogic/populist politicos.

What we need is a new way of taxation that is unquestionably even-handed in it's application to all and still provides the amount of funds needed to run a reasonable modern government OF and BY the People.

Such a plan DOES exist. This plan takes the tax code out of the manipulating hands of the special interest groups and the politicians they have bought. This plan ensures that you have the greatest amount of control over the amount of taxes you pay in your own hands, and in a manner that you don't need an accounting degree to do so.

ENACT THE FAIR TAX

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 08:23 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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