I'm going to skip going into who is to blame for the terrorist being allowed in America- there are enough people out there with axes to grind who are going to blame everyone from Al Qaeda to President Obama to airport security in the Amsterdam, Netherlands. Knowing some people, they'll probably try blaming global warming.
My question is how ridiculous we are going to allow security to get. New measures being taken: passengers must remain in seats for the last hour of the flight, they must have EVERYTHING stowed for the last hour of flight, increased pat-downs, X-raying of objects, and increased secondary screenings.
Some airports have 3-D body scanners that pick up hidden objects that may be concealed around the body underneath clothing. This scanner would have easily picked up what terrorist Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab was carrying, which was PETN (an explosive). Others think that the VERY accurate picture made by the 3-D scanners is the same as a public strip search.
There is one fact that is certain: it was a passenger who started restraining the man, causing other passengers and the flight crew to join in and help restraining the terrorist. Passengers, on the average, have gone from being inactive sheep who blindly follow commands to active participants who feel responsible for the safety of others on the plane.
I don't have the solution to stop terrorists. But I can tell you that x-raying breast milk 10 times when a mom is carrying her baby with her isn't going to stop a terrorist. Refusing to let someone use the bathroom for the last hour of the flight isn't going to stop anything. If the terrorist can't blow up the plane during the last hour, he's not going to say "Oh, well, I guess I'll blow up the plane another day." He's just going to act sooner. And making me take off my shoes and walk on the dirty airport floor IS NOT GOING TO STOP A TERRORIST. Can we get real? They're are a hell of lot of places on the human body to conceal stuff. The shoe bomber was not only a wanna-be terrorist, he was also a damn idiot. And our now making everyone take off their shoes just makes up bigger idiots.
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Just wanted to drop a quick note saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone!
Be back tomorrow.
And here's a small laugh for all my blogging friends out there:
Senate has voted to limit debate on the health care bill and expected to vote on final passage on December 24th. The already polarizing issue has become even more so with the decision to limit debate. Opponents from both sides of the aisle have expressed regret with the way the bill was cobbled together.
Despite these misgivings, Democrats DO seem to be planning on working together and passing the bill. Of course, this is just the first step on the way to a final bill. The House has to agree to the bill and it must be signed by the President. Perhaps most worrying of all to those who favor the bill is the argument about the constitutionality of the new bill.
What had started as a talking point has turned into solid plans to challenge the legality of the new bill. Opponents of the bill say that the government cannot force a private citizen to purchase goods- in this case, health care coverage. Another point of contention is the difference in requirements from state to state. Some states have received "special bills", which opponents say is illegal as it doesn't provide equal protection under the law.
Perhaps most surprising of all- some STATES are planning on challenging the federal government over this bill, citing the 10th Amendment.
I think my blog post yesterday might have been a bit long. So, I figured I'd cut it down a bit. A Virginia mom killed her baby and won't go to jail. There. Here's the story:
And I ask a question, as always, of you, dear readers....Do you think the woman is guilty of murder? Why or why not?
Also in the news today, 12 NFL players have agreed to give their brains to the Boston University Medical Department for a study to determine the effect of concussions on the brain.
From watching the commentators of the NFL games- most of whom are ex-players- I suggest that the NFL players don't bother waiting for death to donate their brains. From what I've seen of them thus far, they'll be just the same without their brains.
Sorry, a bit sarcastic today. Hopefully I'll be a happy-face mood tomorrow....
Just last week a Virginia mother killed her baby and will NOT be charged with murder. The reason: it was still attached to her via its umbilical cord. Therefore, it was not its own person. (see video below for news story). In all fairness to the state of Virginia, this law was originally passed to protect mothers who gave birth to stillborn babies. In the past, they had been accused of killing the child and punished.
This is actually the second case that has occurred in just a year in Virginia- when lawmakers were pushed to change the law; they declined, saying it was “too close to the abortion issue.” So, an outdated law that allows murder stays on the books out of “political correctness” and worries over “offending the other side.”
This brings up what is very central to the abortion debate. When is a baby a baby? Partial-birth abortions can and are performed into the third trimester (the third trimester begins at 27 weeks). Most occur after 20 weeks. It is generally believed that any baby past 23 weeks has a chance of surviving if medical care is available. There are even cases of 22 weeks old ones surviving.
For those who don’t know, a partial birth abortion is when the baby is induced and all of it except its head is through the cervix. They then puncture the skull, killing it (most of the time), and pull it the rest of the way out. Oh, by the way, if it lives through this and is still breathing, they can kill it once the baby is out.
I’m not in the least bit trying to tell anyone what to think, what to feel, or what you morals should be. You may notice I HAVEN’T stated which of the above I subscribe to.
I’m simply pointing out that this is where the constant arguing, protesting, suing, and law-passing have gotten us. A woman (or doctor) can kill a breathing baby and it is legal. I think almost everyone can agree that we’ve let this go a little bit too far.
Can this story be applied to other situations? I would say ‘yes.’ So much of the “work” being done in Washington is compromise: a game of “we’ll drop this from the bill if you vote for it.” Political correctness is running rampant. For example, God forbid anyone say that someone without insurance shouldn’t get free care at the hospital. In my opinion, that’s b.s. (excuse my language). I didn’t have insurance for three years. Did I go to the emergency room when I was depressed (I’m bi-polar) and beg for free meds? Did I show up at the local welfare clinic asking for free doctor consultations?
It’s time for the lawmakers to listen to the people. It’s time for common sense and moral values to return. No matter your opinion on abortion, common sense dictates that a living, breathing baby outside of the woman’s body shouldn’t be killed.
Common sense dictates that if you give products for free to some people, no one is going to want to work to earn those products- after all, they can not work and get them for free.
Common sense dictates that without strong beliefs- whether liberal or conservative- everything becomes available for negotiation. And when everything is available for negotiation, the underlying REASON for passing a bill in the first place is wiped out under the constant pressure to compromise. Leaving both sides unhappy with the bill that is being passed, let alone the common people.
-----Here are some quotes from both sides of the abortion debate. Feel free to skip this section if you like. As always, make up YOUR OWN MIND on what you believe.
If the anti-abortion movement took a tenth of the energy they put into noisy theatrics and devoted it to improving the lives of children who have been born into lives of poverty, violence, and neglect, they could make a world shine. ~Michael Jay Tucker
Abolition of a woman's right to abortion, when and if she wants it, amounts to compulsory maternity: a form of rape by the State. ~Edward Abbey
No woman wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal caught in a trap wants to gnaw off its own leg. ~Frederica Mathewes-Green
George W. Bush will protect your unborn fetus, then send your grown child to die in war. ~Rick Claro
"I found much distress in the clinic, but it involved not only the women. I saw the pain of the babies who were born burned from the saline solution used for late-term abortions. I saw the bits of feet, bits of hands, the mangled heads and bodies of the little people. I saw pain and felt pain." ~One time clinic worker Paula Sutcliffe in "Precious in My Sight" "Pro-Life Feminism: Different Voices" Gail Garnier-Sweet, editor
"Sometimes we lied. A girl might ask what her baby was like at a certain point in the pregnancy: Was it a baby yet? Even as early as 12 weeks a baby is totally formed, he has fingerprints, turns his head, fans his toes, feels pain. But we would say 'It's not a baby yet. It's just tissue, like a clot.'" ~Kathy Sparks told in "The Conversion of Kathy Sparks" by Gloria Williamson, Christian Herald Jan 1986 p 28
"Now, the baby I aborted was eleven weeks old, and can you imagine what this did to me when I saw this baby with the hands and face, sucking his thumb? And they told me it was a cluster of cells!" ~Carole K. State Director of Women Exploited By Abortion. From "Women Exploited"
Sources: NPR- “Partial Birth Abortion- Separating Fact from Spin”
Public Agenda – “States with Restrictions on Post-viability Abortions”
NRLC- “Aren’t Third Trimester Abortions Rare”
NRLC- “For What Reasons Are Partial-Birth Abortions Usually Performed”
I found out that someone else had started "What the Hell Wednesday" about two weeks before I started my "WTF Wednesday." Though, obviously, I didn't steal their idea (trust me, I'm cynical and creative enough to come up with my own ideas...ha-ha), out of respect for my fellow bloggers, I've switched mine to "What the F*** Friday," which has a nicer ring to it anyway.
So, what the f*** is up with ugly metallic dresses:
Repeat after me: metal for cars, dresses for girls...metal for cars, dresses for girls. I can see a metallic purse, but a whole dress?
WTF is up with people talking on their bluetooths while in stores....I always think they're talking to me, turn around, and see the little gadget sticking out of their ear. And if you must talk on it, can you not SHOUT!!! I don't care about the stock prices of your portfolio....or if you're in Wal-mart, I don't care about how your cousin's red-neck baby-daddy was arrested again.
WTF is up with people talking on their cell phones while in a toilet stall. First of all, who talks to someone else while they're using the restroom...secondly, in a public bathroom? Again, I keep wanting to answer them...or shout loud enough for the person on the other end to hear "They're taking a p*ss while talking to you...shows what they think of you!"
WTF....people who write like they text message. Come on people, write with whole words...sorry, but "txtUb4party" is not a sentence.
WTF...America's Next Top Model abbreviations. Tyra Banks has actually placed a copyright on "H2T" and "smize"....for you "not fans" out there....H2T is head-to-toe modeling and smize is "smiling with your eyes." Stupid, I know, but that's why it's on this list.
As always, post your own "WTF" moments, and I'll include them in our next edition of WTF Friday!!
The President and Congress are doing everything they can to bring a new government institute into being: “Consumer Financial Protection Agency.”
As I said in my previous post, this will take power away from the not-politically-influenced Fed and turn over much of that power to the new agency, which will be under Congress’ control.
Obama is also putting pressure on the banks to help boost the economy by lending more. Am I the only one who is confused here?
Unemployment is at 10%. 14% of borrowers are in trouble with their mortgage. US National debt is at 12.1 trillion (and rising) and our unfunded liabilities are at 106.5 trillion (funny you never hear about that number, isn’t it?). To see the national debt clock: http://www.usdebtclock.org/
So, I have questions for you, dear readers, today:
