"Do I hope that those people die screaming of rectal cancer? Yeah! - Sean Penn

Speaking Out on the First Amendment Issues…well sort of, Sean Penn believes journalists who call Hugo Chavez a "dictator" should be jailed.

This guy never ceases to surprise me with the level of intellectual dishonesty that his own ego will take him to. Put in jail, really? The incarceration statement erupted during an active week of interviews where he parlayed his powerful influence and asserted his own constitutionally protected right to speak his mind. But he had more to say about those who disagree with him and he used his constitutionally protected rights to express his own heart-felt sentiment. When he was solicited for a response on the fact that some people question his motivations in his Haitian humanitarian efforts, he cut loose with a curse of sorts. Here is a quote from him on his response to those who question his motives,

"Do I hope that those people die screaming of rectal cancer? Yeah. You know, but I'm not going to spend a lot of energy on it."

Thank God he is not going to spend any energy on wishing some of us rectal cancer. Whew, I feel so relieved. Still, it’s the thought that counts as they say. Wishing those who disagree with him a painful death? He considers himself a great humanitarian? Well, I pray that when his time comes (as it will for all of us) that he passes on peacefully and at a time when God chooses.

There was a time in my life that I really liked Sean Penn. Unfortunately he has turned into such a wing nut that I can only now feel pity for this man. I pray that he one day finds some level of balance and that he learns to leave his ego on the mantle with the rest of his acting achievements where it belongs. Maybe when he is able to achieve that, he will be a great humanitarian. God Bless.

Click HERE or on the image for the full story.

LA Sheriff Tells His Troops to be MORE Careful

There seems to be some disagreement over the good Sheriff’s intention and how that will translate into effectiveness.

I agree with the Sheriff to a point. Nevertheless, being a cop is not a life that lends itself to caution. We need to be really honest about that. As a retired police officer I can attest to this from personal experience. There were times that I was too cautious and sometimes regrettable consequences followed. There were times that I foolishly threw caution to the wind and ended up coming out of it ok (probably by the grace of God in some instances and dumb luck in others.) I lost a friend and fellow officer when he was ambushed while conducting routine search. I will always feel the pain of that loss.

Watch Your Language!

The California Legislature has passed a resolution for a cuss free week.

This story draws a "What the Spank" salute.

The absurdity of this is difficult to fathom. As if we don’t have enough to worry about, the government is going to tell us how we should speak. Yes, I know that in this case, it’s only a suggestion. Now, I do not disagree that civil discourse should be expected. But, our California legislature has too much to worry about than to get involved in this effort. Don’t we have a huge deficit to contend with among many other pressing and critical issues? I wonder how much this public awareness campaign is costing the tax payers?

Again, I sound alarm behind this type of governmental intrusion in our lives for this reason:

What is today a suggestion or an awareness campaign becomes tomorrow’s regulations.

This is the nature of unchecked government. It can not control it because it justifies its sense of importance and control. This is the nature of the governmental beast. The beast is necessary; but  we must keep it on a short leash, lean, working for us, and trained to stay out of our way. A recent CNN poll bears out this belief that our government is growing much too powerful.

Stay out of our lives! The government has no business telling us how to speak and think. My mother and father taught me what acceptable language is, and what is not. Now, anyone who knows me is aware I am not a saint in this area. I have been known to use a colorful metaphor from time to time. However, true improvement or reform is best, true, and permanent when it comes from the free will, not from coercion. And while I do not disagree with the notion of self control (cussing,) it is not the government’s role in our lives.

Click HERE for the full story.

City of Clayton Stands Up to Abuse of Power

I first read about this in the Clayton Pioneer, our local paper. The publisher of the paper, Tamara Steiner, wrote an excellent editorial on this abuse of power by Thomas Peele, a Contra Costa Times investigative journalist. Refer to page 4 of the Clayton Pioneer 2-19-10. Another opinion article appeared in the Contra Costa Times that heralds the same alarm.

To be honest, I applaud Mr. Peele’s interest in keeping an eye on public expenditures, out tax dollars at work. Government is here to work for us and should be viewed something we need to keep lean and honest; it belongs to us after all. It should serve us while at the same time, stay out of our way.

Nevertheless, this is typical of the arrogance that we see with many of the folks who pursue a career in journalism.

Portending the Loss of Common Sense and Liberty - The Green Police

I understand that many find this funny; in some superficial sense it is. This video actually gives me the willies; it is fraught with portend. While the style is humorous, the content is sinister. This is another example of how style and substance can be misconstrued resulting in a message that can be used to deceive. Are we being subtly desensitized into accepting an Orwellian existence?

Unfortunately, there are many among us that would like to see this type of intrusion in our lives or at least would turn a blind eye to it. I can agree with taking a reasonable approach to keeping our environment clean and safe. However, outside of an act committed with the intent to harm the environment or some gross act of negligence, all action must come from free will. Using the force of law for such petty concerns is draconian. It is just another example of how the Marxist has no faith in the human being.

We actually have the pre-cursor to this type of governmental intrusion in our lives right here in the SF Bay Area. Did anyone notice that we could not use our fireplaces this past Thanksgiving and Christmas because it just happened to be a spare the air day? (I prefer the term “scare the air.”) What a coincidence. Common sense would dictate that those days should be exceptional due to the traditions surrounding these events. There are actually people driving around looking for smoking chimneys ready to issue a citation. What is worse, they have neighbors ready to call and turn us in!

Pathetic.

BRAVO ROMEO OSCAR OSCAR MIKE 666 You are cleared for take off…

I know this is not new with our military, but this deserves a "What The Spank?" (WTS) salute. I know our founding fathers probably could not imagine an Air Force as being part of our defense but I doubt they would consider this rational or sane.

Please forgive me for the BROOM pun.

Click HERE or on the image for the full story.

How The Networks Put Together a News Story

If you love Monte Python type humor you will love this. If you do not, you will still love it. Either way, it rings with truth.

This is great example how “so-called” truth is often communicated to us via style. Style is not substance. Style is distant to truth in that it plays on emotions and memories. It can be used to deceive. By comparison, style is like the music to the lyrics. Music can sound great, pleasing, and arousing; it can invoke anger or inspire. But it does so through the emotions, not the intellect. The music can be contradictory to the lyrics.

Substance on the other hand can be parsed, examined, dissected, tested, and debated by the intellect. The content, or lyrics in keeping with the song metaphor, can tell a great deal, if not the most important aspects, of the message.

Style is meant to accompany and compliment the substance or content. However, the content is the “meat” of the act. Sadly, today we are so easily sold on style and style is then used as the means to truth (and let’s not forget that the means are everything.)

By its very nature, style can not do what substance does. If it did, one would be able to tell what is on a man’s mind by looking at his hat.

Moral Relativism at Work.... on the Highway

WHAT THE SPANK?!!! Once again, the common sense test is failed by, this time, The State of Colorado and our judicial system. OK, so the Nazi party in Colorado can have a stretch of road adopted by them. Maybe it’s the timing of this story that has set me off. No, it’s not the timing. Its just plain stupid and wrong.


Timing wise, I find this particularly disturbing because two days from today, January 27, 2010, is the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. On the radio this morning, I heard the story told by a, now 90 year old, Debbie Sessler a Jewish-Dutch woman who, with her sister, managed to survive the Holocaust. It was a long, painful, and horror filled story. She and her sister were at Auschwitz toward the end of their 4 year long ordeal, on their death beds from illness and starvation, when another prisoner came to them one day and said, “They are gone,” referring the Nazi’s. Several days later they were liberated by Soviet forces. Her story tore my heart out. She lost her father to the Nazi’s and had to survive on her own all while protecting her younger sister, keeping her alive, a seemly insurmountable task for a 10 year old girl.

What happened to millions under Nazi rule is unthinkable. But, this ideology is what brought the unthinkable to us.  They are NOT gone.  What's worse is that they are held in the same regard as the Kiwanis or the Rotary Club.          

I wonder what would happen if a local Catholic Parish wanted to adopt a highway? Forgive me. Perhaps it has been done already. I sense, however, it being the main topic of a very contentious 6:00 PM news story. This is another example of how amoral our society has become, another example of moral relativism slithering into our lives.  Moral relativism is the unthinking path to the unthinkable. 


Click here or on the image for the full story.

PACT WITH GAIA | Daily Telegraph Tim Blair Blog

Actor Danny Glover, now an expert on seismology and plate tectonics, is telling us that climate change is responsible for the Haitian quake. To make matters worse, he gives to planet earth (that’s this wonderful chuck of rock we live on) the status of a supernatural sentient being; in other words, planet earth is a God, not a creation. This God, Gaia, is pouring force its wrath upon us for our failure at the Copenhagen summit by zapping poor Haiti. What the Spank? If Gaia were to be truly retributive, she would have zapped Rush Limbaugh’s home in south Florida. Guess she missed by a few hundred miles. If you follow his reasoning, earthquakes should never happen in Hollywood (Los Angeles) or San Francisco were many of her worshipers live and breathe. By the way, when they breathe, they do not exhale CO2.

Click on the link below for the story and video.

PACT WITH GAIA Daily Telegraph Tim Blair Blog

The Avatar Challenge: Can We Separate Style From Content?

I have been wondering about this movie for some time now. Admittedly, I have not seen it. I will confess this right up front. Simply looking at the previews made me recoil a bit though, giving me reason to consider waiting until it comes out on DVD.

So much of what Hollywood puts out is part of a bigger agenda. Friends of mine who have seen it said it scored high on the “wow” factor. When I asked them if it seemed anti-American, their response was fairly universal: “Yes, I guess it is, when you think about it.” I guess they were not thinking when they paid good money to be “wowed” with the latest special effects, all the while being seduced with subliminal messages designed to tear down all that we cherish as good.

Then, I stumbled across this article that gives another angle critical of the movie in a way that is perhaps even more disturbing. It is a subliminal message that erodes and degrades the human being as a unique creation. I am fond of many of James Cameron’s works. I am sure this one rates high on entertainment value through its use of the latest and powerful effects technology. My deepest concern is whether most can “separate style from content” in a critical way. I like a good chocolate bar once in a while, but you can not live on it; it nourishes neither the body nor the soul.

Clikc here for the complete story:  Vatican Says Avatar No Masterpiece