Ogre's Politics & Views

September 21, 2007

Underwear Ad

So, doesn't this just make you want to run out and buy a pair of these?

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Posted by: Ogre at 05:05 PM | Comments (32) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

And The Cat Came Back

For those who are new visitors to Ogre's Politics and Views, welcome to Friday! The schedule here is pretty standard -- in the mornings there's posts about North Carolina State government. In the late mornings and early afternoons, commentary about national politics or other issues. In the later afternoons, something a little lighter.

Then, on Fridays, we start with the silliness a bit earlier. If you've had a bad week, hopefully I can make you smile. So without further delay, The Cat Came Back (with more general sillines coming later this afternoon):

A man absolutely hated his wife's cat and decided to get rid of him one day by driving him 20 blocks from his home and leaving him at the park.

As he was getting home, the cat was walking up the driveway.

The next day he decided to drive the cat 40 blocks away. He put the beast out and headed home.

Driving back up his driveway, there was the cat!

He kept taking the cat further and further and the cat would always beat him home. At last he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then left, past the bridge, then right again and another right until he reached what he thought was a safe distance from his home and left the cat there.

Hours later the man calls home to his wife: "Jen, is the cat there?"

"Yes," the wife answers, "why do you ask?"

Frustrated, the man answered, "Put that bum on the phone, I'm lost! and need directions!"

Posted by: Ogre at 04:09 PM | Comments (22) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Republican Congressman from MA?

I got this note from some folks that are trying to do the impossible -- get a Republican elected to Congress in Massachusetts. I honestly don't think it's possible, even when you consider Republicans like Romney got elected there. But is a moderate Republican better than a moderate Democrat? Some would say yes. I'm not sure. So check this fellow out -- you might want to support him:

Meet Lt. Col. Jim Ogonowski (Ret.), the Republican candidate running in the October 16th special election in Massachusetts' 5th district. Jim is a 28-year veteran of the Air Force and Air National Guard. On September 11th, 2001, Jim's brother John was the pilot of hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. Ever since, Jim has dedicated himself to helping John's family, and no w works his brother's farm.

A SurveyUSA/WBZ-TV poll out last week shows Jim behind by just 10 points -- 51-41 percent. That's remarkable in a state that hasn't elected a Republican to Congress in over a decade! What makes this even more incredible is the fact that Jim's Democrat opponent is the well-known wife of a late U.S. Senator.

You need to watch Jim's TV ads to understand the tremendous appeal he has in this race. And once you have, will you chip in $25, $50, or $100 through Rightroots to keep Jim going all the way through Election Day?

http://www.RightRoots.com/Ogonowski

This race is winnable if Jim gets the resources he needs to stay competitive. This is a district that only went for John Kerry by 7 points in the last Presidential election and where Democratic governor Deval Patrick was held to 50% in 2006 despite winning the state overwhelmingly. Polls show Jim winning with independent voters 46-39% -- and that's 51% of all the district's voters. All the ingredients are in place for a stunning upset -- and now Jim needs our generous support to carry him across the finish line.

Taking back a Congressional seat in the bluest of blue states would simply stun the liberal media and show that the GOP is alive and well heading into to 2008.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:05 PM | Comments (45) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Jenna Six?

Okay, after watching the reports of yesterday in Jenna, LA, here's what apparently was going on according to the people who attended:

It was a great day

Great!
it was also a lot of fun. I met great people and made some good friends.

Sounds like a good time.
It was a big event for us

That's good.
We got matching T-shirts and drove all night. It's exciting

Can't be fun without a T-shirt!
We want to make sure everyone has a good time and is safe.

A safe, good time, was had by all.
It's been a very peaceful and happy crowd. Really these are very, very nice people

Excellent. Happy people is good.

So, does anyone else think this sounded like a calm Woodstock celebration? Sounds like everyone gathered together and hung out for a day. Everyone had a good time. Great.

Once again, I ask, what in the world is all this about? Oh, this was supposed to be a "protest?" Wow.

Posted by: Ogre at 01:06 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Charlotte Baggy Pants Ban

Yes, Charlotte, the city that wants to be a "big city" wants to join the "big boys" -- and is considering the baggy pants ban. As of the time I'm writing this, the internet poll is showing people support this type of ban by a 2:1 margin.

Oh, please, let them ban these things. However, as soon as the ban goes into place, I'm going to need to get one of you to come with me to Charlotte and man the camera. I'm going to hang out on the steps of various police departments and city hall with my underwear pulled up to my chest. I really want them to attempt to give me a ticket for that. Oh, and I won't be carrying ID. And you can bet I'll exercise my right to remain silent. I really want to see how far they'll go to enforce this sort of ban. I bet if they pass it that I go to jail for wearing improper undergarments. Hey, Oddy, need a new client?

Posted by: Ogre at 11:03 AM | Comments (20) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 20, 2007

SUV Sign

I just found out from an insider that when you buy a big SUV, they give you special glasses. Those glasses enable only SUV drivers to see special signs like this one:

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Posted by: Ogre at 07:08 PM | Comments (5276) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Jenna Six

Can anyone explain what the heck is going on in Jena today? Here's the facts as I have been able to find them:

1. Some kids put up a few tiny nooses on a tree.

No crime was committed, according to the law, and the students who put up the nooses were punished and suspended for two days.

2. "Racial" tensions flared and there were fights and burnings (wait, was Mohammed offended?).

One student punched another student and was charged with battery and was suspended.

3. In apparent "retaliation," a group of 6 kids ganged up on, beat up, and stomped on another kid. Those 6 were charged with battery. One of those 6 had a prior criminal record and was charged as an adult.

I'm really not quite sure what everyone's complaining about.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:08 PM | Comments (886) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Charlotte School Depopulation

Liberals in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system are trumpeting their needs -- for your cash. Despite their wild guess of projected enrollments, the increase in school enrollment was much, much less than they had anticipated. Of course, that doesn't mean they don't "need" more of your money. They're very upset that they might have to return millions of dollars to state (so they need more of your tax money locally). I expect that a "recount" of enrollment numbers will net some more students (guess they forgot to count all of 'em).

What's even more interesting is how the educrats who live off taxpayers' backs continue to explain that despite having 40% less students than they thought, they continue to claim that there's more so they need more -- and all "projections" into the future continue to be based on wild guesses -- all with high estimates, of course (because they need your money).

Even more interesting is that those who support massive schools, expansive government, socialist systems, light rail, smart growth, and other left liberal ideas for Charlotte, love to compare themselves to Portland, OR as their utopia. Making Charlotte exactly like Portland is an open, stated goal of these socialists. Of course, any problems in Portland won't be duplicated because the "right" people haven't been in charge.

But compare the reality of Portland vs. Charlotte and schools:

The Coming Depopulation of Charlotte's Schools

By Warren Smith

COMMENTARY--Timothy Egan caused a stir with his recent profile of Portland in the "New York Times." Portland, you may know, is a city that Charlotte's leaders have visited and sometimes say they want to imitate - especially when it comes to urban planning, "smart growth," and rapid transit. It's a city that has been successful at attracting what the cognoscenti are now calling the "creative class." Supposedly, these are the folk Charlotte needs to attract if we are to remain a vibrant, economically thriving city.

Egan's article highlighted Portland's attractions for the beautiful people. "The Pearl District in the heart of this perpetually self-improving city," Egan wrote, "seems to have everything in new urban design and comfort, from the Whole Foods store where fresh-buffed bell peppers are displayed like runway models to the converted lofts that face sidewalk gardens."

Everything, Egan concedes, "except children."

"Crime is down. New homes and businesses are sprouting everywhere. But in what may be Portland's trendiest and fastest-growing neighborhood, the number of school-age children grew by only three between the census counts in 1990 and 2000, according to demographers at Portland State University," he wrote.

Egan then comes to a conclusion that Charlotte should heed: "Portland is one of the nation's top draws for the kind of educated, self-starting urbanites that midsize cities are competing to attract. But as these cities are remodeled to match the tastes of people living well in neighborhoods that were nearly abandoned a generation ago, they are struggling to hold on to enough children to keep schools running and parks alive with young voices."

One of the main reasons for this childless Utopia is the price of housing. According to Egan, San Francisco, with its Silicon Valley chic, is the very poster child of the New Economy to which Charlotte aspires. But it has a median house price of about $700,000 - and the lowest percentage of people under 18 of any large city in the nation, 14.5 percent. That compares to 25.7 percent nationwide, according to the 2000 census.

Could this happen to Charlotte? Not only could it happen, it probably will. Nationally, the birthrate has dropped to the point that our current birth rate is barely above what demographers call the "replacement rate." America's population has shown modest growth over the past few decades, but almost all of that growth has been because of longer life spans, not more children. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of school-aged children in America is expected to fall significantly over the next 10 years, and possibly precipitously over the next 30 years.

And now, our leaders want us to spend more than $400-million on new schools, claiming that Charlotte's school population will grow by 50,000 over the next decade. Of course, it's possible that the population of Charlotte's school-aged children could grow while the rest of the nation's population goes down, but only in the dreams of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials could growth be this much. Indeed, even if the Charlotte region does grow, it is much more likely that most of the families with children will be moving to Cabarrus, Union, York, Iredell, and Gaston counties - where both land prices and taxes are significantly lower.

In Portland, not only are they not building schools, they're shutting them down. Egan closed his article with the story of Kenton Elementary School, which for 91 years had been an integral part of the city's north side. Egan penned a poignant requiem for this school. "But now the school will be shuttered," he wrote, "and improvements from Portland's beloved light rail line have contributed to rising real estate prices, defeating the broad goals of the mayor's effort to bring and keep young families in the city."

Could it happen here? It is happening here. Indeed, the next time you hear a proponent of light rail, the "creative class," or "smart growth" say we should look at Portland, don't argue with them. Just make sure that when they tell the story of Portland, they tell the whole story.

Warren Smith is the publisher of The Charlotte World. He can be reached at warren.smith@thecharlotteworld.com

Me, I love "shrinking" schools -- because if they cost less, then I have to pay less taxes, right? I know, I'm dreaming. If socialists/Democrats would even consider reality for a minute, they'd see they're headed down a path to destruction. Socialism fails every single time it's tried. Why can't they understand?

Posted by: Ogre at 01:17 PM | Comments (523) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Observer: Taxes are Good

As the day gets closer for voters to decide in Mecklenburg County if they like giving piles of cash to rich people so they can buy toys, the Charlotte Observer lines up with those rich people to demand MORE cash from people who work. Keep in mind: government has zero cash and produces nothing. ANYTHING government does, they do with money they take from people who actually produce and earn it.

Mary Schulken writes today about how wonderful it is for government to spend money. She tries to take the position that the issue is just too confusing because there's hard things (numbers) involved. So instead, in her "editorial," she strongly, strongly supports higher taxes (more is better) -- and isn't beyond lying to promote those higher taxes.

Miss Schulken claims:

Should Charlotte-Mecklenburg repeal the tax voters approved eight years ago as the primary funding source for a long-range plan of comprehensive mass transportation?

Know what? That's not true. It's simply not true at all. When the tax was passed, it was a limited tax that was supposed to raise a little bit of cash to build a train. That's it. Since that time, the cost of the train system has increased by somewhere in the range of 600%. Oh, and the money that was supposed to be used for trains? It's not -- it's being spent on buses and, well, whatever else uptown rich people want but don't want to pay for.

She does notice that 65% of that tax is now being spent on buses -- although it was never supposed to be spent on buses. Of course, as with most socialists, she claims that the problems of the past (the south corridor line with overruns) are in the past and shouldn't be used to judge, well, anything. And to continue the repeated socialist lines she says:

The thing is, we'll never know whether the transit plan will work if we don't give it time. We're still at the beginning.

So all they need is MORE money and MORE time, and the right people in charge, and we will have utopia here on earth. And then, to really top off the lovely leftist logic, after complaining at the start of the article about how she's getting too many numbers and facts, she actually says:
we don't have enough information to decide it ought to halt in its tracks.

Mary, you've got TONS of information if you'd just take a look around! You're getting bombarded with information -- she just apparently doesn't like the information and facts because they don't agree with her vision of more spending, more government, and less freedom.

This editorial is nothing more than a puff piece designed as part of the overall strategy of the socialists and elitists who rule Charlotte to get suckers (that's you, the taxpayer) to voluntarily give lots and lots more cash to them so they can spend it. They've got things they want to buy, and they don't want to pay for them -- so they're willing to use the power of government to take the money from you.

Posted by: Ogre at 11:34 AM | Comments (603) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 19, 2007

Pirate Keyboard

I wonder if Teach has one of these for today?

piratekeyboard.jpg

Posted by: Ogre at 07:02 PM | Comments (590) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

New Cell Phone Design

How about a new cell phone?

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Posted by: Ogre at 05:08 PM | Comments (716) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Victory in Iraq

Various presidential candidates are campaigning, telling the people that they will not support leaving Iraq until we achieve victory. Others are talking about leaving "with honor." The question I don't hear asked is, "What will that look like?"

How will we know when we've "won?" Will there be total peace in Iraq? Heck, we can't get that in any city in America. Will there be no terrorists? How would we know? Would there be a police force that has total control over it's citizens? Isn't that where we started?

Seriously, I'm wondering -- have you seen any candidate, anywhere, outline exactly what victory in Iraq will look like? Or do you have any ideas, personally, of what that might be?

Posted by: Ogre at 02:48 PM | Comments (1632) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hillary Care II, Part B: Enforcement

Well, it seems that Hillary won't arrest me for refusing her demand to buy health insurance. At least, not yet. Instead, at least right now, she's planning on making it a requirement for work to show proof of insurance. Keep in mind, however, her words were:

At this point, we don't have anything punitive that we have proposed

In other words, she can't sell throwing people in jail and killing them for refusing to buy insurance yet, but she's not ruling out doing that in the future. I still look forward to the day I get arrested and shot for refusing to spend my money as President Hillary Clinton dictates.

But with her requirement for employment, can you see the total chaos coming? Isn't it a "requirement" to have a social security number for employment? How many people are employed without one today? By recent estimates, as many as 30 million! And how many companies are punished for breaking this law today? None! So since companies already get no punishment for breaking one law, what makes anyone think they'll obey another, similar law?

Hillary Clinton, barring some unseen circumstances, is going to be the next president of the United States. And she IS going to bring it to it's knees with her health care plans. Perhaps by that time I'll be in New Hampshire, joining many others in civil disobedience.

Posted by: Ogre at 01:15 PM | Comments (2170) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

NC Legislature Incompetent

In case you hadn't noticed by the various posts on this blog, the Democrat-led North Carolina legislature is just utterly fiscally incompetent. They're clearly not capable of doing their job. And they can't be voted out because they draw legislative districts to ensure that no matter what people want, they will be re-elected. And if the people don't vote for them, they just change the rules.

And now, they've admitted that they're utterly incapable of doing one of the very few things they should be doing. While they're spending money on massive, massive corporate welfare, competing with one another to see who can give away MORE to huge corporations, they're showing that they cannot do something simple, like build roads.

The legislature collects millions of dollars in taxes and fees to use for roads. Each year the Democrats vote to take money out of that fund and to throw it in the general fund, where they can pay off their corporate donors. Now they're admitting that they cannot build the roads -- they've given permission to counties to build roads. Of course, they're not giving the counties $1 to help them build the roads -- they're just giving permission to counties to do their job for them because they're just not capable of doing their own job.

Keep electing those Democrats in NC -- if they raise taxes enough your car might get to drive on a road that doesn't knock your front end out of alignment within a day of getting it aligned. But that's not going to happen any time soon.

Posted by: Ogre at 11:03 AM | Comments (22) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 18, 2007

Patreaus Truth

patreusTruth.jpg

Posted by: Ogre at 05:03 PM | Comments (1144) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Values Voter Debate

There was a debate last night -- did you notice? All Republican candidates for president were invited. Not everyone showed up. Well, it was put on by values voters -- so those who disagreed with their positions, for the most part, didn't show up. Absent, but invited, were: all Democrat candidates and Rudy McRomny-Thompson.

Many questions did circle around Christian values. They asked questions that would have been quite tough for many of those people to answer. I watched part of the debate, but my internet connection got funny towards the second half, so I missed parts.

In short, basically all the candidates agreed with just about all the positions of the Values Voters group. The one exception was Ron Paul -- who was solid and outstanding. Mr. Paul was incredibly consistent -- he supported freedom at all times. When asked who would use government to correct behavior like prostitution, all agreed they would except Paul. When asked about expanding government to do, well, anything, most agreed -- except Paul.

And when it came to the discussion about the Iraq war, everyone agreed that the US needed to stay "until victory is won" -- except Ron Paul. At the same time, Mr. Paul agreed with all the positions of the values voters. Keep that in mind: Ron Paul agreed with all the values of the Christian Values Voters. And Ron Paul can beat Hillary Clinton.

A new entrant was in the race and appeared at this debate -- Alan Keyes. Wow. This guy can talk. I absolutely love to listen to him speak about issues that he's passionate about. I have a couple recordings of his speeches from back in 2000. I even managed to vote for him back in 2000 in the presidential primary (I still have the T-Shirt!) He is powerful and passionate -- I really don't understand why he has so much trouble getting votes. And Keyes really understands the war on terror:

The Islamic fascists are evil, and it is right to defend ourselves against them. But we do not fight them because they are Islamic, or even because they are fascists. We fight them because, by their practice of terror, they prove themselves to be people who have no regard for the fundamental tenets of decent conscience that we believe must be respected when human beings deal with one another, even in war.

If you missed that debate, you did miss some really exciting candidates. Now if we can just find a way to ensure that Rudy McRomney-Thompson don't get elected, things could really improve...

Update: Stop the ACLU isn't so inclined to favor Ron Paul after this debate.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:05 PM | Comments (5220) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Atkinson to Seek Legislator Votes

June Atkinson, elected to the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction by the Democrat North Carolina Legislature (in direct opposition to the voters of North Carolina) says she will seek another term in the alleged elected position. There's no word on whether she will only campaign in Raleigh for votes from legislators, or if she plans on seeking a majority of votes from citizens of North Carolina.

For those who do not recall, the North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction was one of the last races settled in the 2004 election. After 9 months of legal wrangling, the North Carolina Supreme Court determined that Republican Bill Fletcher received more votes from the people of North Carolina than June Atkinson. However, the Democrat-led Legislature then passed a law that allowed them to select anyone they wanted for any elective office, no matter who the people voted for -- and they, of course, selected the Democrat.

So June is running again. As long as the gerrymandered Democrat-led legislature is on her side, why does she need even one vote from citizens?

Posted by: Ogre at 01:01 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

September 17, 2007

Football Announcers

Someone who knows someone PLEASE talk to the NFL announcers. I know many are former players, and many have been hit in the head a lot. But someone has GOT to get them to stop with this line that I hear EVERY week:

Gee, Bob, that defense just can't take this any more. Look how tired they are. They've been out on the field too long, so they're getting tired.

Hey clueless talking heads -- the offensive players they're playing against have been on the field the EXACT SAME amount of time, down to the second! If the defense is tired from being on the field 19 minutes and 3 seconds, why isn't the offense, who has been on the field the exact same 19 minutes and 3 seconds tired, too?

Oh, they just sound like total idiots when they say that.

Posted by: Ogre at 05:08 PM | Comments (3740) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Arrested for Walking

The other week I posted a list of things you can carry that may get you arrested in America. It appears that I need to make another list, this time one of a list of things that you can do to get you arrested. And no, it wouldn't need to include criminal activities. Just walking down the road is grounds for arrest these days, apparently.

Picture this: If you were walking down a road, minding your own business, and I tried to give you a piece of paper, what would you do? You hadn't broken the law. You were in no danger. You were not dangerous to anyone else. Let's say that you decide to continue walking. Next, 4 of my friends grab you and drag you to the ground. Then we shove you in a car and take you away to a place and hold you there, not allowing you to leave. We search you and take some of your things, including a video camera. After about 6 hours, we throw you out in the street where we are (not where we grabbed you). Keep in mind -- you committed no crime. In fact, I don't even claim you committed any crime. So, is there anything wrong with that scene?

According to the federal government, no -- that's perfectly okay. Well, it's okay as long as I'm federal agent U.S. Marshal Steve Monier, that is.

You see, Lauren Canario was arrested because she failed to obey his orders to not walk on a certain road. Once again, there was nothing illegal -- no one was in danger of anything. The road was safe. But Steve Monier decided he didn't want Lauren to use the road (other people were allowed to use the road, but Steve Monier doesn't personally like Lauren, apparently). Steve Monier also stole Lauren's video camera. Once again, she was charged with NO CRIME -- but they're keeping the camera because they want to.

Welcome to today's America where government federal agents have total control and are accountable to no one.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:09 PM | Comments (2731) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hillary Care II, Revenge of the Spurned

Well, Hillary has joined Edwards in support of jailing more people who disagree with them. I wish I were an artist -- here's what I'd draw:

Picture a table with two piles of steaming dog doo on it. To the right of the table stands a worn, tired, hard-working taxpayer. Behind him is a large government goon with a shotgun pointed at his back. The goon is saying, "Pick one now, or else!" At the top is a banner: HillaryCare 2008.

That's an accurate picture of what will happen if Hillary gets elected. She has now said that she will use the force of government to make you buy insurance, even if you don't want it. And if you don't, apparently, you'll either be killed or jailed. Welcome to Hillary's America.

Perhaps the only way America can avoid this forced health care will be with Ron Paul. Could Paul be the only possible candidate who can beat Hillary?

Posted by: Ogre at 01:31 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

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