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Ogre's Politics & Views

November 20, 2006

Tarheel Tavern

This week's Tarheel Tavern is up at Slowly She Turned! Head on over and see what's new in North Carolina blogging!

Posted by: Ogre at 05:07 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Guard the Borders!

Last week, two Muslim leaders in Boston were arrested for immigration fraud - illegally filing fraudulent visa documents and obtaining religious workers' visas. The arrests were the culmination of a multi-year investigation in Boston and New York:

The ICE agents arrested Hannan Wednesday along with 32 other people in eight states and the District of Columbia in connection with an alleged nationwide scheme to help many foreigners, mostly from Pakistan, immigrate and remain in the U.S. by filing false applications for religious workers' visas. Most of those taken into custody did not have religious training or experience to qualify for the visas, and held secular jobs here in the U.S., such as working at gas stations and factories or driving trucks, according to the ICE. Others were religious workers but had used fraudulent identity documents to get their visas, the agency said.
The agency claims the petitioners of the visas took substantial cash fees from the foreigners for the false paperwork filed on their behalf.

Posted by: Ogre at 04:10 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Tax Money used to Lobby

Well, gee, you mean that's not how it's supposed to work? It seems the UNC-Chapel Hill (Berkeley East) gave nearly half a million dollars in the 2004 election cycle and appears to have given even more in this past election cycle. And where do you suppose that money came from? How many donations to this PAC come from people employed by government -- and therefore paid by tax dollars from those who actually work?

What do you suppose the chances are of their $2.6 billion budget request passing the legislature, now that they've sent bribes to the tune of a half million dollars to the legislature?

Want to fix the corruption? It's incredibly simple: get government OUT of the education business. They're horrible at it, and it just makes corruption even easier.

Posted by: Ogre at 11:04 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

November 18, 2006

Conservatives Betrayed

For those who still think "Republican" means "Conservative," you need this book. The book is "Conservatives Betrayed." It talks about how Bush and the Republicans have completely betrayed conservatives and conservative ideas.

Jerome Corsi has written a review of the book if you want to find out more about it. And I don't have one yet, so if you're looking for a Christmas gift for the Ogre...

Posted by: Ogre at 08:11 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Medal of Honor Winner

For those who don't know it, the Medal of Honor may not be much. To those who understand it's importance (the highest medal that can be awarded to any US service member), it's a big deal. In case you missed it this week, a U.S. Marine will be awarded the medal.

And yes, Cpl. Jason L. Dunham will receive it posthumously.

Posted by: Ogre at 06:04 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

New Issue of City Journal

The new issue of City Journal is up. What's the City Journal?

A quarterly magazine of urban affairs, published by the Manhattan Institute

Lots of good stuff in there. Take a peek and see some other points of view on the world and urban areas.

Posted by: Ogre at 01:14 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

November 17, 2006

Silly Afternoon Quizzes

You Are 78% American

You're as American as red meat and shooting ranges.

Tough and independent, you think big.

You love everything about the US, wrong or right.

And anyone who criticizes your home better not do it in front of you!

How American Are You?

Posted by: Ogre at 07:05 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

mmMMmm...Pie

You Are Mud Pie

You're the perfect combo of flavor and depth

Those who like you give into their impulses

What Kind of Pie Are You?

I like pie.

Posted by: Ogre at 04:52 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

The UCLA Student

Well the news about the UCLA taser student is all over the web today, isn't it? Michelle Malkin has various reactions to it and Stop the ACLU mentions how, yes, the ACLU wants cash. I mean, to sue someone.

From viewing the video, there's no way the cops overreacted. As one writer mentioned on Michelle's site, if anything, the cops under-reacted. They were clearly fearful of the photographs and other possible feedback. When they were resisted, they should have tossed the guy on the ground, cuffed him, and carried him out. Then they'd only have to taser him once. Much more effective would have been a baton to the head. But that has the potential to make too many blood stains on the carpet, so they can't do that.

But instead of talking about the police reaction, I'd like to ask what the police were doing there in the first place. In various stories and repeated all over the place is "Because of the safety of the students we limit the use after 11 to just students, staff and faculty." Why is that?

Look, *I* paid for that damn building. It was MY tax money that built it. It's my tax money that pays the salary of the people who work there. By what right can they keep me out of it? How does keeping me out of their precious building "after 11pm" make anyone safer? Is 11pm some magical hour that indicates crimes can and will only be committed after 11pm? Are students safer if an axe murderer visits at 10:45pm instead of 11:15?

This is just another example of big government gone crazy. Again, the police handled the incident fairly well under the circumstances. But if government wasn't so bloated and useless, there wouldn't have been any need to call the police. If you want to have a private library and not let me in after 11pm, or any other time, you go ahead and build one -- without my money. Once you use my money, you lose all rights to keep me out.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:03 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Stop the ACLU

Crossposted from Stop the ACLU

When the Democrats had their victory in the elections the ACLU cheered! So did our enemies.

Leading up to the elections the ACLU did not hide the fact that they wanted the Democrats in charge. The ACLU have a lot to cheer about. They know that the liberal left will help them further their agenda. We are already seeing it happen. The Democrats are the ACLU's best vehicle towards shaping America into their vision.

The ACLU rely on activist liberal judges as their avenue of enacting their goals. It violated its own policy in order to stymie the nomination of William Rehnquist to the Supreme Court. It led the fight to defeat the confirmation of Robert Bork. It fought against John Roberts, and fought hard to keep Samuel Alito from joining the Supreme Court. They definitely have a preference for what type of judges they want on the Supreme Court. No doubt, one of their strongholds is having one of their own on the bench. With the current rumors on John Paul Steven's health, I'm sure they are thrilled with Schumer's latest proclaimation.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:02 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

NC Teacher Salaries

The NC Association of "Educators" is complaining that teacher salaries in NC have "dropped" to 26th in the nation -- all the way DOWN to $43,348 per year. They want to "make progress" in increasing the lower end of wages so the average can be even higher. Their #1 agenda item for next legislative year? "A 5% increase for ALL school personnel."

Note the lack of qualifiers there. They want a raise for the janitor that does nothing extra. They want a raise for the person who comes and unlocks the doors in the morning -- even if they show up late every day for a week. They want a raise for the teacher who educates children and the teacher who shows up and sleeps through class.

Miserable bastards, the lot of them.

They want more money while producing absolutely nothing more. That's wrong. ONLY when government is involved is this even possible! Tell you what, if you're not in government, why don't you go to your boss and ask for a 5% raise and explain that you're also going to come in an hour later and leave an hour earlier after you get the raise. Let me know how that works out for you, because that's that the NC Association of Educators is asking the legislature. Oh, but don't worry, it's a gerrymandered-Democrat legislature. I bet they get a 7% raise.

Government education is utterly and completely worthless.

Posted by: Ogre at 12:37 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

November 16, 2006

Great Horned Owl

Another interesting act at The Carolina Renaissance Festival is the Ancient Art of Falconry. This is a show put on by EarthQuest. They are:

a non profit environmental education organization, dedicated to the education of the public as to their impact on the natural world.

They fly a bunch of birds up and down the aisle, letting everyone see them up close. They had a Harris Hawk, this Great Horned Owl, and a Buzzard. Oh, and a giant snake for some reason

(Click to Enlarge)

If you want to see some big birds up close and personal, head on over and check these guys out.

Previous Performers:
Sarah Mullen
The Scullery Maids
Drums and Drones
Dextre Tripp: Up In Smoke
The Good Fairy
Manolete
Tree Man
Magician
Dextre Tripp
Jewels of the Caravan
Blackenshear the Curious
The London Broil
Dextre Tripp

Posted by: Ogre at 07:04 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Beer Personality

Another quiz to lighten the afternoon.
You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world.
Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them.
When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well.
But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

What's Your Beer Personality?

mmMMMmm...Beer.

Posted by: Ogre at 05:05 PM | Comments (19) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

ReviewMe.Com

(This is a paid advertisement)
Harvey pointed out yet another site that's geared towards generating cash for you as a blogger (has that word made it to the official Webster's dictionary yet?) -- ReviewMe.Com. Now I really like to write (hello, NaNoWriMo at 29,402 words this month) and I clearly like to blog (been doing this crazy thing nearly every day for, geez, 3 years?), so this place seemed to be a natural fit for me.

ReviewMe.Com is a site that's dedicated to helping companies and people get some marketing going and get some exposure for their products. They do this by getting bloggers to sign up and agree to write reviews of the products, whatever they might be. Seems like a good idea to me!

They don't require anyone who signs up to write a positive review. In fact, about the only requirement I can find about the reviews is that they want the reviews to be at least 200 words. Guess that leaves out those who would just write, "Man, that thing is great" -- and expect to get paid.

The site itself seems rather well-designed. It's very readable and there's clear links throughout the site to make navigation easy. And, as Harvey points out, the concept seems good -- get the advertisements out in the actual body of the blog, instead of over there on the sides where no one is reading, anyway.

If you're interested in writing, this place seems to be on the up-and-up. Sure, they ask for your SSN when you sign up, but you know, that's the one time when an organization is actually ALLOWED to ask for it -- when they're paying you for a service. Keep in mind that they're not going to be witholding taxes, so you're going to have to pay those (if you earn more than $600 in your tax year), but isn't it worth it to track and pay a few taxes if you can earn money for writing?

In addition, this site, if it becomes successful, could be a gateway for you, the blogger. There's millions and millions of blogs. That means there's a huge target marketplace. This company is working on tapping that huge market. Now once you get paid to write a review, you ARE a professional writer. Those of you (including me) that hope one day to be published as a writer now have something to put in that section on your resume regarding actual, paying, writing experience!

So hey, if you're a blogger who's interested in writing reviews of products that people might think you're interested in, or if you're in sales and you're trying to sell something and want more exposure on blogs by authors and readers, head on over and check out ReviewMe.com. I think you might like it. I did.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:07 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Split Districts Cause Fraud

In case you haven't followed the state House elections in North Carolina -- and let's face it, unless you're extremely active or an actual member of that body you probably don't -- the election isn't over. Just like the 2004 election (which didn't end for over 6 months), it will likely be months and months before we know the results of the election. Why? Because Democrats are in charge of it, and they want to make it confusing enough so that only they can determine the results.

This time it's split districts that are allegedly causing the problem. This is quite common in NC, where when you walk into the precinct, they look your name up, then pick from a stack of potentially dozens of different ballots. For example, I know at the location where I vote, there are at least 5 different possible ballots that I can get, depending on exactly where I live. And if I didn't know who I was supposed to vote for, I wouldn't know if I had the wrong ballot.

In the race for House district 100, where extremely corrupt Jim Black is the current office holder, they somehow "discovered" after the election that some people received the wrong ballot. What I'd like to know is how they "discovered" this after the election. And in typical Democrat fashion, their solution is to just throw out all the ballots -- because that would ensure a Democrat win.

Situations like this really make sure that people don't vote. They encourage fraud, which is the heart and soul of the Democrat party in NC. The Democrats in NC honestly believe that you're too stupid to elect the right people to rule over you, so they will ensure that THEY will select the right people.

Go ahead, try and convince me it actually matters to vote in NC. The Democrat-led legislature and Democrat controlled board of elections will strongly argue with you.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:03 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

November 15, 2006

Sarah Mullen

When you get close to this next performer, you will hear her before you see her. It is Sarah Mullen, a most wonderful and beautiful harpist. The music that comes from that instrument will entrance you for hours. I could sit and listen and watch this all day long.

And not only is Sarah stunningly beautiful, and incredibly talented, she's also darn smart -- she has a college degree with a triple major. And she studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Folks, she really is that good.

(Click to Enlarge)

And, if you want to hear her wonderful music and you simply cannot make it to the festival, you can listen to and order her CDs at her web site. Go listen and be amazed and impressed. I know I am.

Previous Performers:
The Scullery Maids
Drums and Drones
Dextre Tripp: Up In Smoke
The Good Fairy
Manolete
Tree Man
Magician
Dextre Tripp
Jewels of the Caravan
Blackenshear the Curious
The London Broil
Dextre Tripp

Posted by: Ogre at 07:02 PM | Comments (18) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

I am Mr. Burns

Let's have a quiz now, shall we?
You Are Mr. Burns

Okay, so you're evil...

You have big plans to rule the world, and you'll destroy it in the process if necessary!

You will be remembered for: the exploitation of the masses

Life philosophy: "One dollar for eternal happiness? I'd be happier with the dollar."

The Simpsons Personality Test

Excellent...

Posted by: Ogre at 05:02 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

BlogWorld Expo

How about a convention for and about blogging? Well, there's going to be one in 2007. It's in Las Vegas, so don't look for the Ogre to be there, but go ahead and take a look and see what it's all about. And if you're nearby, why not consider taking a trip there?

And if you want even more information about it, you can follow the, yes, BlogWorld Expo Blog! What fun, eh?

Posted by: Ogre at 04:03 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Liberal Pledge

Some liberal has prepared this pledge to "Conservatives and Republicans," making some promises. It's mostly half-truths and lies, but I must point out that one last item was missing from the list of 12 things:

13. We will attempt to accomplish all of the above regardless of the cost as measured in actual dollars, tax dollars, limits on freedom, destructions of liberty, or miscarriages of justice. And we will not take responsibility for anything in any case.

Then, at least it would be a little more honest.

But then Kender, of War Radio had to go an add a counter petition. Take careful note of #5 in that list.

Yes, it is going to get worse -- I'm afraid much worse -- before it will get better.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:09 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Fair Taxes

by Terry Dillard of The Right Track

Well, the elections are over and I've heard everything from "It's a sure thing" to "No way it'll even make it out of committee now" regarding the FairTax.

One thing I do know -- never underestimate the power of a grassroots movement. Democrats were shown in 1994 not to take their power for granted, and Republicans had that same lesson hammered home to them a week ago. The American people have no hesitation whatsoever about "flushing the toilet" as I prefer to call it.

Posted by: Ogre at 01:04 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

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