An awesome story for one young boy’s quest for freedom

Jack Fowler over at NRO’s blog, “The Corner” shares the following:

On Babalublog, the great writer Carlos Eire celebrates his “second” birthday — the day he and his brother escaped from the oppression of Castro’s Cuba.

I highly recommend that you follow the link above. It is some awesome reading.

 

John Podhoretz gets exposed for the intolerant Trotskyite that he truly is

This is great;  a Trotskyite Zionist goes for a debate; and the minute he sees that he is losing the debate — he storms off the stage, takes his marbles and goes home.

I am referring to the greatest Trotskyite, Zionist, Neoconservative of them all — John Podhoretz.

See here, here, here and here.

Money quote:

Bottom line: I’d had a long day and I didn’t see the point in spending more of it getting booed and shushed. So I left. So sue me.

If only we could sue you and your family for all the trillions of dollars — and the 4000+ lives that were  wasted in the Iraq War —- which you and your satanic Father were cheerleaders for, after 9/11. Actually, I would very much like to see criminal charges filed against you and few of your Trotskyite friends as well. However, as we realists know; that will never happened to a protected class as yourself.

You want to know what got wrong with Conservatism? You want to know why the GOP is in the shape that it is in? Look no further than this man here and his idiotic Trotskyite magazine that he runs. They are the true enemies of America; they are the ones who put us in the war that almost broke this Nation and ruined its standing in the world.

It is a pity that there is not true justice in this Nation of ours; otherwise, this man and his friends would be sitting in jail cells.

 

Rule #1: Never, ever, ever lie about anything on the internet!

I happened to have run across this story over at Ace’s blog. I really do not know what this woman was thinking; but man did she ever step into it! SurpriseLoserDoh

The Story from one of the blogs over at Houston Press:

There are times when the good deeds that happen by the magic of the Internet make us quite giddy. This time? Well, this time they make us cringe, to the tune of $100,000.

If you haven’t read the “insightful” personal narrative that recently went viral, “Why I Make Terrible Decisions, or poverty thoughts,” there’s a good chance it’s somewhere on your Facebook news feed. This thing is everywhere.

The essay, which is being touted as a poignant look at the “terrible” decision-making processes of the poor, is the product of writer Linda Walther Tirado’s personal experience with poverty. Linda, a married mother of two, speaks of having to live in seedy motels, where there are roaches that she stabs with toothpicks. She can’t cook for her family because she lacks a kitchen, and she’s afraid of attracting more roaches, so they survive on junk food in said seedy motel.

Oh, and not only does Linda say she’s living in seedy motels and stabbing roaches, but she’s also working two jobs, taking a full load of college courses, and is banished to a life as a cook in the “back of the house” at a restaurant, as she is deemed too unsightly as a waitress — or apparently a legal secretary — due to an unfortunate set of teeth. She’s in desperate need of dental work, and her body is full of infection, but she can’t afford to spend the money on medical or dental care. It’s a tragic, tragic story.

It’s also tragically fictional.

There is more about it over at National Review and Mediaite; and boy does it ever get deep. The biggest and most important rule when it comes to the Internet, especially with charity, is to never, ever lie about anything at all. Because if you do, it will come out; one way or another. Stephen Glass did it, and he is still paying the price for it.

Not to toot my horn; but that is one thing that I have never done at all on this blog —— and that is lie about anything related to my personal situation here. Because I knew if I did, it would come back to haunt me. Now I will tell you this, I will share what I do truly have in my personal bank account:

bankaccount

In case you cannot see that, I have $73.70 in my personal checking account. I recently received a payment from infolinks.com, for about 2 years of running their ads here on my site. I was paid by Paypal. Anyway, that is my true situation here. However, because I am an honest man, I will tell you that I do live with my parents; and I do have a roof over my head and three square meals a day. Now, my parents have to foot my bill for medications, as I am diabetic, have high blood pressure and have ADHD. Plus, they pay for any and all doctor’s visits. So, it is not like I am on welfare or any other social program. Hey, at least I am honest about all of that. Heck, I could lie about everything here; but I am a bit more smarter than that. Again, anytime you lie about something like this woman did here; it always catches up with you.

I might be a bit of a jaded, opinionated old duffer; who’s bit of an eccentric. But, at least I am honest! Big Grin

As the old saying goes, “Honesty is the best policy.” Too bad this woman did not follow that teaching.

Update: …and of course, HuffPo doubles down.

Interesting Reading: A brief note on why the progressive blog movement failed by Ian Welsh

As a former left-of-center blogger; I find this very, very interesting….

In the early 2000s progressive blogging seemed like a big deal.  At the first Yearly Kos, as it was called then, big name politicians came and kissed our ass.  We were covered by major newspaper and TV outlets.  Etc…

Today, we are nothing.

The reason is simple: we could not elect enough of our people. We could not instill sufficient fear.  We could not defeat incumbents.  We did not produce juice.  Clark and Dean didn’t win the 2004 Presidential nomination. Dean was taken out in a particularly nasty fashion (via the manufactured Dean Scream.)

via A brief note on why the progressive blog movement failed | Ian Welsh.

Update: I feel the need to nitpick a little bit:

The Tea Party, say what you will about them, gets a great deal of obeisance from Republicans for one simple reason: they will primary you if they don’t like how you’ve been voting, and they’ll probably win that primary.  They are feared.  Progressives are not feared, because they do not believe enough in their ostensible principles to act on them in an effective fashion.

Meh, Eh…. Meh….. I don’t know how much the Republican Party, fears the Tea Party movement. Now the establishment types; oh yes, they worry, quite a bit.  However, I do not look for the Tea Party “power”, if you will — to last much longer at all. Ted Cruz’s little shutdown drama, might have backfired a bit. There are some pretty ticked off people in the ranks of the GOP; namely Business types.  There are some establishment type PAC’s firing up, that might end up going after some of the Tea Party darlings.

What happened was this, Ted Cruz and the House Republicans made one glaring oversight. They forgot that there is two different wings of the Republican Party. There is a the grassroots, populist wing and then, there is the other wing of the party, which donates the most money — the big and small and medium size business that give OOODLES of money to the GOP —- and they ain’t happy one bit. This might be a problem for Cruz and his Tea Party friends in the house. 2014 will tell that story, trust me.

Plus too, there are a few other reasons why Blogging isn’t what it was:

  • Lack of novelty status – Blogs aren’t new anymore. Blogs are just one of many social media “Thingamabobs” out there now. We’re competing with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the rest of ’em. As bloggers, we should use them to promote postings and so forth. Like they say, adapt or die.
  • Corporatization – Everyone, or well; almost everyone is on someone else’s dole. I’ve griped about that for years. There’s no independence in the Blogosphere anymore. It’s not just on the left either. A good deal of the right-wing blogosphere is on someone’s dole too and I don’t mean the Koch brothers either.

Also too:

The turning point was when Joe Lieberman, though defeated in a primary, managed to be elected anyway.  After the 2006 House capture by Democrats, Pelosi’s democrats betrayed the fundamental principles that the prog blogosphere stood for: they did nothing to stop the war, for example.  The Prog blogosphere took it, and worse, most of the blogs that did come out against House Democratic Vichy behaviour, lost audience.  (Yes, they did. I tracked this stuff carefully at the time.)

None of which was the fault Progressives blogosphere. You can lead ’em to the watering hole; but you can’t make ’em drink. You guys did your jobs. Not your fault the Democrats sold you all out. Just my opinion.

Related:

Reaction in the blogosphere on the left, naturally, isn’t too good. Here’s the roundup: (Via MemeorandumThe Raw Story, FiredoglakeBooman Tribune and Balloon Juice

This is why I do not get into blog wars

Head on over to Patterico’s blog and read all about it.

Now to be clear, I am known to tell a person off now and again. But, as for as protracted battles. I just don’t do that sort of a thing anymore.

Why? Because I learned from experience, that it simply isn’t worth the effort. Now, please, keep in mind here; that I do not have a dog in the fight linked to above; at all. Nor, do I wish to become involved at all. To me, it just isn’t worth all the headaches really. I did all that crap, when I started out, and was carping for attention when I was new; and boy did I ever get it too; in the worst way possible.

I started this blog, to gripe and complain about Government; not to win personality contests and/or get in with someone’s clique or be the really awesomely awesome blogger of the year or anything vainly stupid like that. 🙄

I am perfectly content with just doing my own little thing over here and if someone enjoys it and gets something out of it; great, fine, I’ve done my job. If not, no big deal, I didn’t lose anything at all. Peace is a beautiful thing man; and I am enjoying a good deal of that nowadays. Besides all that, I’m too old to deal with the stress of blog wars anymore. This blogging business is something I do for fun; and if I happen to make a little money at it; all the better.

But, when it becomes stressful, or a job; that’s when I start thinking about quitting. Like I did before. I wish the parties at the link above all the best; getting sued sucks. I have never been there, thankfully and with any luck; I won’t get there either! However, I will say this; step in horse manure; draw flies. What I always say. This is why I limit my postings to general politics; not people. Public figures, yes. Anyone else, no way. Keeps me out of court, and my blood pressure low.

…and that, my friends, is how I like it. 😀

 

Status update from Jim Hoft over at Gateway Pundit

Like I wrote on here before, I have not always agreed with Jim Hoft over at Gateway Pundit; But, this ordeal here is harrowing to read.

Quote:

My trip to Los Angeles the weekend of August 16th was wonderful. I saw several friends. I spoke at a rally for media fairness. I played the part of an Obama rodeo clown chasing a cow across the stage. It was great fun.

It wasn’t until late Saturday night that I started feeling ill. And I brought what I thought was a cold virus back home with me to St. Louis.

The next week I felt horrible and took cold medicine to try to shake this late summer “virus.” It wasn’t until Thursday when I woke up with no sight in my left eye that I knew something was terribly wrong.

That is when I checked into the hospital and my life changed forever.

via Facing the Horror: How Disease Nearly Took My Life But Grace Saved Me | The Gateway Pundit.

I also believe that good Doctors and having the insurance or money to afford those doctors might have helped too. But, I digress. 😀

Either way, go read the rest of that. Looks like ol’ Hoft got really close to death’s door. Maybe it will lighten him up a bit. But, somehow I doubt that one. 😉

 

 

Popular Science shuts off comments on its site

Not shocking at all, most liberals do not like being questioned.

Quote:

Comments can be bad for science. That’s why, here at PopularScience.com, we’re shutting them off.

It wasn’t a decision we made lightly. As the news arm of a 141-year-old science and technology magazine, we are as committed to fostering lively, intellectual debate as we are to spreading the word of science far and wide. The problem is when trolls and spambots overwhelm the former, diminishing our ability to do the latter.

[….]

But even a fractious minority wields enough power to skew a reader’s perception of a story, recent research suggests. In one study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Dominique Brossard, 1,183 Americans read a fake blog post on nanotechnology and revealed in survey questions how they felt about the subject (are they wary of the benefits or supportive?). Then, through a randomly assigned condition, they read either epithet- and insult-laden comments (“If you don’t see the benefits of using nanotechnology in these kinds of products, you’re an idiot” ) or civil comments. 

[….]

A politically motivated, decades-long war on expertise has eroded the popular consensus on a wide variety of scientifically validated topics. Everything, from evolution to the origins of climate change, is mistakenly up for grabs again. Scientific certainty is just another thing for two people to “debate” on television. And because comments sections tend to be a grotesque reflection of the media culture surrounding them, the cynical work of undermining bedrock scientific doctrine is now being done beneath our own stories, within a website devoted to championing science.

via Why We’re Shutting Off Our Comments | Popular Science.

Vox Day Saith:

Comments aren’t bad for science. Comments are bad for those who are stubbornly clinging to outdated scientific paradigms that are showing obvious cracks. 

William Teach AKA Porter Good says:

I guess they haven’t heard of using methods like Bad Behavior, Akismet, Disqus, and others commenting blockers. They aren’t perfect, but certainly cut down quite a bit.

[….]

There are many Warmist websites I’m blocked from commenting at. Same with other Climate Realists like Steven Goddard, Tom Nelson, Anthony Watts, etc. Because Warmists do not want debate: they want people to sit down, shut up, and smile as Government becomes more intrusive and controlling. All based on a lie.

This is pretty much what I was thinking too. If you have a blog or a website; and you do not allow comments, what you basically have is a pulpit with an empty Church. Now, I moderate comments, because this blog sometimes like to attract the attention of some trollish folk who like to make appearances here. But, anyone can comment and as long as the comments don’t blatantly violate my comment policy, I will let them stand. This is because I do not mind people coming back and commenting. I also like it when they donate, but I digress. 😉