Why I have ads on my site and why I ask for donations

This is a continuation of my previous posting.

Nobody likes Ads, especially the annoying popup ones. Least of all me!

Well, I put them on here for one simple reason….

*Cut the sob story music*

I have not worked a “normal job” since 2006. There is a huge story behind it that dates back to 2003. It is long, rambling and if not told the right way, makes me sound like I am whining; which I am not at all.

Short and sweet version: I attempted a career change back in 2003, that ended up blowing up in my face. I was able, with the state’s help in getting my class A CDL license. (That’s a license to drive a semi truck, for those who don’t know.) Well, after I got it, I made some mistakes along the way, that effectively rendered me out of the driver’s seat. Drinking was not involved at all. What happened was, instead of being smart and getting a job with a big trucking company. I decided that I wanted to stay near home; mainly, because I am an only child and my parents needed the help. Which is more so now, than it was back then.

Well, I ended up going with a small trucking company and ended up making a rookie mistake and ended up with 2 points on my license in 2004. Basically, me and a city light pole got into a fight and the pole; and by proxy, me — lost. 🙁 Thankfully, nobody was hurt and there was no damage was done to the trailer or truck. The light pole? Not so much. Snapped that puppy off at the ground.

Well, basically it meant this: 2 points on license = being labeled high risk by other trucking companies = not being to find a job in the field I trained for.

At the point, I got pissed and said, “screw it!” and I wanted to find something, but because Michigan’s economy was in the pooper; there was nothing around here, at least nothing I was qualified for. 🙁  Honestly, if it were not for my parents, I would be living under a viaduct somewhere.

Speed ahead to 2006…..

I had just left a Church that I attended for a while, a independent Baptist Church no less. I had been royally stabbed in the back by a so-called “Pastor” there. (and believe me, I use that term about him very, very, very loosely. He was no “Pastor”, he was a hireling hack, who had zero business being in the pulpit.)

I had seen stuff about blogs, but I blew it off as kiddie stuff, like MySpace and that sort of a thing. This was until I discovered political blogs. My eyes lit up and my wheels started turning in my head. Now, keep in mind, at that time; I was still on, what I like to call, “the skeptical left”. I was not a Bush fan at all; I still am not. By 2006, I was convinced that the Iraq war, which I initially supported, was a huge judgement error on the President’s part, at the time. I also was not a fan of the Republicans either, I admired Reagan very much. But, I thought Bush was an idiot.

You have to understand me. I grew up in Southwest Detroit, my Father is a retired General Motors worker. Yes, that means that the UAW is a big part of my family. Having said that, there is another side to me. As it is spelled out elsewhere on my blog here, I am a Christian, I have been for 35 years now. (Which makes me feel so old! 😥 ) Needless to say, Church was a big part of my life, when I was younger. I went to Christian Schools all my life. The “God & Country” movement was something that I was a big part of in the 1980’s.

To put a label on it, I was what you would call a conservative Democrat or a “blue dog” Democrat. I was not too big on the Republicans and because of my working class upbringing, I felt a connection with the Democratic Party. I didn’t agree with them on Abortion or the guy stuff. But, I felt that Democrats were more in tune with the concerns of my family and more notably — Me. My parents or myself, we never donated any that party. We just voted that way.

Now back to 2006, I was becoming more and more angry at Bush, the Iraq War deaths were piling up like cord wood and I decided to do something I had not done since I was like in the 7’th or 8’th grade —- I decided to start writing again. I had not done it in years, I just never felt the need to. But, I felt it was time again.

And so, in 2006, I went to blogspot.com and registered a blog. It was called The Populist. The blog was hacked by either Chinese hackers or by some neoconservatives who didn’t like me and my political stance. I have an idea, who was behind it. But, I cannot prove it. So, the point is moot.

…and that was 10 years ago. Needless to say, my political stance has changed…. quite a bit. In 2007, My blog was hacked, by that time — my opinion of the Democrats had dropped to a all-time low. The democrats never stopped the Iraq War. They talked a mean game, but they did nothing to stop it. They were using it as a wedge issue against Bush. I felt that to be hypocritical. I also felt that Hillary was being ridiculous, when it came to the primaries. I already had a good deal of disdain for her husband; considering what happened in Waco in the mid-90’s. This is why I never was on board with the Democrats. I remember when the Clinton-Monica scandal was happening, I remember thinking, “Why doesn’t he just resign?” Bill Clinton had besmirched the White House and America.

This was when I started Political Byline. I ran it for 9 years. First as a Centrist, and ever so slowly, I began to lean to the right. Somewhere in there, I discovered Pat Buchanan. I had found my political ally. I still read his columns faithfully. He is as close to Reagan as we’ll ever get today. In 2011, after Obama ordered the draw down of troops in Iraq. I decided to put that blog in inactive status and shut down for a while. It lasted about 5 weeks.

I went back to blogspot and created another blog —  and started over. Thoughts and Rantings and the domain I chose, was something I pulled outta my… behind?

Later, I was able to pony some money together and bought a domain and was able to secure some cheap hosting. I later moved to a better host that let me pay yearly.

…and here I am, 10 years later. Still writing about the left, that I was once a part of. Pointing out the obvious and offering a different idea. I’m not rich doing it. But, I am having a good time. 🙂

Your comments are welcomed. 🙂

 

 

To all the new people stopping by

Just a quick note to all the newbies stopping by…

Lots a new people arriving from this posting and this one here.

I just want to let you all know that you can anonymous here too. The Jackpack addition to the wordpress commenting system is for those who want to login via facebook or twitter. But, you don’t have to use that, you can simply enter your handle that you used at hotair.com and whatever email address you wish. You anonymity will be protected here, I assure you of that.

I am not going to moderate comments. If someone trolls, I’ll just delete the comment, if they get too stupid, I will just ban the IP and the comment will end up in the spam folder. But, normally, I am pretty laid back on comments; unless someone starts attacking me or the other commenters.

Anyhow, just wanted everyone to know this. 🙂

Video: Pat’s Thoughts: A big ol’ Rant!

I guess you could say, that I let it rip in this video.

Enjoy…

https://youtu.be/1OxeMb2uYpo

references:

Hot Air to move to Facebook comment system

My take on the HotAir.com crazy news

Donald Trump gets praised by…. Code Pink

Anthony Scalia dies

Adam J. White / Weekly Standard:The Constitution Does Not Require the Senate to Vote on a Nomination

Leon H. Wolf / RedState:Okay, the Scalia Assassination Conspiracy Theories are Getting Out of Hand

CLINTON VEGAS FIREWALL CRUMBLES
CHELSEA PLAYS TO EMPTY SEATS
BUBBA BLOWING IT?

FIRST ON BUZZ: After debate, Trump still tops SC GOP presidential race

Caitlin Cruz / Talking Points Memo:RNC Committeewoman Says Cruz, Rubio Both Ineligible For Presidency

Devvy / NewsWithViews:   TRUMP SHOULD MOVE ON THIS: CRUZ, RUBIO AND SECRETARIES OF STATE

Megan Apper / BuzzFeed: Donald J Trump for President: DONALD J. TRUMP RESPONDS TO THE LIES OF SENATOR CRUZ AND WARNS OF LEGAL ACTION

Opening Shot In Rubio’s “Morning Again In America” Ad Appears To Be Canada

Guardian: Kanye West claims to be $53m in debt, and asks Mark Zuckerberg for help

SC POLL: TRUMP 35%, CRUZ 18%, RUBIO 18%... MORE...

Oh Wonderful: Donald Trump gets praised by…….Code Pink

I have to admit, this made me chortle a bit… 😆

Via The Hill:

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is being praised by Code Pink, a group working to end U.S. wars and militarism that has protested the Iraq War.

Trump garnered support from the organization during the GOP debate Saturday night when he called the Iraq War a mistake and accused the George W. Bush administration of lying before the invasion.

“Obviously the war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake,” Trump said during the debate.

“George Bush made a mistake,” the billionaire continued. “Obviously we can make mistakes, but that one was a beauty.”

Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin said in an email to the Huffington Post that she “loved” the debate.

“It felt surreal to hear Donald Trump, the leading Republican contender for President, saying what we at CODEPINK have been shouting to the winds for 14 years now: that Bush and his cronies lied about WMDs, that the Iraq war was catastrophic, and that Bush never ‘kept us safe’ because 9/11 happened on his watch.”

This ought to make Donald Trump real popular down in South Carolina, where basically George W. Bush is still basically like a God. 🙄 The reaction from the crowd at the South Carolina debate, when Trump basically blamed 9/11 on Bush, should give you an idea of how Trump is going to do in that primary.

But….code pink?!?! Trump many as well have gotten an endorsement from the Communist Party of America! Needless to say, the upcoming polls ought to be really interesting. 😯

HotAir.com takes the first step to closing its comment section

Update: Blogger roundup: Editorial Times, Legal Insurrection

Post links in the comment section and I will add them here.

****

Original Post:

This, I think, is going to prove to be a very bad move for this blog:

For almost ten years, Hot Air has utilized a proprietary, members-only comment system. In 2006, this kind of system made much sense, but Internet standards and technology have moved beyond this kind of system. Beginning tomorrow, Hot Air will move from its present proprietary closed-comment system to Facebook comments. At that time, native commenting functions will cease, and all comments will come through the Facebook interface. — Via: Hot Air to move to Facebook comment system « Hot Air

Let’s just be real folks; HotAir.com is huge and I mean really huge. I have been to sites that use a strictly Facebook commenting system and I do not believe that I would be exaggerating one bit, if I said that those places are nothing more than pure troll dens. This is usually the first step; first they will use the Facebook commenting system and then, things will get too bad and then they will close the comments sections for good.

I feel that once a site kills the comments section, it becomes nothing more than just another website. I for one, will never go to an external comment system, ever. I tried Disqus and it frankly sucked major donkey doo doo. They should call it disgust, because that’s how you will feel after trying to set it up — Disgusted!

As for HotAir.com, I think they are simply trying to be more inclusive and not have to work their tails off, in the upcoming election. While that might be a good idea for them, it might prove to be quite destructive for the site. Because the trolls will run the regulars off and the site will get a reputation among its core audience. Another thing that I feel will run people off is that Facebook’s founder is a known flaming liberal and there are many conservatives who will not use Facebook because of this fact. So, they will lose those people.

For the record here, I will never, ever, go to a closed commenting system, nor Disqus or Facebook; or any other commenting platform. The only system I will ever use is WordPress Native system which allows you to comment using your Facebook or other identities you choose to use.

I wish HotAir.com the best, because, Lord knows, they are going to need it.

Sad News: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia dead at 79

Saw this when it broke over twitter…:

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia died Saturday, according to multiple official sources. He was 79. — Source: Chief Justice Scalia dead at 79 | Fox News

 

Video via Fox News:

Reactions are pouring across twitter, here they are unfiltered. Caution: some of this might be ugly:


Update: Now the lead the story on Memeorandum

Update #2: Related Articles via Drudge:

Dylan Klebold’s Mother speaks out about her son

This is one of them posts that is very hard for me to write. I remember this tragic event, I watched it play out on live TV at the time.

Here are some clips from the ABC TV 20/20 show that aired last night:


ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos


ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos


ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos


ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos

I would like to think Diane Sawyer for handling this interview without coming off sounding like some anti-gun flaming liberal. Diane also handling this with the grace and professionalism that is sorely missing in the media today. Klebold’s Mother should not be blamed for what happened with her son. Mental illness is something that can hit anyone. Guns were simply the tool, if they had not used them, they would have used something else.

I could never imagine the literal and proverbial hell that this woman has been through. She says she does not believe in evil. Well, I must disrespectfully disagree with that. I really do not think that these guys were just evil young men; they were mentally ill young people, who were overlooked by the experts and ended up committing a horrible act of violence.

The unfortunate part about this entire situation, is that the political left in this Country; has used this situation and others like it; to attempt to exert strict gun laws and control on this Country —- none of which would have prevented this tragic event or any others like it since. It is has become a bit of a Cliché on the right — but it is absolutely true — Guns do not kill people, people kill people.

If these young man were going to kill people, they would have used other means, if the guns were not available. Are we going to ban knives? Are we going to ban cars? Are we going to be everything that can be potentially used as a weapon?

Of course not.

Still… one has to feel sorry or dare I say — Pity? For a woman that will go to her grave knowing that her son committed such acts towards people. It is a hell that will follow her to the grave — and that is a hell, that I would wish upon no one.

God be with her and the Harris family and with the family of the victims.

Get the book:

Chuck Baldwin says something very wise

Chuck Baldwin says something very wise:

To say that we Americans are living in jeopardous days is an extreme understatement. Very understandably, the American people are increasingly distrustful of their government, their news media, and even their future. We desperately need cool heads and wise hearts to peacefully and successfully navigate these troubled waters. And what we need most is leadership from America’s pulpits. But it’s the lack of pastoral leadership that has mostly created this mess to begin with. The good news is America’s pastors could help lead our country out of this morass. If only they would

.

For the record Chuck Baldwin was referring to women joining the military and he says that is creating terrorists and causing people to distrust the government.

Now, that I might disagree with that. But that last paragraph above that I quoted is true we are living in precarious times and it is being fueled by neoconservatives and neoliberals who love big government.

So, Chuck Baldwin spot on right here. I may have disagreed with him in the past. But this here and the stuff he also said this article that I linked to is true.

This is why we need new leadership in Washington DC. I happen to be of the opinion, that everything rises and falls on leadership and Barack Obama has not shown the leadership of strength. But rather the leadership of compromise and capitulation.

This is why Iran is out of control, this is why North Korea is out of control, this is why China is screwing with us. We need a firm leader in the White House, passive leadership simply does not work.

Carly Fiorina bows out…

First Christie and now her; just like I said it would happen.

From her Facebook page:

This campaign was always about citizenship—taking back our country from a political class that only serves the big, the powerful, the wealthy, and the well connected. Election after election, the same empty promises are made and the same poll-tested stump speeches are given, but nothing changes. I’ve said throughout this campaign that I will not sit down and be quiet. I’m not going to start now. While I suspend my candidacy today, I will continue to travel this country and fight for those Americans who refuse to settle for the way things are and a status quo that no longer works for them.

Our Republican Party must fight alongside these Americans as well. We must end crony capitalism by fighting the policies that allow it to flourish. We must fix our festering problems by holding our bloated, inept government bureaucracy accountable. Republicans must stand for conservative principles that lift people up and recognize all Americans have the right to fulfill their God-given potential.

To young girls and women across the country, I say: do not let others define you. Do not listen to anyone who says you have to vote a certain way or for a certain candidate because you’re a woman. That is not feminism. Feminism doesn’t shut down conversations or threaten women. It is not about ideology. It is not a weapon to wield against your political opponent. A feminist is a woman who lives the life she chooses and uses all her God-given gifts. And always remember that a leader is not born, but made. Choose leadership.

As I have said to the many wonderful Americans I have met throughout this campaign, a leader is a servant whose highest calling is to unlock potential in others. I will continue to serve in order to restore citizen government to this great nation so that together we may fulfill our potential.

Good luck to her.