I Believe...

You know, soon after the dust settled from my last post, someone asked me a question. The question was, "Your posts are all over the place. You say you are a Democrat and voted for Obama but your posts seem to lean right. So, what exactly do you believe?" I've been contemplating that question for a few days now and I think I'm ready to lay out what I believe.

I believe in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. I believe if you are good in your profession, you should be rewarded appropriately meaning a paycheck and a benefits package.

I believe in education; I believe educational opportunities abound in this country and it is only the fool who doesn't see that. Even public schools offer opportunities to learn and get ahead, one just has to work a little harder to do it.

I believe one makes one's own luck; it is stupid to sit there and blame bad luck when bad things happen.

I believe religion is the opiate of the masses; I believe religion nowadays is nothing more than a tool used by unscrupulous people to manipulate the weak-minded.

I believe if there truly is a God, He will speak to me directly, not through some stupid email chain letter or prayer chain email or virtual candle emails. I do believe, however, in treating others how I would like to be treated.

I believe if one is going to CHOOSE to do drugs and later becomes addicted, it is not my fault nor my problem so I should not have to pay even more taxes to take care of that idiot.

I believe homosexuality is NOT a choice; marriage should be for EVERYONE.

I believe if one feels the need to advertise their Christianity by putting a fish on their car, obtaining a personalized license plate for their car, putting a bumper sticker from the local Christian music station, or placing the word "Christian" anywhere in their business logo is anything but a Christian.

I believe driving a vehicle is a PRIVILEGE, not a right and society should act accordingly, meaning HANG UP THE DAMNED CELL PHONE!!!!

I believe in helping the poor...to an extent; supporting the poor for their entire lives is NOT what we had in mind. I believe if one collects a welfare check or food stamps, one must act accordingly i.e.- with HUMILITY, not flashing credit cards while driving in a Cadillac Escalade or a Hummer yakking away on a damned cell phone!

I believe if a person decides to drop out of school for any reason (other than it is completely necessary to support the family) and therefore cannot find employment beyond a minimum wage job, one gets what one deserves; it is completely unfair to expect the productive members of society to pay more in taxes and increased prices because of the federal government raising the minimum wage.

I believe everybody should be able to expect to live a healthy life BUT I do NOT believe in paying even more in taxes and even losing some veterans' benefits to pay for the healthcare of the idiots I described above...you know them, they contribute nothing to society except a burden.

I believe ALL military veterans are due the benefits they receive and ANY attempt to reduce them is an egregious offense. Further, I believe teachers, police and firefighters should also be eligible for benefits like veterans because THEY put THEIR LIVES on the line everyday just like the military.

I believe the "tax the rich" ideology is inane; increasing taxes on the rich only means the rich will spend less in order to not have to pay extra taxes...much like the "luxury yacht tax" of the 70's...the rich simply stopped buying yachts which almost killed an entire industry.

I believe human beings should be expected to display at least some sort of modicum of common sense; tort reform, to me, means if one orders a cup of coffee one must reasonably expect the coffee to be HOT...as such, if said coffee is spilled one does NOT sue the server of the coffee.

I believe personal injury attorneys are a scourge on this nation; if one jumps a fence that has a WARNING SIGN and is subsequently injured as a result of jumping said fence and ignoring the posted WARNING sign, any attempt to sue should result in the offending personal injury lawyer being disbarred and then tarred and feathered.

I believe in the rule of law; I believe in the right to self-defense; I believe that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away; therefore I believe wholeheartedly in the Second Amendment. If one argues the need to repeal the Second Amendment "for our own good", said individual should be forced to live in the ghetto for six months with no bodyguards, guns, knives or anything else that could possibly be used for self-protection...they must only rely on the local police department. This way the sadly misinformed individual will learn a very hard lesson in the need for the Second Amendment.

I also believe in the following: opening gifts on Christmas DAY not Christmas Eve, there should be a law outlawing astro-turf and the designated hitter (yes, I loved the movie Bull Durham).

Lastly, I believe Huckleberry Finn, Atlas Shrugged, David Copperfield, Band of Brothers, Catcher in the Rye, 1984, Animal Farm, Moby Dick, Job:A Comedy of Justice, and Stranger in a Strange Land should be required reading for all high school students prior to graduation.

So there it is, the core of my beliefs; so why don't you sit down and really think about what you believe in and share with the group?

This is Justice???

As I type this, President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court is being grilled by the right and soft-balled by the left...big deal. Wanna know what I think? I think Sonya Sotomayor is a racist who has absolutely no business being in any courtroom as a judge, much less as a Supreme Court Justice! What is my reasoning, you ask? Well let's just say that the fire fighters in New Haven, Connecticut got a raw deal all they way around and this racist woman ruled against them BECAUSE THEY ARE WHITE. I can hear all my liberal friends yelling at me now about how I am the real racist...well let me break my opinion on that case down into detail for you, ok?

Say you are a fire fighter and you want to get promoted...more pay and bennies right? I mean who wouldn't want that? So you study diligently for months on end, drilling knowledge into your head so you can do well on the test. On test day you sit down and rock the test, I mean you scored up in the 95th percentile! You are feeling really good about yourself until the city announces they are throwing out all the results...not because they suspect cheating...not because they think the test was rigged in some way...but because not enough minorities scored well! It's not just minorities that didn't score well, though...there were white fire fighters who didn't score well either...just as some minorities rocked the test too, but there weren't enough of them so you can't have your promotion.

So you form a team, get a lawyer and sue the city and a three-judge panel rules against you BECAUSE YOU ARE WHITE! Don't tell me there was any other reason for Sotomayor's ruling. Don't tell me what she did was right or fair because it wasn't. Why else would this racist woman make a PUBLIC statement about how a "wise latina woman" would come to a better judgment than a white man. This is exactly the type of person we DO NOT NEED in the Supreme Court.

Just so you don't start thinking I am only picking on Sotomayor, the very same thing happened in Virginia not too long ago. The City of Virginia Beach had to dumb down their entrance exam for the Police Academy because not enough minorities were scoring well enough to get in. HOW IS THIS FAIR PEOPLE?!? IF you have never been a cop or a fire fighter, there is absolutely no way you could possibly understand the amount of brain power it takes to make quick-decisions in life-threatening situations. If you can't pass the test, you don't get in or you don't get promoted...and that's all there is. There is no "writing the test so only whites can understand it..." as I have heard the good Sharpton and Jackson spewing on the news.

If you cannot do basic mathematics or you do not understand the ENGLISH LANGUAGE well enough, how can you reasonably expect to do either of these jobs? I challenge every liberal I know to come up with a good answer to that question WITHOUT raising the race card! And please, don't answer on my Facebook page...answer it here, on my blog, so everybody else can read your opinion...after all that would be the FAIR THING to do, right?

Christian Machinists?!?

'We don't do that type of work, we're a CHRISTIAN machine shop!'

So went a phone a conversation I had with a local machine shop here in the bible belt. I'm sure you are wondering what in the world I am talking about. Well, as you may know, I am not very thrilled with the religious right in this country...especially down here in Mississippi. The level of hypocrisy I see around here is astounding; never before have I seen so many people call themselves Christians then go an do the exact opposite of what they SAY they do.

Recently, I have taken on a new project in my garage. For those of you just joining us, I am trying to build a 1975 Harley-Davidson Sportster. I found a frame and assorted parts and bought them with the intention of building a motorcycle from scratch. The main bearings and the cam bearings were in real bad shape so I had to replace them. If you don't understand, the main bearing is the thing that holds the crankshaft and flywheel in place so it can rotate and push the pistons up the cylinder...basically it is the heart of the engine and they needed to be replaced.

I bought the new bearings but I have neither the tools or the expertise to try this at home. So, I pulled out the phone book and started trying machine shops and motorcycle shops in the area. The answer I received the most was 'Sorry, we don't work on bikes older than 1988...' I was becoming very discouraged until I tried a machine shop down the highway from where I live. So I give them a call and a lady answers, '---- machine shop, how may I help you?'. 'Yes, I reply, I was wondering if you do bearing work. I have an engine case for a 1975 Harley-Davidson Sportster and I need the main bearing pressed out and a new one pressed in. Can you help me?'

After a moment of silence, the nice lady comes back with a disdainful tone in her voice, 'We don't do THAT type of work.' That left me with a question I had to ask, 'Well what type of work do you do?' This nice lady's voice then turns even more disdainful and with a very arrogant air she answered, 'We are a CHRISTIAN shop, we only do precision machining...we don't work on...motorcycles!'

I was taken aback by this response...whatever could she mean by this?! So, I replied to her with, 'I'm sorry, I didn't realize Christ hates bikers and bike builders...I didn't know this was such an un-Christian activity...I'm so sorry I wasted your CHRISTIAN time.' and I hung up.

I guess that lady has never heard of the Christian Motorcycle Association or various other religion related motorcycle groups. Well I will just have to burn in hell when I die...'cuz I aint givin up my bikes!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Well, tomorrow the United States of America turns 233! That's right boys and girls, tomorrow is July 4th and we celebrate our nation's independence! You know something, I love my country; only here is a human being truly free. Free to speak their mind, pray to whom they want when they want, to choose to own guns or to choose to oppose guns, to bad-mouth the military or shout your support for the military...there are so many freedoms we take for granted in this great nation that it seems some people have confused rights with privileges.

For instance, nowhere in the Constitution nor the Declaration of Independence does it say people have the right to drive or distract themselves while driving by chatting on a cell phone, yelling at the kids, changing the radio station, eating, reading or painting your nails. Wait a minute, did I just say "painting your nails"...while driving?!? Surely people don't do that...or do they? Sadly, some people do.

On May 2, 2009, Anita Zaffke was riding her motorcycle in Lake Zurich, Illinois when she was struck from behind at a red light by a woman in an SUV who was PAINTING HER NAILS WHILE DRIVING!!! Lora L. Hunt, apparently more interested in the way she looks than the safety of others on the roads, did not even know there was a motorcycle in front of her at the light until after she hit it!! Yes, I said AFTER she hit the motorcycle. Anita never had a chance, despite wearing proper riding gear (helmet, gloves, long sleeves, jeans, boots and a HIGHLY VISIBLE jacket), she was unseen by a dimwit and killed by the same dimwit. Anita's son has set up a foundation to combat distracted driving called the Black Nail Brigade. Please everybody, take a look at the website and get the full skinny on what happened on that fateful day...I implore you to please show your support to Anita's son.

And on this holiday, be a little more watchful for motorcycles. We bikers are everywhere, we have families, jobs, friends just like you and we like being able to come home to them in one piece. Always remember to give a motorcycle room...don't try to share the lane with them. When you are getting ready to turn left make sure you have looked all around you very carefully so you don't take a biker down who may have had the right of way. Motorcycles are vehicles too...so please be a little more careful this holiday and the rest of the year as well. I'm sure we would all like to be here to celebrate America's 234th birthday!

Have a happy and safe Independence Day everybody!

A True Hero Dies

Oh my, my my, my my, my my. So many deaths recently...Dom Deluise, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays...so many American celebrities dead in such a short amount of time. To listen to the news one may think it has only been Michael Jackson that died...the media and the world is falling over itself to pay homage to a talented, yet tragically flawed person.

Do you know who else died recently? Here's a hint for you, he's not a celebrity but he was a hero to many Americans. You probably wouldn't recognize him if you saw him on the street but I'd say it is a good bet you would recognize Michael Jackson.

This man wasn't famous by any means...the media could have cared less and that is where the true tragedy lies. Still scratching your head? Ok, let me give you a little history lesson.

Close your eyes and think...it is November 1965 in the Ia Drang Valley. Your unit is hopelessly outnumbered by the enemy and you have been hit. You lay there, helpless, in the middle of an immense battle and you hear your Infantry Commander ordering that no more Medi-Vac choppers come in due to the incredibly intense barrage of fire coming in from the enemy...then you hear it, the faint sound of a Huey H-1 chopper coming in. Ed Freeman is coming to get you out of there...he's not a Medi-Vac but he will not desert his brothers-in-arms. Ed skillfully brings the unarmed chopper in and sits in the middle of enemy fire as your buddies load you and other wounded on the chopper. Ed whisks you away from the hell of battle to a hospital where you are patched up and healed.

Ed performs his heroic task 13 more times that day, November 14, 1965,and evacs a total of 30 men out of there, including you. Ed Freeman is a hero and is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism in the heat of battle...and the American media says nothing. In fact, Vietnam War protesters would probably spit in his face and call him a baby-killer since that is what their traitorous talking head leaders (ala Jane Fonda) say about the troops in Vietnam.

Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009, at the age of 80, in Boise, ID...and the American media said nothing. Rest in Peace, Ed Freeman, you performed your duties well, with dignity and honor and you will not soon be forgotten by those who knew you.

Now you know him too. Do not forget him...and do not forget the thousands of men and women making the ultimate sacrifice for you today. They are truly worthy of your admiration and respect...moreso than people whose only contributions to society were entertainment.