Sunday, April 30, 2006

Blindsided In The Pulpit

I attended a wedding ceremony yesterday. Two young people in our church were married. That's about the best thing I can say about it. This was out of the ordinary in that the wedding party was quite different from anything I had ever seen in a fundamentalist Baptist church. By fundamentalist I mean that we take the bible as the literal, inspired, inerrant Word of God literally. I almost walked out of the whole affair. I did refuse to go to the reception.

A "married" lesbian couple were in the wedding party as bridesmaid and groomsman. This lesbian groomsman/usher was dressed as a man and performed the traditional duties by escorting various female members to their seats.

I do not go to freak shows or gay bars and I have no tolerance for this type of behavior in a church that I have been attending for over 23 years. Simply put, I was furious. There is a place for freak shows, it is at the State Fair where people pay for the privilege of witnessing disgusting sights. There is a place for gays bars, at least then you know what you're walking into (and I think that the States have every right to legislate weither or not they should be allowed to exist; no where in the US Constitution is there a guarantee for the so called right to privacy). But not in a conservative church.

I spoke to our pastor after Sunday school. I was upfront about it (ain't that a surprise, my wife made me promise not to start a shouting match and embarrass her) and so was he.

He was never informed what was going on.

He is a young man, thirty-five or so, and one of the best expositors/teachers that I have ever heard. He says more in twenty-five minutes than most other preachers say in an hour and a half. He's really that good.

But as a pastor he is a little naive. Let's face it, he was brought up as a pastor's son, he attended a bible college and is a little slow on the uptake when it comes to some issues. He explained to me that he was at the rehearsal on Friday evening but did not make the connection when someone pointed out the woman on the groom's side of the party. She has a rather unusual name and was standing next to a very large fellow. Pastor thought the person pointing her out was actually indicating the man, not the woman. And there had been so many last minute changes that he was more concerned about getting the ceremony right than who was participating as bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Then at the wedding he saw what looked to be a kind of funny looking little man in a tux with hockey hair, but again he was more concerned that the ceremony went well with all the changes. It wasn't until after the reception dinner that someone confronted him about how he intended to resolve the "problem." What problem? That was when he was informed about the funny looking little guy with the hockey hair and the older tattooed bridesmaid.

Pastor went on to tell me about the problems he had encountered while counseling the couple in the ten weeks leading to the wedding. I had pretty much heard all this several weeks ago as part of the couple's public testimony when they got baptized and so it was nothing new. But now I started considering what the implications are for pastoring two young people who are all screwed up by drug/alcohol abuse, abusive parenting, non-existent parenting, uncontrolled promiscuity, etc., etc.

I asked Pastor, where do we draw the lines now? He said that now he must ask questions that he never thought of asking before; it just never occurred to him to ask these types of questions. There is no change at all in our doctrine, but we must change the way we counsel people who join our church. We must be very patient with people who, quite frankly, lack many of the basic social skills that we assume everyone has. Common sense may be in drastic short supply.

As he sat there and shook his head, I thought about a very nice young man who joined our church recently. He was a practicing homosexual who put that life style behind him (sorry for the intentional pun... ehhhh, no I'm not) and is now leading a chaste life, as we purpose for all our singles. But perhaps he is still tempted by his former proclivity. I hope not, but if he is, he is still expected to remain chaste, and that is the point. Sex is reserved for married couples; and a married couple is a man and woman. There is a great deal more that should be said about this. The greatest single cause of poverty is unwed mothers. The hellish welfare system started in the mid-sixties has basically destroyed the once robust family system in our nation and has created in it's place a permanent underclass beholden to politicians for sustenance. Popular culture celebrates unbridled sexuality. We are now dealing in our churches with the flotsam and jetsam of this nightmare.

Marriage is an institution ordained by God in Genesis, chapter 2 verse 20:

Ge 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Those who trifle or pervert this institution endanger the very foundation for successful child rearing. And that is what we are seeing in modern society.

There is a line that must be drawn between tolerance and acceptance. As written in Psalms 86:15 - But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

God's tolerance and longsuffering is meant to draw us to repentance. We are attracted to Him because of His mercy and love. As a Church we must show the same thing or we run the danger of becoming a judgmental, short-tempered irritation to the rest of society. But we can never accept or embrace evil for then we ourselves become abhorrent to God.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Late Tag Response

Deathkynte tagged me earlier this mouth but I didn't have the foggiest notion what a tag was. So now I know.

SUBJECT:
How well do you know me? For instance, did you know...?

Four jobs I've have had in my life:
1. Check out in a Long Island grocery store (high school)
2. Breakfast cook in a Jewish fraternity (in college)
3. Short order cook in a restaurant (in college)
4. Evidence Technician

Movies I could watch over and over:
1. Patton (Ahh George C.)
2. The Longest Day (everyone in it!)
3. The first three Star Wars (the last series stink)
4. Alien (the first one)

Four places I have lived:
1. Twenty-nine Palms, CA
2. Merrick, NY
3. Averill Park, NY
4. Smithtown, NY

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Raymond
2. Combat
3. Hill Street Blues
4. Historical documentaries

Five places I have been on vacation:
1. St. Croix
2. Toronto
3. The Poconos
4. York Beach, Maine
5. Disney Land

Four websites I visit daily:
1. The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller
2. The Dread Pundit Bluto
3. The Cook Shack
4. Jawa

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Prime Rib
2. BBQ'd sausage patties (gotta be Gianinno's with sauteed peppers and onions, yummmmm!)
3. Baked or broiled haddock or monkfish
4. New England style clam chowder

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. At the Rottfest in Texas
2. St. Croix
3. Florida
4. On the coast of Maine

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Fast Like Her Dad

Today my 14 year old daughter again tied her school's record for the hurdles: 10.2 seconds.

Just a tenth of a second more honey. Give Daddy just a teeny tenth more.

Pork - The Other Bleeding White Meat

For the past five years my wife and I have been discussing a move to another state. Her dad is in poor health and we really can't go anywhere for the time being. But a front page headline in today's Post Standard has most likely provided enough impetus for us to clear out of Dodge:

Local Property Taxes in N.Y. Up, Up, Up: 42% in 5 Years

"Per capita property tax burdens in New York are 49 percent higher than the national average and property taxes measured as a share of personal income are 28 percent higher."

The State Comptroller (Alan Hevesi) just released this report. The situation is actually worse then what the headlines indicate.

"Local property tax levies grew by 60 percent from 1995 to 2005, more than twice the rate of inflation during that period (28 percent). Most of this growth occurred in the last 5 years – when property tax levies increased by 42 percent, compared to inflation of 13 percent."

During the same period of time, New York lost 2 congressional seats. Can any legislator in Albany dummy up an answer for this??! People are leaving because of the taxes!! Read my lips:

WE DON'T WORK FOR YOU!

"New York taxpayers have the highest combined State and local tax burden in the nation, with a total tax bill of $131 for every $1,000 of personal income in 2002, nearly 26 percent higher than the national average."


What is wrong with you people??! The State is bleeding out and you're busy loosening the tourniquet!

"New York’s high tax burden is entirely driven by high local taxes – State taxes are about average, at $64 per $1,000 of personal income, versus $62 for the nation as a whole. Local taxes are the highest in the country, at $67 per $1,000 of personal income, 60 percent higher than the national average of $42. Maine is the next highest state at $55 – nearly 20 percent lower than New York."

If you only rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic at least the ship wouldn't go down any faster. But our State legislators are blowing holes in the hull and scuttling the lifeboats! They just overrode the governor's veto and restored $200 million in pork projects! The only stipulation is that the state must make public where all the money is spent. That's like having the blindfolds ripped off just when the firing squad enters the courtyard.

"This is a victory on a long road to reform" State Senator David Valesky, D-Oneida, said after the session Wednesday.

That's what Saddam Hussein said after winning his first rigged election you simpering butt nugget. All in all "State lawmakers completed overrides of nearly $3 billion Gov. Pataki vetoed from the new state budget Wednesday." Pataki states that about two-thirds of this amount was added illegally to the state budget. That means at least an additional $1 billion will be added to an already bloated state budget of $112.8 billion.

The Republicans and the Democrats are in this together. The Republicans in the State Senate lacked the necessary votes to override the veto. The Democrats wanted their pound of flesh before helping them so they insisted on the sunshine provision. They see this as a way to loosen the Republicans' grip on the Senate and will use it in elections.

It is a weak provision because it only kicks in the mandated pork exposure thirty days after the grant is awarded. Typically, these grants are not made public until the legislator releases the information. Thus, the grant award may not be made until months after the budget is passed.

Anyone LC out there with recommendations?

A Sad Day

Today New York State Trooper Craig J. Todeschini was laid to rest. Trooper Todeschini was killed when his police vehicle crashed while chasing a speeding motorcyclist. The thousands that gathered in honor of his memory at the Holy Family RCC included family, friends and police officers from all over the country. I saw members of the Oklahoma and California Highway Patrol at the reception this afternoon and thanked them for their travel to honor a fallen brother.

Our police retirees association sent out emails Tuesday asking for volunteers to assist in providing food and beverages at the reception, which was held at the International Pavilion in the NYS Fairgrounds in Geddes. About fifteen of us showed up at noon. Another half dozen or so came in earlier around 10 am.

Eventually about a thousand people went through the doors for a rather good all-you-can-eat buffet of chicken, sausages, mashed potatoes, ziti, meatballs and salad. Most of the attendees were police officers.

I was assigned to bus tables but as many people cleaned up after themselves, I was not that busy. As is the case so often at funerals, it was a good time to visit and catch up on friends and associates I haven't seen in years. Most of the volunteers did not know Trooper Todeschini, but LE is a family affair and we tried to help his family by serving at his memorial.

I did not know Trooper Todeschini or his family. His father is a retired T/Geddes Police Sergeant and he retired several years before my time there. The T/Geddes PD was deeply affected by his loss as many of these officers watched Craig grow up and took pride in his career as a State Trooper. The Solvay VFD were particularly hard hit by his death, Trooper Todeschini was also a volunteer fireman. Craig was truly a man dedicated to his community and he will be sorely missed.

The motorcyclist that Trooper Todeschini was chasing will most likely be apprehended shortly. Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick will be making an announcement Friday regarding this investigation.

If I were that young man, I would move out of state after I got out of jail and never drive anything with less than six wheels.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

More Gun Control Rubbish

Once again in the Sydney Morning Herald Aussie moonbats are mewing about how wonderful the world is now that many downunder are also disarmed. Once again the proponents of gun control purposefully ignore the violence spawned in a nation of government sponsored victims.

TEN years ago tomorrow at Port Arthur, Martin Bryant killed 20 innocents with his first 29 bullets, all in the space of 90 seconds in the Broad Arrow Cafe and an adjacent souvenir shop. This lone "pathetic social misfit" (the judge's words) was empowered to achieve his record final toll of 35 people dead and 18 seriously wounded by a type of gun openly sold by law-abiding firearm dealers as "assault weapons".

What is not so apparent is that Martin Byrant may not have acted alone. In fact some are alledging a cover up of the incident (also here and here to mention a few). What is crystal clear is that the incident shocked the good law biding citizens of Australia into surrendering some of their rights to self defense.

What is also clear is that Australia has not profited in the slightest from this act.

I had blogged earlier about gun control measures in Australia, reporting the following:

Here are the Australian crime stats from 1996 to 2003 (I couldn't use the 2004 numbers as they are incomplete).

In 1996 (the year of the Port Arthur massacre) Australia had 354 murders, 114,156 assaults, 14,542 Sexual Assaults, 16,372 Robberies for a total of 145,424 Violent Crimes.

In 2003 the Aussies reported 341 Murders (-4%), 158,629 Assaults (+39%), 18,237 Sexual Assaults (+25%) and 19,709 Robberies (+20%) for a total of 196,916 Violent Crimes (+35%).

This is the Aussie Anti-gun Miracle, a thirty-five percent increase in violent crime.

In 1996 the United States had 19,645 murders, 535,594 Robberies, 96,252 Rapes, 1,037,049 Aggravated Assaults for a total of 1,688,540 Violent Crimes.

In 2003 the FBI reported 16,528 Murders (-19%), 414,235 Robberies (-21%), 93,883 Rapes (-3%) and 895,030 Aggravated Assaults (-29%) for a total of 1,383,676 Violent Crimes (-22%).

There were 304,864 fewer Violent Crimes committed in the United States during the same period of time. Australia had 51,492 more Violent Crimes. We also have a population almost 15 times the size of Australia's (295,734,134 v 20,090,437 July 2005 est.)

Monday, April 24, 2006

I Got Tagged

Cookie over at The Cook Shack done tagged me and (once he explained it to me) now I am honor bound to blog on the Ten Simple Pleasures Of Life and then tag other bloggers. So here goes.

  1. Going to bed at night with a clear conscience.
  2. Waking up in the morning and knowing you're married to the pretty woman sleeping next to you (that's definately a big part of #1 above).
  3. A nice home cooked meal after spending a few days away from home.
  4. Having to buy a pair of pants the next size larger and the woman in #2 (who does most of the cooking) says "That's all right honey, I still love you."
  5. Hugs from your grandkids.
  6. Even though you carp and bitch and moan at them, your kids still want to live at home. Hmmmm, maybe I'll have to rethink that one...
  7. The snapping sound a mosquito makes when it hits a bug zapper. It's the same sound a moonbat makes when it hits a clue.
  8. Putting the snow removal equipment away. (Ya gotta live in CNY to appreciate that!)
  9. Celebrating your oldest child's wedding anniversary (number 11 last Saturday).
  10. Going to church for a preview of the next life.

I could probably think of more; maybe sometime I will.

I'm gonna tag

Dumbshitoftheweek

Hujonwi's Place

Rolling Barrage

Marvin's Word

Stingray

The Filthy Report

Lady Heather

LC Guido Cabrone

Slapstick Politics

LC Scott

Guido and Scott, maybe this'll get you off your lazy butts and blog again. I know you guys have something to say.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

A Failure To Protect

The Federal government seems to be withholding evidence of fraud by perhaps countless thousands of illegal aliens. This article by the Star-Telegram, Evidence of Work Fraud Untapped, relates that:

"The Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration routinely collect strong evidence of potential workplace crimes, including the names and addresses of millions of people who are using bogus Social Security numbers, their wage records and the identities of those who hire them."

"But they keep those facts secret."


So much for the new era of interagency cooperation promised by our president.

"The two agencies don't analyze their data to root out likely immigration fraud -- and law enforcement authorities can't do so because the agencies won't share their data."

If I remember correctly, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 established broad powers for federal agencies to gather and share information. Except if it actually may indicate if someone is breaking the law.

"The IRS doesn't fine employers who repeatedly submit inaccurate data on workers. Social Security does virtually nothing to alert citizens whose Social Security numbers are being used by others.

Evidence abounds within their files, according to an analysis by Knight Ridder Newspapers and The Charlotte Observer.

One internal study found that a restaurant company had submitted 4,100 duplicate Social Security numbers for workers. Other firms submit inaccurate names or numbers for nearly all their employees. One child's Social Security number was used 742 times by workers in 42 states."

But God forbid if a law-abiding tax-paying citizen makes a mistake in his Schedule A or one of the hundreds of tax documents spawned by thousands and thousands of pages of our nation's convoluted tax laws. They will literally hound you to Hell. Except if you are an illegal alien.

"The potential crimes are so obvious that the failure to provide such information to investigators raises questions about Washington's determination to end the widespread hiring of illegal immigrants.

An estimated 7 million unauthorized workers are employed in the United States. They're picking crops, building homes and tending yards. In some cases, they work for the government on public projects that pay them with taxpayer money.

They've built roads in North Carolina and military housing in California and even helped rebuild the Pentagon after 9-11, until law enforcement found out."

The information to catch illegals and prosecute the businesses who employ them has been kept in government databases since 1937. Perhaps it was used for that purpose years ago but it seems to be ignored now.

"Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has asked Congress for access to earnings reports, sent by employers with money withheld for taxes and Social Security. The reports contain workers' names and Social Security numbers, and when they don't match Social Security records, the information is set aside in what's called the Earnings Suspense File."

"The incorrect worker files mushroomed during the 1990s as immigrants poured into the United States. Almost half the inaccurate reports come from industries such as agriculture, construction and restaurants.

"We believe the chief cause of [unmatched] wage items ... is unauthorized work by noncitizens," Social Security Inspector General Patrick O'Carroll told Congress in February.
The IRS also receives the mismatch information.

Particularly disturbing is that possibly millions of the Social Security numbers belong to other people."


This is fraud on an unbelieveable scale. And if they have someone's social security information, what else are they doing with it, such as credit card and welfare fraud?

"In Utah, after Social Security provided data for one criminal inquiry, investigators discovered that the Social Security numbers of 2,000 children were being used by other people.

"What do you think we'd find if we had the ability to analyze all of their information?" said Kirk Torgensen, Utah's chief deputy attorney general. "It would be invaluable. How shortsighted is it that the government doesn't follow this trail?"

About as shortsighted as everything else the government has done regarding the virtually uncontested invasion of our southern borders.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

General Dimzinni

Well, I got home today from our accreditation assignment. We had an excellent exit interview with the Chief of Police and his staff. I am impressed by the quality of the personnel who work in the Hamburg PD and the entire town can take pride in their fine police department. The civilian and sworn members do an outstanding job and it was readily apparent to three outsiders (the team) who took a close look at the operations of this agency.

But I can't say the same thing about some people who will say and do anything to profit at the expense of their country. On August 2, 1974, I took an oath of office swearing before God and man that I would defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York. Upon retiring I don't remember anyone saying, "Oh, that oath you took twenty-four years ago? Forget it, it's null and void. We no longer require your assistance." I look out for the best interests of my community, my State and my Country. It just seems to me that as I am drawing a pension, I'm still getting paid to do that.

But apparently General Anthony Zinni doesn't agree. Some may protest, saying, let's cut the guy some slack. He is a general with an honorable career and there is nothing in that career that would indicate that he has forgotten his oath of allegiance when sworn in as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1965.

But to forget his testimony of only six years ago when, as the Commander in Chief of the United States Central Command at MacDill AFB, Zinni testified before Congress that "Iraq remains the most significant near-term threat to U.S. interests in the Arabian Gulf region. This is primarily due to its large conventional military force, pursuit of WMD, oppressive treatment of Iraqi citizens, refusal to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR), persistent threats to enforcement of the No Fly Zones (NFZ), and continued efforts to violate UN Security Council sanctions through oil smuggling," Zinni told Congress early in 2000.

There is more That Zinni told Congress and it in context of what he is saying now, it is sickening... perhaps treasonous.

"While Iraq's WMD capabilities were degraded under UN supervision and set back by Coalition strikes, some capabilities remain and others could quickly be regenerated. Despite claims that WMD efforts have ceased, Iraq probably is continuing clandestine nuclear research, retains stocks of chemical and biological munitions, and is concealing extended-range SCUD missiles, possibly equipped with CBW payloads. Even if Baghdad reversed its course and surrendered all WMD capabilities, it retains the scientific, technical, and industrial infrastructure to replace agents and munitions within weeks or months. A special concern is the absence of a UN inspection and monitoring presence, which until December 1998 had been paramount to preventing large-scale resumption of prohibited weapons programs. A new disarmament regime must be reintroduced into Iraq as soon as possible and allowed to carry out the mandates dictated by the post-Gulf War UN resolutions."

As CINC of Central Command from August 1997 through September 2000, he would have been responsible for preparing our nations assessment and response to potential military problems in his Area Of Responsibility. This assessment would have been made available to the President-elect upon taking office. For my understanding of what responsibilities a CINC must handle, I rely upon Bob Woodward's excellent book, The Commanders.

As A CINC he would have been responsible for identifying every single area within his command (which includes the Near and Middle East) that could be a problem for the US. And he did so!

From today's The American Thinker:

"... as reported by the Chicago Tribune on October 2, 2000:
Zinni has briefed senior administration officials on a secret war plan that details how the U.S. military, with limited allied help, would seek to topple Hussein. The effort would be massive, involving possibly as many as half a million troops, according to one knowledgeable official.

The article continued:

Although he has confidence in U.S. forces, Zinni has no illusions that such a scheme could win public support, considering the cost in lives and dollars it would almost certainly involve.
Yet, conceivably the most telling statement made by Zinni in this piece was the following:
Containment is what you do when you can't come up with the popular will to take decisive military action. [emphasis added]"


And this (getting rid of Hussein) is exactly what we did. And three years later this weasel starts chewing on the ankles of the leaders who replaced him.

The American Thinker has even more on the pre-war intelligence aspects and another excellent article on Zinni's apparent ineffectiveness as a CINC and his affiliations after his departure from the USMC. From the May 2004 article:

Ineffectiveness:
"So, it appears that Gen. Zinni and CENTCOM had become very proficient at troop withdrawals, disaster relief, and shooting cruise missiles at empty tents. To be fair, Gen. Zinni was but the last in line of three CENTCOM commanders (the others being Hoar and Peay), who were essentially outmaneuvered by Iran. Even worse, they allowed a build-up of Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa. These moves were countered by nothing stronger than the strategies of withdrawal (Somalia), shows of force, and the ever-popular but widely misunderstood concept of “engagement.”

Affiliations:
"It seems the General is a Distinguished Military Fellow on the Washington, D.C. staff of the Center for Defense Information www.cdi.org. The mission statement for this organization is:

dedicated to strengthening security through: international cooperation; reduced reliance on unilateral military power [emphasis mine] to resolve conflict; reduced reliance on nuclear weapons; a transformed and reformed military establishment; and, prudent oversight of, and spending on, defense programs.

A quick glance of the list of people on CDI’s Board of Advisors includes such great military thinkers and left wing activists and donors as:

- Ben Cohen – Founder, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., South Burlington, Vt.

- Paul Newman – Motion Pictures, Los Angeles, Calif.

- Joanne Woodward – Actress-Director, Westport, Conn. "


I also like to play "Follow The Money." Take a look at Zinni's schedule of speaking engagements for this month.

4 April 2006: 0840-1040 ABC Radio Network Interviews ; 1100-1200 ABC News; 1615 = WBUR On Point; 1900 Book Signing - Council on Foreign Affairs – NYC

5 April 2006: 0800 = CNN American Morning; 1100 = CBS News; 1400 = WNYC- Leonard Lopate Show (NY); 1800 = Taping for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

6 April 2006: 1200 = WXAM Person to Person (NY); 1700 - The Charlie Rose Show; 1900 = Book signing – The Oxonian Society (NY)

9 April 2006: 1100 = CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer

10 April 2006: 1000 = WHYY (Phil.) Radio Times; 1130 = CN8 (Phil.) Larry Kane Show; 1730 = Book signing The Gershman Y (Phil.)

11 April 2006: 1200 = KOA The Mike Rosen Show (DC); 1830 = Book signing World Affairs Council

12 April 2006: 0900 = WUSA TV (DC); 1100 = Diane Rehm Show

17 April 2006: 1500 – TV – Tavis Smiley (LA)

18 April 2006: 1500 = KGO The Pete Wilson Show (SF); 1830 = Book signing World Affairs Council

19 April 2006: 0815 = KTVU TV Mornings on Two (SF); 1130 = Book signing MarineÂ’s Memorial Club; 1830 = Book signing World Affairs Council (SF)

20 April 2006: 1900 = Book signing, Vroman’s Bookstore – Pasadena

21 April 2006: 0900 = Book signing, City Club on Bunker Hill – Town Hall (LA)
2000 = TV, CBS, Real Time with Bill Maher

22 April 2006: 1100 = Book signing, Channel City Club, Santa Barbara; 1600 = Book signing, Pacific Council

27 April 2006: 1500 = Radio, WGN Extension 720 (Chi.); 1800 = Book signing, Pritzker Military Library

28 April 2006: 1300 = Book signing, Union League Club of Chicago; 1900 = Book Signing, Harry Schwartz Books, Shorewood, WI.

29 April 2006: 1900 = Book signing, Council on Foreign Relations

Dimzinni may have forgot what he said six years ago but he displays amazing recall on what side his bread is buttered on. Maybe I'm just too much of a cynic, but there's nothing like a little controversary to heighten interest in what you have to say. Even if you contradict what you said previously.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Buffalo Naval Park

Things are going rather well here and I hope we'll be done by Thursday. We worked until about 6 pm and then had an excellent meal at Rodney's, right on Lake Erie. Broiled haddock is one of my favorite fruits.

I have a great deal of difficulty sleeping in hotel rooms and last night was no exception. I was exhausted after dinner but my new mates wanted to do some sight seeing so we shuffled off to Buffalo (a ten minute drive). And I'm so glad we did because we ended up at the Buffalo Naval Park.

This park/memorial is the home of the USS Little Rock, CL-92 (later refitted and redesignated the CLG-4), the USS The Sullivans, DD-537, and the submarine USS Croaker, SS-246. The USS The Sullivans was named in honor of the five Sullivan brothers who were killed when the USS Juneau was destroyed at Guadacanal on November 13, 1942.

It has been so long since I have seen a naval warcraft up close that I forgot the sheer size of them. And I got a thrill thinking about these vessels in action. The three of us (all retired cops, only one is a vet - a former Marine who served from 1956-58) swapped stories of our relatives and fathers who fought in the Atlantic and Pacific during WWII.

There is a place near where the Buffalo Sabres play, the Pearl St. Grill. We'll eat there tomorrow night and return to the Naval Park. This time I'll bring my camera.

There is something about a memorial; this one is a living memorial because I swore those ships were alive. You look at these ships and think of monstrous swells in a storm with the huge craft being tossed about like corks. Or the thunderous report of five- and six-inch naval rifles firing at a distant target. Or as the jarhead said when he reminisced about returning from overseas almost fifty years ago, "A thousand of us spent a month puking on a f**g aircraft carrier."

Ahhhh memories...

Monday, April 17, 2006

Hanging Out in Buffalo, NY

Actually I'm in a Holiday Inn just outside of Buffalo, in a town called Hamburg. Since retiring I contract with the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services to conduct an assessment of police departments for compliance with accreditation standards. The Hamburg PD is my next assignment and our team meets with the department tomorrow morning.

New York was the first State to initiate a law enforcement standards program.

More than half of the states have requested information about the program, and law enforcement officials from as far away as California, Virginia and Kentucky have visited New York to study the program firsthand. Several other states including Oklahoma, Michigan, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have invited New York officials to meet with representatives of their program planning committees. Several states have used New York's accreditation structure and resource materials as models when developing their own programs.

There are almost 400 PD's and 60 some odd Sheriff Offices in the State; about 25% of them are accredited.

This is pretty boring stuff if you are not into police administration. I get a kick out of seeing how different agencies put together their departments and meeting a ton of new people. When you come in at the ground level and assist top cops in structuring accountibility, it gives you a great deal of satisfaction knowing that the public is served better. And it sure beats rolling around a barroom floor in spilled beer and piss with some drunken hump.

I know there's an LC or two out here...

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Hie Thee To A Nuthouse

In the summer of 1969 I worked in a psychiatric hospital in Kings Park, NY. At the time I was a potential moonbat considering changing my college major to psych; I wanted to know more about the psychology profession and what kind of "psych things" one in such a profession would do. Needless to say, after three months of working in the child and adult wards I switched to poli sci and automatically became eligible to flip burgers or go to grad school. It was a lot better than working in a nutter assembly plant.

Now don't go getting your panties in a knot. It's just that I saw what goes on in those places and wanted no part of it. The mentally ill are truly an underserved population that yada yada yada, and we should mainstream them so we can pay for their legal guardians and apartments and booze by using Social Security Disability and SSI funds (can't work if you're a nutter or an alcoholic or someone in the throes of tertiary clap) and then get hit up by Him Who Never Blinks for spare change and embrace their insane rantings on street corners and have them keep vent grates warm and get knocked up by various and sundry drunken low lifes and remind us when riding the bus of how aromatic life can truly be without the regular exercise of basic hygiene and kill someone when the voice in their head tells them that the harmless old lady waiting at the bus stop is actually Satan in drag with blue hair.

Was that one sentence? Gotta calm down.

But I was reminded of all this when I landed at The Mudville Gazette who linked up to a Washington Post article about the insane bloggers of the left.

"In the angry life of Maryscott O'Connor, the rage begins as soon as she opens her eyes and realizes that her president is still George W. Bush. The sun has yet to rise and her family is asleep, but no matter; as soon as the realization kicks in, O'Connor, 37, is out of bed and heading toward her computer."

We must give more credit to the digital revolution. It keeps some of the nutters off the corners and out of our faces. How would you like this nutbag yammering in your ear while waiting in line for a mocha latte?

"... she wonders what she should scream about this day... Darfur, she finally decides. She will write about Darfur. The shame of it. The culpability of all Americans, including herself, for doing nothing. She will write something so filled with outrage that it will accomplish the one thing above all she wants from her anger: to have an effect."

And what would she do to stop the killing? Lob aroma therapy missiles? There is only one way to stop someone from killing. It has nothing to do with writing anything other than orders for the Marines to be deployed and the authorizations for air strikes. That is how you stop people from killing. This methodology has been perfected over countless millennia and has worked like a charm every time it's been used. It is called war. Other methods have been tried (appeasement, surrender, etc.) but they do not stop the killing. Only war.

The one thing you can always count on from nutters and moonbats (like there's a difference) is that it is always our fault. It is the fault of the US that Muslims are doing what Muslims have been doing for the past 1,400 years, that is , oppressing and killing non-Muslims. The rage begins as soon as a Muslim opens his eyes and realizes that less than 20% of the earth's population is Muslim.

"typing harder and harder on a keyboard that is surrounded by a pack of cigarettes, a dirty ashtray, a can of nonalcoholic beer, an album with photos of her dead father and a taped-up note -- staring at her -- on which she has scrawled "Why am I/you here?"

Simple, you are here as a sterling example for every other howling mad assmonkey who can't get a life. It's the pathos of the powerless. Suffering from obsessive/compulsive listentomeism, she hammers away at her solutions to the world's problems. As a moonbat responsible for nothing, she believes her blog is the answer for everything.

"What's notable about this isn't only the level of anger but the direction from which it is coming. Not that long ago, it was the right that was angry and the left that was, at least comparatively, polite."

Where has Finkel been for the last forty years! The left was comparatively polite, huh?

Polite like the Chicago Riot of 1968? The Kent State Riots of 1970? The Weatherman/SDS bombings, bank robberies and murders of the 60's and 70's? The almost twenty year reign of mail bombings by the Unabomber (1978 to 1996)? The Earth Liberation Front (1992 to the present) responsible for more than 1,200 acts of arson in this country alone?

Or how about the Democrats' age old accusations that republicans are killing people with social program cuts (actually cuts in the growth of off budget items from as high as 12% per annum to 6%).

"I am this close to being one of those muttering people pushing a cart."
"I'm insane with rage and grief."
"But I also feel more connected than I ever have."


This happens when you experience a total anal/cranial eclipse. Your libtard tendencies get directly in the path of whatever little brains you have left. It creates an "Ass Umbra" blocking out all rational thought.

The people she connects to are just like herself, flies to a fresh road apple. What's scary is that there are so many of them. And what is so utterly confounding is this:

"And the photo album is because of a 25-year-old Marine who died fighting in Vietnam three months before she was born, which she thinks helps explain the note, the alcohol, the cigarettes and the very first piece of writing she ever published online, a rant against the war in Iraq that began, "Every single millisecond of my life was directly affected by the nightmare that was Vietnam."

Vietnam was a democratic war. If this lunatic is 37 years old, she was born in 1968 or 1969. Since her dad died three months before she was born, he most likely died in 1968 when LBJ was the President. Nixon was sworn in on January 20, 1969.

So why does she blog?

It also felt good, she says, transforming even, and soon she was posting regularly to Daily Kos, where she became one of the more widely read diarists with attention-getters such as "Go [expletive] Yourself, Mrs. Cheney" and "Bush Must Be HIV Positive By Now (you can't [expletive] 500 million people and not get infected)."

She feels good about herself. These good feelings come about not from doing charitable work, not from volunteering for the sick and injured, not from helping orphans. She feels good about venting her emotions in the vilest, most foul manner possible. This is an indication of her character. This is what makes her feel complete.

"I want you to get mad!" she shouts along, startling Terry. "What?" he says, backing away with his balloon.

Move slowly Terry, your mom is unhinged. Drop the balloon (she may think it is telling her to kill you) and arm yourself.

About her dad:
"He never knew her name, or that she was a girl, or that his wife weighed less on the day their daughter was born than when she was conceived. "Catatonic" is how O'Connor describes what her mother became for a while, and then the mother got better, and then the daughter got worse, and then the daughter got better by becoming angry rather than silent about a new war, so angry she began wishing her president would go to hell."

The communists killed your dad Maryscott. I'm sure he'd be real proud of you now.

And you are not better. You are a loon.

The NY Slimes Continues It's Slide

The USS NeverDock has a story on the failing profitablity of the Slimes, down 69% in the first quarter of this year. If you go here, this site has the Slimes' Revenues, Operating Profit and Depreciation & Amortization numbers for 2003 through 2006. The decline in 2006 1st QTR Operating Profit is actually down by -67.2%, from $208,072,000 to $68,276,000.

This is offset by a one time revenue boost in 1st QTR 2005 where $122,946,000 worth of assets were sold off. Adjusting for the revenues generated by the sale of assets, the loss in Operating Profits between the 1st quarters 2005-06 would be -24.7%.

The Annual Operating Profits for the last two years also are not good news:

2003-2004 down by -5.5% (loss of $29,596,000)

2004-2005 down by -5.7% (loss of $28,899,000)

Then a two year comparison for 2003 -2005 shows Operating Profits are down by -10.8% (down over $58 million); and if it were not for that one time revenue bump in the 1st QTR 2005, they would be down by -33.6% (a two year loss of over $181 million).

Then ff you go here, you can punch up the prices of their stock for any day of trading that you like. I have done this on a monthly basis for the period January 2, 2002 to April 13, 2006.

On June 1, 2002 the price of NYT stock was $50.27. The latest stock quotes available (April 13, 2006) shows that the price is now $25.05; less than half of what it was nearly four years ago. The price of their stock is following their profit picture.

I congratulate the NY Slimes for their continuing efforts to follow the horse drawn carriage and buggy whip industry into oblivion.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Do Not Disturb

From the Telegraph, this is truly incredible:

'Skeleton woman' dead in front of TV for years

"A woman's skeleton was discovered in her flat three years after she is believed to have died, it emerged today. Joyce Vincent was surrounded by Christmas presents and the television and heating in her bedsit were still on."

Lemme get this straight. A DOA decomposing for three years in an apartment. They should have been able to smell it in Dusseldorf. She must have hung a "Do Not Disturb or Breathe" sign on the front door.

"The 40-year-old's body was so decomposed that the only way to identify her was to compare dental records with a holiday photograph."

When you think about it, that's not so bad. Helen Thomas looks like she's been dead for at least eighteen months.

"Police believe she probably died of natural causes in early 2003, and was only found in January this year when housing association officials broke into the bedsit in Wood Green, North East London."

Sounds like the housing authority officials in London operate on the same level of competence as child protective workers here in NY.

"They were hoping to recover the thousands of pounds of rent arrears that had piled up since her death."

Can she pay you in flies and maggots?

Details of the case emerged during an inquest at Hornsey Coroner's Court, which was attended by relatives including Ms Vincent's sisters.

No need for comment here.

"A spokesman for the coroner said today that Ms Vincent had apparently been a placed in the women's refuge accommodation as a victim of domestic violence."

"Dr Simon Poole, a pathologist, told the inquest he had been unable to establish the cause of death because the remains were "largely skeletal", but police do not regard the circumstances as suspicious."

"The coroner recorded an open verdict."

Here's the rub. Knock off your old lady who's hiding in a woman's shelter and skate. What if she died from injuries caused by the domestic violence? This is so bad it almost sounds like a hoax. But it is a great way to reduce your murder statistics (as I've mentioned in a previous post - 03/29/06 Fun With Numbers Part II).

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

The Good, The Bad And The Mediocre

I attended public schools during the 50's and 60's. I thought these were good schools then and I think so even more now because of the teachers. I cannot think of a single teacher who did not demonstrate competency in his or her field. Not that they were all motivational geniuses, I certainly had a few clunkers that I wish I could have avoided. But everyone of them knew their subject matter.

This is a December 1998 article from the Eagle Forum entitled Why Bad Teachers Aren't Fired.

"Teachers who drink alcohol before class, or even during class; teachers who deal drugs; teachers who can't read or do basic math - all are more commonplace than many parents realize, and their presence in America's classrooms is nothing new."

This is an old complaint, but I think it is profitable to return to it in light of more recent developments.

"So why can't these incompetent teachers be fired, as private-sector employees usually are if they drink on the job or prove unfit to perform required duties? The answer is tenure. About 80% of all public school teachers have tenure. "

Incompetent teachers are like ticks. Once they burrow into the system you have to dig them out.

"According to the Sept. 21 Investors Business Daily, estimates of the number of incompetent teachers range from a low of 5% to as many as 18% of the 2.6 million total, or between 135,000 and 468,000 bad teachers. Last spring, prospective teachers in Massachusetts made headlines when 59% failed a basic skills test."

In the Spring of 1998, the State of Massachusetts required that:

"candidates for public school teaching positions take a basic skills test. The test was geared to an 8th grade level of competency. When 59% of the candidates failed, Massachusetts Education Commissioner Frank W. Haydu III suggested that the passing grade be lowered from 77% to 66%, which would have raised the percentage of successful candidates to 56%. The state Board of Education agreed, and a majority voted to lower the standards despite opposition from some members, one of whom called the test results "frightening."

Like all good liberals, they lowered the standards to improve performance. No wonder these people re-elect The Swimmer year after year. They're as dumb as rocks.

So, in eight years, how have things changed? From the March 24, 2006 Boston Globe:

"Nearly 9 percent of Boston public schools teachers are not qualified to teach under federal standards, primarily because they flunked the state teacher's test and do not have teaching licenses, Boston school officials said this week."

How did they graduate from college? How did they get hired??! If a cop or a fireman flunks out of the academy, he's history.

"Boston school officials, ... are dismissing more than 110 of the system's 380 unqualified teachers at the end of the school year, telling them their contracts will not be renewed because they are unlicensed. The officials said they would work with the remaining unqualified teachers to help them get the necessary credentials. In all, 8.5 percent of the school system's 4,100 teachers don't meet federal standards."

They are only dismissing 110 out of 380 unqualified teachers, that's less then a third. Better yet, these incompetents are teaching until the end of the school year. And the other 270 incompetents will be re-educated at taxpayer expense, to pass minimum requirements.

And school officials wonder why more parents are opting to school their children at home.

Teacher On Leave

Steve White, the subject of yesterday's post, has been placed on administrative leave according to an article in the Decatur Daily. The reason for this may be that White was showing material more rauchy than the anti-Bush diatribes.

"School officials are investigating allegations that he did more than show a derogatory Internet film of President Bush and his administration that repeated a vulgar word."

"Mike Bloodworth said his daughter told him she not only saw the Bush film, but also saw an Internet photo of a "half-naked woman" in a University of Alabama bikini in Steve White's science class."

Mr. White has shown himself to be unfit as a teacher. But I doubt that he will lose his position at the high school. After all, Alabama still has a little ways to go before it hits dead last in academic achievement ranking and they need teachers like this to take them there. Then when they hit the bottom, they can start digging...

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Why They Can't Read In Alabama

From the Drudge Report.
Instead of reading, writing and arithmatic, Steve White a (Alabama) West Limestone High School teacher shows his students anti-Bush videos on the internet. This story from The News Courier states that:

"White, who is a Democratic candidate for the District 4 seat on the state House of Representatives, was previously accused of showing an offensive Internet video against the Bush administration to his eighth grade science class at West Limestone High School."

Now there are new allegations:

"Carroll did not describe the new complaints but one parent said an obscene video showing an animated Bill Clinton was shown to students.Christy Jackson, whose son is in White¹s eighth grade science class, reported last week that White had shown an Internet clip from filmstripinternational.com to the class. Jackson said White also made her son say “John Kerry rocks” before leaving class one day."

Filmstripinternational.com offers the following video fare as American Civics II. The song is called "You're An Asshole" and it attacks the Bush Administration.

This is how you can tell Mr. White how much his efforts to educate the children of Alabama are appreciated. The staff option is on the left, then scroll down a bit to Mr. White's name.

UPDATE:
4/12/06 - On page 13 of the American Legislative Exchange Council's Ranking of States based on Academic Achievement, Alabama is listed as 47th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia. Even a third world country like Arkansas did better (43rd).

Gee. I wonder why...

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Welcome to Dim

I don't know the reason, but some of my sharpest recollections are of events that transpired decades ago. These occurred during my first few years on the job when I couldn't wait to suit up and hit the street. Before the tedium and senseless violence starts to wear thin.

After graduating from the academy January 1975, I was assigned to the Crime Control Team(CCT), a unit that policed the city's six designated high crime areas. CCT used a team policing concept; there were at least three cops assigned to each beat, a service car or two and a crime car.

The service car handled the routine calls for service such as motor vehicle accidents (signal 79), ambulance calls (signal 78), bar fights (signal kickass - lots and lots of those), domestic disturbances (the infamous signal 76) and minor offenses. The crime car responded to all felony complaints and was responsible for followup investigations. The CCT didn't pass felonies up to the detectives except for major crimes such as murder and bank robbery. This was also a major difference between us and the regular patrol guys. We also wore white shirts and Patrol wore blue.

As a rookie I worked with an an experienced officer who showed me the ropes. You soon learn that the academy doesn't teach you how to be a cop. It gives you the tools but someone really has to teach you how to become proficient in their use. My first beat assignment was in an area on the City's near West End, better known as 59 Territory. This territory was what the urban renewal specialists would call a "transition area" as it was in the process of transitioning from a first class sewer to a third rate cesspool.

Tonight I was thinking about one of the cops I worked with back then, a man that I became good friends with. Ed (not his real name) was a unique individual. Anyone who met this man in his official capacity could never forget him. He retired on a disability pension years ago, but in his prime he was fearsome.

Ed was the absolute monarch of 59 Territory. He ruled with an iron fist. His eloquence was not manifested by his speech, but in his gaze and the way he folded his arms across his chest just before he knocked you into the middle of next week. He was a jarhead and he did not brook any nonsense. He could pick a drunk up over his head and throw him completely over a police car, lights and all.

Before describing my experiences with this officer I need to inform the gentle reader of the nature of 59 Territory. The residents of 59 Territory were called 59er's or just 9er's to those of us who worked it. Actually anyone who displayed the charateristics discussed below were awarded that appellation. As previously mentioned, 59 was in transition from a sewer to a cesspool. You might also describe it as a rancid cheese burger transiting from the sigmoid colon to the rectum. It had every kind of crazed, drunken, incest-spawned, whacko supremo you could think of and a few more previously unknown varieties that you swear God in his Infinite Wisdom had placed on His Good Green Earth just to piss you off.

59 was an equal opportunity cesspool. Every color, race and ethnic consideration was represented here, usually on the front porch drinking cheap beer or collapsed in an alley reeking of cheap wine and piss.

Many 9er's were easily identified by public intoxication, public urination, foul public exclamation, public perturbation and public masturbation. During the summer everything took place in the street because their homes were hot, festering, filthy hellholes. In the winter there was basically no difference because most of these people were intellectually defeated by the amazing new "turn me down" technology of wall thermostats.

Aside from the high crime rate, this was an area that needed intensive policing services because 9er's are incapable of managing their affairs without the lubrication afforded by copius amounts of alcohol, screaming and violence. Calls for the police went out to break up disturbances that started over discussions on how to hold a dog leash. Ambulances were summoned and police cars dispatched with emergency lights blazing and sirens blaring on a "Baby Stopped Breathing" call that turned out to be some 9er's pet hamster (after all, it was their "Baby").

A six year old rapes his four year old cousin at a drunken orgy wedding reception held on Gifford St. A 9er gets his penis caught in a punch press (YES - how it got there is a mystery but it was truly a blessing since he was rendered incapable of transmitting his DNA). He gets a few grand from the insurance settlement and remodels the apartment he rents on Merriman Ave. so he can move the toilet into his kitchen. Right next to the sink.

The volume of calls is mind numbing. Noise complaints are generated by someone playing loud music because he says his pets like it. The pets are cockroaches. Thousands of them. The walls literally move when you turn the lights on.

My first homicide is in June of 1975. I have less than six months street experience. A nine year old boy has been reported missing and we get a tip that he was last seen with a George Townsend who lies near the boy's house in the 500 block of Gifford St. I leave the parents' house and drive down the block and meet another cop so we can interview Mr. Townsend . We have also received information that Townsend is "not all there" and a little too "friendly" with the neighborhood boys, a possible child molester.

At Townsend's lower flat no one responds to our knocking, pounding and shouting but the front door is unlocked. We enter looking for the boy. Every room in the apartment is filled with cardboard boxes almost to the ceiling. Electric extension cords cascade from outlets screwed into what should have been the ceiling lights and wind their way through the premises. We find Townsend unconscious on a mattress in the kitchen. There is clothing, utencils, newspapers and all manner of crap covering the floors, counters and sink but no sign of the boy.

I try to rouse Townsend but he does not respond. Empty med bottles near the bed indicate that he may have overdosed so we call an ambulance. To make entry easier for the ambulance crew, we move the piles of dirty blankets and clothing near the foot of the mattress. There we find the boy's dead body. I was standing on the kid's chest just moments prior.

This beat is populated by people who would have died in their twenties a few generations ago but are kept alive by a welfare system that rewards and maintains the bizarre, the lazy and the corrupt.

A State mental health system that advocates the "mainstreaming" of psychotics and mentally deficient victims-to-be simply introduces another variety of fish into an already polluted pond.

Two alcohol outreach programs (the Rescue Mission and Unity Kitchens) keep the winos alive through the winter. We used to get calls for them when the snow melted in March and the smell of their rotting bodies under stacks of cardboard would alert passers by. Now they provide a source of amusement for us as we watch them pound each other senseless vying for the few available beds each night.

Welcome to 59, the Land of Dim.

The Stakes Are High

Posted on The Dread Pundit Bluto.
An Iraqi, Ali Al-Zahid, expresses his gratitude for the efforts of the United States to establish freedom in Iraq. He is frank when he speaks of the miscalculations of the US and his own people, primarily the inability to anticipate the depths of evil and depravity to which muslim terrorists have descended.

"Could anyone have imagined back then that the enemies of the new Iraq would blow themselves up in marketplaces, in front of schools, at funerals - almost anywhere - killing dozens, along with themselves, each time? Could anyone have expected that people transporting flour would have their heads cut off on live television?"

It's not that we're particularly naive, it's that we're not evil. Even when escapees told the allied forces of the horrors being committed in German extermination camps they were not believed at first. Our soldiers were not prepared for the horrors of WWII because no one in their right minds could imagine what the Japanese and German forces were capable of doing.

Let's face it, before the intifada, would anyone believe that a suicide bomber would walk into a peaceful domestic scene and unleash an explosion designed to maim and kill civilians? Could Dan Rather or Katie Couric have anticipated seeing Nick Berg's head sawed off?

Of course not. Any civilized person is revulsed; we abhor such savage imagery and consign those who don't to prisons and mental institutions.

"Many mistakes have been made in these three years. The political parties in Iraq and their representatives demonstrate on a regular basis that they are incapable of uniting the country and leading it. Neither have our American partners been able to keep from making major mistakes."

But we've been there before. British military historian Major Kenneth J. Macksey, MC, (1923-2005) stated: "Wars and combats without mistakes are unknown. " Our own commanders tell us time and again that battle plans rarely survive the first shot.

"There is a major difference between Iraq before April 9, 2003, and Iraq today— now there is hope, there is the determination to win this war. We continue to believe in this new Iraq because we know that, despite the problems, Iraq is developing, and that despite the madness, there is progress. The Iraqi people are beginning to understand that they have rights in the new Iraq, and they are starting to demand them as well. They understand that they are no longer slaves to political powers, but that politicians are supposed to serve them."


Things are rough in Iraq right now. Even though much of the nation is relatively quiet, there are problems in Baghdad and other areas. Iran and Syria are desperate to stop the creation of a true democracy in Iraqi and are trying to foment a civil war. Some Iraqi bloggers say it has already begun.

"We have the United States on our side. We know that we can win this struggle. Our greatest worry is that we will run out of partners in the middle of the final, pivotal push."

There are deeper, darker implications to this. There is more than one battle ground; there is the bloody struggle in Iraq, the machinations of Iran and Syria, and the continuing ideological war in Washington, DC.

"The future of the Middle East will be decided in Iraq. The way America is perceived in the future will be determined in Iraq. The choice is between supporting this new generation a few years longer, and winning a grateful long-term ally, or betraying this generation of Iraqis which believes in, and risks its life every day for, the American dream of democracy."

Not only the future of democracy in the Near East, but the fortunes of American political parties will also be decided in Iraq.

(The above quoted article was written by Ali Al-Zahid, a member of the new Iraquna think tank. Born in 1978, he was imprisoned in 1982 after his father made critical statements against the Baath regime. He lives in Europe.)

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Dubya Plays Texas Hold 'em

The Telegraph has a story that is meant for Irani President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's ears.His precious nuclear weapons program may be targeted by American tactical nukes.

"The Bush administration is planning to use nuclear weapons against Iran, to prevent it acquiring its own atomic warheads, claims an investigative writer with high-level Pentagon and intelligence contacts. "

"President George W Bush is said to be so alarmed by the threat of Iran's hard-line leader, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, that privately he refers to him as "the new Hitler", says Seymour Hersh,"


Isn't it nice when people take you at your word? They had better be sweet because you never know when you must prepare to eat 'em.

"The conviction that Mr Ahmedinejad would attack Israel or US forces in the Middle East, if Iran obtains atomic weapons, is what drives American planning for the destruction of Teheran's nuclear programme."

Ahmedinejad's in the driver's seat taking Iran down the Confrontation With The World's Only HyperPower Highway. Next exit, the Stone Age.

"Hersh claims that one of the plans, presented to the White House by the Pentagon, entails the use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, against underground nuclear sites. One alleged target is Iran's main centrifuge plant, at Natanz, 200 miles south of Teheran."

That's not close enough.

"Iran has been developing a series of bunkers and facilities to provide hidden command centres for its leaders and to protect its nuclear infrastructure. The lack of reliable intelligence about these subterranean facilities, is fuelling pressure for tactical nuclear weapons to be included in the strike plans as the only guaranteed means to destroy all the sites simultaneously."

You can play slap, tickle, hide the nuclear pickle as long as you want. If you got the sites, we've got the nukes. The only uncertainty is, who's bluffing?

Despite America's public commitment to diplomacy, there is a growing belief in Washington that the only solution to the crisis is regime change. A senior Pentagon consultant said that Mr Bush believes that he must do "what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do," and "that saving Iran is going to be his legacy".

Sounds like things are going to get real interesting pretty soon.

Swing That ClueBat

Finally someone swings the Cluebat and catches Hamas right on the chin.

The US and The European Union Have Cut Off Aid To Palestine

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian policeman Ibrahim Abu Hattab, a father of four, already owes half his next salary to the local grocery for food, diapers and cigarettes, but doesn't know whether he'll ever get a paycheck again.

A Palestinian cop? Oh, that's right; these are the people who are tasked with suppressing violence in the West Bank and Gaza. These parasites, these useless ticks have never earned an honest paycheck either.

Abu Hattab and some 140,000 other Palestinian government employees were dealt a blow Friday when the European Union announced it is cutting off aid to the new Hamas rulers and the United States said it will cancel or suspend more than $411 million in projects aimed at indirectly assisting Palestinians.

But we do know that these funds will directly assist corrupt Palestinian politicians and will be used by Hamas to kill Israeli civilians. It's the muslim trickle down economic theory. Whatever trickles down from their Iranian arms suppliers, bomb factories, girlfriends and Fwench bank accounts will maybe find its way to benefit the dirt grubbing masses. And of course it's the fault of the evil joooos.

Hamas has said it is broke and will have trouble paying employees without massive foreign aid.

Broke??! How about incompetent, screwed up, corrupt, evil, homicidal, thieving, crooked, debauched, exploitive, extorting, foul, fraudulent, inadequate, incapable, ineffectual, inefficient, inept, nefarious, perfidious, treacherous, untrustworthy, unable, unfit, unqualified and utterly useless.

The very LEAST of your problems is that you have no money.

Government salaries sustain about one-third of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. After more than five years of fighting with Israel, about 43 percent of the Palestinians live in poverty.

One third??! According to the latest estimates (here and here), there are 3,889,249 Palestinians (2,460,492 in the West Bank and 1,428,757 in Gaza). That means that about 1,200,000 Palestinians are somehow on the government payroll. There must be Palie civil service positions like maybe "Fomenting Terrorism Typist II," or "IAF Rocket SqueeGee Cleaner Operator," or "Al-Aqsa Martyrs Human Parts Room Clerk I."

Another experiment in socialism is circling the drain. The only thing keeping it from disappearing altogether into complete anarchy is the infusion of foreign money.

We have to pay these people to behave? I'd rather treat the whole lot like a junior high school run amok and chill their asses out with massive amounts of Ridlin in their water supplies.

Let the arabs take care of their own. Let them fund the rampant incompetence, corruption, greed and murder in Palestine.

We'll use the $441 million to build a wall on our southern borders.

Also posted at The Dreadpundit Bluto, The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire

Al-Taqiya (aka Islamic PsyOps)

I haven't been there in a while, but Denny's restaurant chain uses the Grand Slam®, All American Slam®, Lumberjack Slam®, etc. to advertise their breakfast products. It is an appealing line-up and I have sampled their fare more than a few times.

I have also sampled the IslamoSlam® line of muslim apologetics and I do not find them appealing. IslamoSlam® offers a revolting line of products guaranteed to lull the unsuspecting kaffir into dhimmitude and uses a tasty tidbit known as taqiya in all their recipes.

The Islamic ingredient of taqiya is to forsake one's religious duties out of fear. It also specifically removes the stigma of wrong doing when lying to protect yourself in a hostile situation. As a matter of fact, one imam (Jafar Sadik) states that:

One who does not keep taqiya he has no religion." He also said on another occasion that, "Fear for your religion and protect it with taqiya." He further said, "Our belief concerning taqiya is that it is obligatory and he who forsakes, it is in the same position as he who forsakes prayer."

A muslim living in a non-muslim society is in a hostile environment so he is under absolutely no constraints BY ALL THAT HE HOLDS HOLY to tell the truth when confronted with his religious beliefs or when hiding hostile intent from a non-muslim. Taqiya is essential for all muslim public relations and is used in all IslamoSlam® products .

The basic IslamoSlam®
Islam is a "religion of peace." This is a product that reeks of taqiya. The spread of Islam was characterized by threats and bloody conquest. It still is. Here is a list of Islamic acts of terror in the past six months. Scroll down a bit to see it. It's a long, long list so take your time. In the past six months Islamofascists have murdered 4,851 people and wounded another 7,047.

Let's put this in contrast:
1) 35 years of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland - 3,466 deaths
2) Number of blacks lynched in the United States (1882- 1964) - 3,445 deaths
3) Torquemada's entire tenure as Spanish Grand Inquisitor (1483-1498) - 1,500 deaths


The Kaffir Slam®
CAIR-Chicago Conducts Training for ICE Officers
(Chicago, IL, 4/2/2006) - The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) conducted sensitivity training recently for some 30 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and administrators in Chicago. CAIR-Chicago's presentation focused on basic Islamic beliefs and practices, including discussion of misconceptions about the concept of Jihad and the religious attire of Muslim women... Presenting to the officers were CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Coordinator Christina Abraham and Prison Project Coordinator Mariyam Hussain.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is conducting training for federal law enforcement officers. So, other than sensativity training, how have CAIR officials aided the United States in our struggle against Islamic terrorists?

CAIR employee Randall Todd Royer, a/k/a Ismail Royer, pled guilty and was sentenced to twenty years in prison for participating in a network of militant jihadists centered in Northern Virginia. He admitted to aiding and abetting three persons who sought training in a terrorist camp in Pakistan for the purpose of waging jihad against American troops in Afghanistan. Royer's illegal actions occurred while he was employed with CAIR.

CAIR's Director of Community Relations, Bassem Khafagi , was arrested by the United States due to his ties with a terror-financing front group. Khafagi pled guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud, and agreed to be deported to Egypt. Khafagi's illegal actions occurred while he was employed by CAIR.

On December 18, 2002, Ghassan Elashi, founding board member of CAIR-Texas, a founder of the Holy Land Foundation, and a brother-in-law of Musa Abu Marzook , was arrested by the United States and charged with, among other things, making false statements on export declarations, dealing in the property of a designated terrorist organization, conspiracy and money laundering. Ghassan Elashi committed his crimes while working at CAIR, and was found Guilty.

Plenty of yummy taqiya in this Slam. All you idiotarians out there may chow down starting..... now!

The Wahhabi Slam®
Warith Deen Umar, a New York-based Wahhabi imam who until his retirement in 2000 "helped run New York's growing Islamic prison program, recruiting and training dozens of chaplains, and ministering to thousands of inmates himself."

Even Sen. Chuckie Schumer acknowledges that there is a tremendous problem allowing Wahhabi extremists within NYS prisons. Umar has some very interesting opinions on the events of September 11, 2001:

"The hijackers should be honored as martyrs... The U.S. risks further terrorism attacks because it oppresses Muslims around the world... Without justice, there will be warfare, and it can come to this country, too," he said.

From my sources within the Dept. of Corrections, until very recently this man was still receiving a salary from the taxpayers of New York.

Imam Umar--born Wallace Gene Marks and later known as Wallace 10X--twice has traveled to Saudi Arabia for worship and study at the expense of the Saudi government and its affiliated charities, part of an extensive program aimed at spreading Islam in U.S. prisons. . . .
Prison dawa, or the spreading of the faith, has become a priority for many Muslim groups in the U.S. and the Saudi Arabian government, which runs what spokesman Nail Al-Jubeir calls a "prison outreach" program. The Islamic Affairs Department of its Washington embassy ships out hundreds of copies of the Quran each month, as well as religious pamphlets and videos, to prison chaplains and Islamic groups who then pass them along to inmates."

"The Saudi government also pays for prison chaplains, along with many other American Muslims, to travel to Saudi Arabia for worship and study during the hajj, the traditional winter pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are supposed to make at least once in their lives. The trips typically cost $3,000 a person and last several weeks, says Mr. Al-Jubeir, the Saudi spokesman."

Not much taqiya in this recipe. And to tell the truth, we miss it. At least LIE to us before putting the knife to our throats. But who needs taqiya when we have idiotarians in the NYS Department of Corrections who cooperate with terrorists?

And Saudi Arabia is the primary supporter of Wahhabism.

Wahhabi or Wahabi (wähä´b) , reform movement in Islam, originating in Arabia. It was founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahab (c.1703–1791), who taught that all accretions to Islam after the 3d cent. of the Muslim era—i.e., after c.950—were spurious and must be expunged. This view, involving essentially a purification of the Sunni sect, regarded the veneration of saints, ostentation in worship, and luxurious living as the chief evils. Accordingly, Wahhabi mosques are simple and without minarets, and the adherents dress plainly and do not smoke tobacco or hashish.

And they murder innocent people. This ingredient serves as the basis for the recipe and is available through the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs. Gee, ain't much information for kaffirs, is there? How about this:

"It is the fundamental assumption of the polity of Saudi Arabia that the Holy Qur'an is more suitable for Saudi Muslims than any secular constitution. This assumption must be viewed in the context of a nation which is completely Islamic. Hence, no churches, synagogues, temples or shrines of other religions exist. No proselytizing by other faiths is allowed. The entire Saudi population is Muslim; the only non-Muslims in the country are expatriates engaged in diplomacy, technical assistance or international commerce. "

Now what was that agrument that Islam is not antithetic to democracy?

The Jihaddi Slam®
This is a taqiya-rich recipe that must be savored slowly. The Road To Dhimmitude has plenty of taqiya rest stops for the weary who want to believe the following dreck:

1) Jihad: The root word of "jihad" is "jahada" which means to struggle,to strive,to endeavour,to exert the best and greatest effort to achieve something, etcetera..etcetera!..its repeated in Al-Quran for NO less than 33 times in different contexts/forms!!!..Its nothing to do with "war" or "violence"!..for war, in Quran there is another word, Qital ,and even this word is meant in a defensive sense ONLY!,NOT in offensive sense,whtever the circumstances!!!.

2)Islam: The root word of Islam is "silm" which means peace, salvation, submission..etc. so Islam is a religion of peace in complete! sense of the word! (2:205, 4:128,5:16,10:25..and many)

Want some more taqiya?

In Islamic teachings, jihad is of two kinds:

First type: jihad with the self (jihad bin nafs), that is, making the maximum effort to keep control over negative feelings in one's self, for instance, arrogance, jealousy, greed, revenge, anger, etc. The psychological efforts to lead such a life of restraint is what jihad bin nafs is about. In social life, it happens time and again that all sorts of base, negative feelings well up within a man, causing him to lead his life succumbing to desires and temptations. The internal effort made in such a situation to overcome the temptations of the self and to continue to lead a life guided by principles is the truly Islamic jihad bin nafs. According to the Hadith, a believer is one who wages jihad with himself in the path of obedience to God. This is one's jihad -a permanent feature of the life of a believer, continuing day and night, and ending ONLY with death.

Second type: jihad for dawah(invitation) work..that is, engaged into propagate the constructive message of Islam.Quran says: do GREAT jihad against them (by preaching) with the help of Al-Quran.[25:52]..so this verse implies that jihad means "peaceful struggle"!!..see here!,how?..The Quran is simply a book, and not a sword, gun, atom bomb, or any destructive weapon!!..so "do great jihad with the Quran" means that "do great struggle (jihad) with the ideological power of the Quran". But it never asks its believers to do the 'great' jihad by means of the "gun or sword". In fact, jihad is only another name for peaceful-activism. And peaceful activism is the ONLY weapon by which Islam wants to achieve all its aims and objective.So in this sense, i think,Al-Quran provides ONLY contructive weapon in the form of "peaceful jihad"!!

I think I'm gonna puke. Too much taqiya on an empty or full stomache can do that to you.

First of all, bear in mind the "peaceful struggle" over some cartoons recently exhibited by muslims in Europe and the Middle East. And then examine the culture and the book that calls for jihad.

From Islam Undressed
Jihad is an Arabic word that literally means 'endeavor'. In the literal historical context, this Islamic doctrine clearly implies physically fighting in the way of the Arabic God ‘Allah’ to establish supremacy over unbelievers, until they relinquish their faith and become Muslims, or acknowledge their subordination by paying the ‘Jaziya’ (or Jizya) humiliation tax.

There are two understandings of jihad. The basic meaning is ''to struggle'' or ''to strive.''
Greater jihad is the warfare against sin and all that is against God and the teachings of the Quran. It is the personal struggle each Muslim wages to be a true believer and follower. The Quran urges one to stay on the straight path and to strive in Allah's cause. (22:78; 49:15).

Lesser jihad is the traditional holy war launched in the name of God against the enemies of God and Islam. Thus, jihad is both a personal and community commitment to defend and spread the religion of Islam.

Muslims popularly refer to four expressions of jihad:
Jihad of the Tongue: speaking about their faith
Jihad of the Hand: expressing their faith in good works
Jihad of the Heart: making their faith a force for good
Jihad of the Sword: defending their faith when under attack

(There is also Jihad of the Ass: that's what happens to countries like France after imbibing too much taqiya -- but that's my take)

Both non-Muslims and Muslim writers have used the phrase ''holy war'' with reference to jihad. Muslim scholars, however, write that Islam teaches it is unholy to start war although some wars are inevitable and justifiable. The Quaran urges those those fight for the cause of Allah and kill pagans wherever they are found.

Whenever believers meet unbelievers, Muslims are encouraged to smite their neck and to fight those who believe not in Allah and the last day (2:244; 47:4; 9:5; 9:29).

Tradition approves of violence against infidels and those who leave Islam as their native or chosen religion. Fighting and killing are described as beloved activities. Apostacy is punished by death.[...]

From Ten Myths About Islam
The Qur'an also teaches for Muslims to enter into exile in lands where Islam is not the dominant force, and to stir up trouble, so that this persecution will come as the natives in those lands protect the integrity of their sovereignty.

"Those who believed, and adopted exile, and fought for the Faith, with their property and their persons, in the cause of Allah, as well as those who gave them asylum and aid,- these are all friends and protectors, one of another.

As to those who believed but came not into exile, ye owe no duty of protection to them until they come into exile; but if they seek your aid in religion, it is your duty to help them, except against a people with whom ye have a treaty of mutual alliance. And remember Allah seeth all that ye do. The Unbelievers are protectors, one of another: Unless ye do this, protect each other, there would be tumult and oppression on earth, and great mischief." (Surah 8:72-73)

In this passage, “adopted exile” is translated from the root form hjr, which has as its primary meaning the ideas of containment or confinement, and can carry the connotation of being quarantined or compartmentalised. The idea garnered from this verse seems to be as follows: adopt exile in a foreign land, voluntarily confining yourself in a non-Muslim society. Eschew assimilating into the culture and way of life of the host country, and instead agitate for Islam.

When opposition arises, join together and give aid and fight for Allah against the unbelievers, since voilà, persecution has arisen! Hence, what is touted as a defensive doctrine is in reality carried out in an offensive manner.

There are numerous other, more straight-forward quotes from the Qur'an which exhort the followers of Mohammed to war:

"But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war; but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and pay Zakat, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft- forgiving, Most Merciful." (Surah 9:5)

This passage is found in a portion of the Qur'an dealing with the making and breaking of treaties with pagans (unbelievers). In context, it is condoned for Muslims to break treaties with pagans if it is to their advantage to do so, UNLESS those pagans have been completely faithful in the discharge of their treaty obligations. But, after the terms of the treaty are met (the forbidden months are past), Muslims are commanded to make war.

So, are you tired of taqiya? So am I.

Here's a special culinary treat, two burqa babes trying to eat spaghetti. (Scroll all the way to the bottom.)

Praise the LORD it wasn't clam chowder.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Idiots And Stupid Fish Jokes

Yesterday a Syracuse man, Shawn Rowser, 36, was arguing with friends and relatives over a cheap gold necklace he bought that turned green. One of his friends/relatives shot Rowser in the foot. So his bling lost its zing, and he got dinged. Idiots.

Two fish are in a tank. One says to the other "I'll man the guns, you drive"

Kirkuk- eight mass graves containing around 1,000 bodies have been found near Iraq's northern oil hub of Kirkuk, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) announced on Thursday.
"Most of the victims were Kurds, as well as some Christians and Turcoman, who lived in these two majority Kurdish villages," the PUK said in a statement.
Numerous mass graves of Kurds in the north and Shi'ites in the south have been discovered since the fall of Saddam's regime in 2003. United States officials believe there could be at least 300 000 bodies buried across Iraq."

The moonbats still shriek and howl about our presence in Iraq but never said a word when Clinton bombed the Serbs back into the Stone Age for killing thousands of Muslims. These idiots could be tripping over Iraqi corpses in their livingrooms and they wouldn't bat an eye.

Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says "dam."

Caracas, Venezuela - Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pelted the U.S. ambassador's car with fruit, vegetables, and eggs on Friday, and a group of motorcyclists chased his convoy for miles, at times pounding on the cars, a U.S. Embassy official said. No one was hurt.

Glad to hear that no Americans were hurt, but how come not one of these idiots were shot??!

What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

GAZA (Reuters) - Five militants including a senior commander were killed in an explosion that hit a car and a militant base in the southern Gaza on Friday, Palestinian witnesses said. Militants said the blast was caused by an Israeli airstrike.

You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, etc. These idiots must have forgotten the words to this song.

Where do you find a crab with no legs? Exactly where you left it.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Mexican Immigration Laws

Mexico employs a double standard for immigration policies. El Jefe Fox wants his people to stroll across the US border and go directly on the dole. But if an American citizen forgets to cross the "t" or dot the "i" on the necessary Mexican paperwork, well, that's why the Mexican word for government pension can also be translated as "bribery."

If you, as an American citizen upon entering the United States of Mexico, violate any of these laws YOU WILL GO TO JAIL.

U.S. and Canadian Residents Entering Mexico - General Guidelines

U.S. and Canadian tourists must carry proof of citizenship. A valid passport is the most convenient, since it ensures problem-free re-entry into the United States, serves as a photo ID and facilitates many transactions, such as cashing traveler’s checks. The U.S., Canadian and Mexican governments also recognize a birth certificate (must be a certified copy from the government agency that issued it). A driver’s license, baptismal certificate or voter registration card is not proof of citizenship.

Tourist Cards: The Mexican government assesses a 170-peso (at press time, approximately $18 U.S.) tourist entry fee for each visitor entering Mexico for pleasure or on business. The fee must be paid in order to have your tourist card validated if you plan to remain anywhere in Mexico for more than 72 hours, or stay less than 72 hours and travel beyond the 26-kilometer (16-mile) border zone.

A government-issued tourist card (actually a form) is available upon presentation of proof of citizenship from Mexican government tourism offices, Mexican consulates in the United States and Canada, or immigration offices at official points of entry. If you’re entering Mexico by land it is advisable to obtain your tourist card prior to leaving the United States. If you’re arriving by air, the tourist card is distributed on the flight.

If you plan to enter Mexico as a non-tourist, there are other restrictions:

Staying for More than 6 Months

You may request from the authorities the corresponding immigration permits, which are the FM2 and the FM3.

FM3 you are allowed to stay in the country as a NON IMMIGRANT for a period of one year. This permit may be renewed annually. After the fifth year you may be interested in acquiring the next immigration status (IMMIGRANT) or simply continue as an FM3 holder.

FM2 This document applies to the IMMIGRANTS. As an immigrant you're not a permanent resident but you are eligible to apply to become an INMIGRADO (permanent resident - for residency in Mexico).

Buying property in Mexico as a resident alien.
Anyone may buy property outright as long as the real estate is not inside the Restricted Zone (within 50 kilometers—about 31 miles—of the ocean, or 100 kilometers—about 62 miles—from a border).

Working in Mexico
According to Mexican Law, foreigners may only perform those activities expressly authorized by the Ministry. You are allowed to perform any activity as long as it's legal and honest. This includes the ability to work in the country.

Both as an FM2 or FM3 holder, you may be authorized to perform several activities. These are the most common:

Business or Investor (FM2 or FM3)
You may have considered investing in Mexico and therefore you wish to learn about possible investment options. Or, you might just come down to invest, supervise an investment, represent a foreign company or perform certain commercial activities.As an INVESTOR: You must note that there is a minimum investment amount as well as the obligation to demonstrate that the investment is beneficial to the country's development.


You must meet minimum investment standards of 50,000 pesos. This is 40,000 times the minimum daily wage.

Scientists and Techinicians (FM2 OR FM3) In these categories you will have to provide all the documentation that proves to the satisfaction of the authorities that you have the skills and knowledge to perform these activities.

Professionals (FM2 OR FM3) You will have to provide the authorities with all the papers that can prove you have the knowledge and skills to perform the specific professional activities. The applicant must demonstrate that the skills are not met in the workforce in Mexico.
High level management (FM2 OR FM3) If you were appointed as a director to a company or to assume a key position you will need to obtain this immigration permit.

Members of the board (FM3) When you need to attend to a board meeting of one or more corporations, this is the migration status you request to the Mexican authorities.


Any bean pickers here?

Students (FM3)Students are admitted for periods of one year for as long as the course lasts. They may not leave the country for more than 120 days every year. Students have to prove to the authorities that they have a regular income to satisfy their needs. The status obtained when applying for the permit is that of a non-immigrant.

Retired (FM2 OR FM3)If you have decided you want to live in Mexico without performing any specific activity you may acquire this immigration status as long as you can prove to the satisfaction of the Mexican authorities that you will live on the income brought from abroad or earned from Mexican-based investments.


What this means is that you must be able to support yourself to the tune of at least $800/month.

THE MEXICAN TAXPAYERS ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU A HAND.

What about "undocumented workers in Mexico?

According to Mexican Law all your immigration papers must be in force and the information in them contained must be updated during your stay in the country. In case they expire or the information is not provided to the authorities within 30 days of the event that modifies such information, you will be liable for fines and other penalties. It is highly recommended that you keep this in mind.

A Mexican word for "undocumented worker" is "prisoner."