Open floorplan, granite countertops, bomb shelter?!

Wouldn't it be most excellent to be prepared for whatever may come, whatever that may be? Sometimes your humble correspondent thinks about those things. How would you be prepared for all the crazy stuff that may come along? Well, a nice place to live would be nice. Open floorplans are a big deal these days. Granite countertops are good, but quartz could be better -- ask your contractor.

The bomb shelter though...

There was talk about a year ago about North Korea nuking us. Yup. They've got the bomb. So does Iran. Comforting thought...

But that's probably not what may actually do you in. Probably not even the EMP they're working on that won't blow you up but will blow up your phone and by extension your Snapchat and Instagram accounts. The real problem will be the hordes of people who live in cities who really aren't able to take care of themselves without a local Whole Foods and Nordstrom's nearby to feed them and clothe them -- and a hairdresser to manicure manbuns.

The scenario looks a little something like the Walking Dead, except it's not actual zombie hordes -- it's generations of people who don't know how to survive for themselves. In its most basicness it comes down to the collectivist mindset (read: communist) that comes from today's political left. It's all about the group; acting for yourself, in your own self interest, is somehow evil and immoral. So if you live in the country and hunt every fall to fill your freezer with venison for the coming year you are evil. If you plant a garden and "can" a winter's worth of vegetables you are a terrible person who doesn't care about people, especially minorities and oppressed classes. (As an aside, canning is becoming a lost art. Few know how to preserve food in glass jars anymore.)

The whole "It Takes a Village" idea is a fake, fantastical, ludicrous dream. Throughout all of history people have survived and thrived alone, or with communities; by themselves, or together. The West was won by rugged individuals and by enterprising groups; the world was changed by many, and it was changed by one. But none of them were controlled by power hungry totalitarians who told them what to do, how, when, why, and while wearing what and eating and drinking what because they are the elite few who "know better."

Look it up. That's what libraries used to be for.

Things are looking good but tenuous right now. As a society we're teetering on the edge between uneasy continuance along a narrow path toward betterment, and total anarchic collapse courtesy of "progressive" collectivists who hate outliers and apostates.

So for those of you who live in big cities, good luck with the whole cannibalism thing. Your elite overlords love having you packed in close quarters where it's easier to control you. All of you. Easily. Out in the suburbs it's not as easy, and out in the country people still know how to take care of themselves -- and that means independence, individuality, freedom, and, yes, maybe even bomb shelters.

Benghazi -- What Difference Does It Make?

I think I've figured out the scandal behind the Benghazi scandal -- it's not about what President Obama knew, when he knew it, or why he wasn't honest about what really happened -- that it was a planned terrorist attack.

The real scandal is Obama himself, and the people in power like him and with him who are radical, hardcore leftists with authoritarian intentions.

Hilary Clinton didn't heed calls for more security at the station in Benghazi because she likely believed, as most leftist, anti-interventionalist, anti-"American-Imperialist" radicals believe, that an additional American presence in the region would lead to more retaliation.

And they believe retaliation is in many cases justified (remember after 9/11/01 many leftists, including the President, were left wondering, essentially, "What did we do to deserve this?" -- it's the "Blame America First" crowd).  As most radical leftists believe, America is the oppressor and muslims and islamists are the oppressed.  It's not terrorism.

That's why they were left looking for a reason for the retaliation in Benghazi, and found it in an anti-islam video and Coptic Christian filmmaker.

Sure, there were political implications, i.e. Obama didn't keep us safe from terrorism, Al Qaeda is still active, the presidential election was coming up, etc.  From his perch in the White House, all those issues were likely less important to the President than the perceived issue that once again, America's chickens had come home to roost.  The election campaign wasn't going all that well, so that didn't really matter.  He had to figure out, once again, what America had done to the poor oppressed in the Middle East, and he had to parse his words not to cause them more anguish.

And they just had to keep things together in some sort of semblance of order for the uninformed, traditional American values types, to keep up the charade that "Obama is a centrist pragmatist" long enough to make it past the election and stay in power.

To borrow a phrase from Hilary Clinton, "What difference, at this point, does it make?!"  She has a point.  It doesn't really, in the end, matter what they did or didn't do, what they knew or didn't know, or what they said or didn't say.  It's symptomatic of a larger problem.  What matters is who they are, and the positions of power which they exploit:  They are radical, authoritarian leftists bent on complete, centralized government control.  It's who they are.  It's who they always are, throughout all of history, every time.  And they are always dangerous to liberty and life.

I had a green job | Fox News

Government can not create jobs.

"Real wealth and jobs are not produced by means of subsidies extracted by force from helpless victims by the Obama administration, but by rational free people acting under their own initiative."

I had a green job | Fox News

Romney Understands America - Dennis Prager - National Review Online

Romney Understands America - Dennis Prager - National Review Online

Construction Season Strikes Back

There are a few constants in life: night and day, death and taxes, warm weather and road construction.  A motorist can hardly traverse purple mountain majesties and amber waves of grain – much less urban jungle sprawl – without encountering the sound of jackhammers chewing up winter scarred pavement.  Such was the case on my usually uneventful journey towards my friendly neighborhood fitness emporium.

Old roads abounded with familiar summertime landmarks: orange construction barrels replete with conveniently matching, sequentially blinking orange hazard lights.  Opposing traffic, much like me and my late model American made import sedan, hugged the yellow center line fearing the compact lane dimensions narrowed by industrial strength construction implements consuming valuable shoulder space to make room for future lanes, one would hope.

Hope springs eternal as Spring warms the earth; flowers, trees, Bambi-cute baby deer, and feelings of optimism bloom.  Hope, however, won’t replace my passenger side mirror which exploded on impact as I sideswiped one of those infernal barrels.

I’ve always found a parent’s warning about having eyes in the back of their head more intriguing than threatening and not just because of the potential for administering swift parental justice.  That sort of visual omniscience would have been useful in this instance as the barrel sticking into my lane would have been much easier to avoid had I seen it.

Bang!  Shattered glass in every direction.  I wasn’t sure at first what had happened.  Did I hit an animal?  Did a rock or other piece of road debris hit me?  A million thoughts cascaded through my mind in an instant before I even realized I had been struck in the arm by the damaged mirror or what was left of it – a mirror shaped plastic panel rocking gently to a stop in the passenger seat.  Specks of glass sparkled in the sunshine like glitter.

Fortunately I was not hurt.  Strangely enough I did manage to sustain an injury to my left hand, on the other side of the car opposite the obliterated mirror, which I did not notice until after I had bled all over the steering wheel.  A nice future reminder, to be sure.  I can also take comfort that I hit an inanimate object rather than another car carrying who knows how many passengers speeding towards me at 45 miles per hour, also hugging the center line to avoid its own orange barrel obstacle course.

What’s a work zone weary driver to do?  Road construction is everywhere!  It’s the Department of Transportation’s version of a drug store on every corner.  As in the case of a bird flu pandemic (or is it swine flu now?  I’m never sure which means of impending doom we’re supposed to fear at any given moment) holing up at home is an option and Amazon.com will happily ship almost anything and everything the modern hermit lifestyle requires.  Not the most sociable option, however.  I’ll recount the simple admonishment my parents gave me when I learned to drive: Be Careful. 

A $1200 repair bill is a powerful reminder.