Friday, July 31, 2015

Off to New Hampshire!


Yeah, yeah... "never announce you won't be home; robbers could target you!"


(*SNORT*)

Good luck with that!

Anyway... of to Ted & Mary Land! Forty-four acres of locked-down (by three German Shepherds, high-tech monitoring, and of course... plenty of fire-power) FUN! FUN! FUN!

The heated pool awaits me...

The hot tub as well...

THE BAR...

(God Bless the New Hampshire Liquor Stores; socialism's only true working model!)

So... just finished up Ann Coulter's "Adios America." GREAT FRIGGIN' BOOK! Each of you should read it. (Those of you who know me know I would never recommend a book which wasn't factually accurate and enlightening!)

Last night... finished up Charles Murray's "By the People." Another GREAT FRIGGIN' BOOK!

Folks... I know that I come off as thinking that I'm "the smartest guy in the room." Well... truth is... I'm usually the best read... the most intellectually consistent... and... most honest - with myself... about myself... with you... about you.


(*SHRUG*)

Nope. Not patting myself on the back for ego's sake. Rather... I'm BEGGING you folks... please READ both Coulter's book and Murray's book! I'm telling you... you'll LEARN stuff that you really SHOULD know! And for my brightest friends... those brighter than me in most respects... yes... you too will find the thesis', evidence, and analysis of each work compelling - and in Coulter's case quite amusing!

Anyway... that's it... off to pack... the Poops should be home in fifteen minutes or so and we're scheduled to hit the road at 1:00 p.m.

I'll probably "play around" on FaceBook from New Hampshire a bit over the weekend...

Again... regular readers... visitors... here at Usually Right; if we're not already FB friends, please "friend" me and that way you can follow my FB "newsbites." (Carl... this means YOU! Set up an anonymous FB page; or rather... have one of the kids set one up for you; I promise - you won't regret it!)

Cao!


Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Meanwhile... Back in the Real World...




Representative Diane Black, a Republican from Tennessee, has introduced a bill to deny all federal funding to Planned Parenthood...

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

* FOLKS... DON'T GET ME WRONG! I'M NOT "ROLLING MY EYES" BECAUSE I OPPOSE BLACK'S BILL. NOPE. I HEARTILY SUPPORT IT! HERE'S THE DEAL, THOUGH... IT'S ALL KABUKI THEATRE.

(*SHRUG*)

* HERE'S THE LINK TO BLACK'S BILL.

* NOTICE... EIGHTY CO-SPONSORS.

* READ THROUGH THE NAMES. DO YOU SEE BOEHNER'S? DO YOU SEE BOEHNER'S TOP DEPUTIES'?

* FOLKS... I BELIEVE WE (THE GOP) HOLD 247 SEATS IN THE HOUSE. GUESS WHAT? BLACK AND HER EIGHTY CO-SPONSORS REPRESENT LESS THAN A THIRD OF THE GOP CAUCUS. (THE G*O*P CAUCUS...)

* HEY... YA WANNA BE FURTHER DEPRESSED BY THE REALITY AS OPPOSED TO THE HYPE? HERE YA GO!

* YEAH, FOLKS... THAT'S LEGISLATION TO STOP FUNDING ABORTIONS VIA PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUBMITTED BY SENATOR DAVID VITTER BACK IN JANUARY. NOTE: EIGHT (8) CO-SPONSORS. SO NINE "YEA" VOTES OUT OF... 100 SENATORS... 54 OF THEM "REPUBLICANS."

(*SHRUG*)

* FOLKS... I FEAR WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH IS JUST ANOTHER DOG AND PONY SHOW; ALL RHETORIC; NO SUBSTANCE.

* PERHAPS INSTEAD OF "GOP" STANDING FOR "GRAND OLD PARTY" WE SHOULD RENAME THE PARTY "FUO" - "FOOL US ONCE..."

* NAH... THAT WOULDN'T WORK... AFTER ALL... WE'RE NOT REALLY TALKING "ONCE"... NOW ARE WE, FOLKS?


Concerning the Upcoming Republican Debates...


As usual, I'm disgusted by the ineptitude of the GOP, and frankly... I'm not all that thrilled with "my" Tea Party Republican candidates either.

(*SIGH*)

Fox News will be hosting the first... "debate"... on August 6.

Notice, folks... I put the word "debate" in quotes.

(*SMIRK*)

Folks... this ain't gonna be a debate

(*SHRUG*)

Basically what's gonna happen is what always happens: What we'll get is a faux "debate" which amounts to soundbite vs. soundbite, scripted gesture after scripted gesture...

(*SIGH*)

And Fox News...??? Really...??? The GOP Establishment Network?

(*SNORT*)

Same ol'... same ol'... same ol'...

Treating us like a bunch of friggin' jerks...

(*PURSED LIPS*)

Folks... we KNOW how to conduct REAL debates! High schools... colleges... their debate clubs have it all down pat! There's no "rocket science" to holding a TRUE debate! 

Allow me to further outline my thoughts on this:

Any sports fans reading this? If so... you folks know how "championship" contests work... narrowing down... narrowing down... narrowing down...

(*SHRUG*)

Why can't the GOP manage THAT format? Why can't we have a SERIES of one-on-one debates? (Or at least a series of REAL debates between... say... four candidates at a time?)

Why isn't Heritage... or Hoover... or AEI... or Freedom House... stepping up to sponsor, host, and run REAL debates?

While I'd be thrilled to have REAL moderators - "debate experts" (academics) - moderating, why not invite folks like Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck... (and so on and so forth)... to serve as panelists... as questioners?

Folks... I can understand why Jeb Friggin' Bush would NEVER want true debates... my question is... why aren't Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal... Walker... Trump... Huckabee... Carson... DEMANDING REAL DEBATES...?!?!

Rather than the dog and pony show we always get - the one where the goal isn't to enlighten the electorate but rather to have one candidate emerge as the "best entertainer" - why isn't "our side" DEMANDING REAL DEBATES?

Think about it, folks... just... think about it...


Thursday, July 16, 2015

I'm Begging You Folks... (re: "By the People; re: "Adios America")


PLEASE...

READ CHARLES MURRAY'S "BY THE PEOPLE".

PLEASE...

READ ANN COULTER'S "ADIOS AMERICA".

As to the former... if you're only going to read one non-fiction book for the rest of your life... Murray's "By the People" is the one to read. It explains everything you need to know about how and why Our Founders' Great Experiment has failed.

Folks... ya know how I tend to be... er... um... just a tad... a teensie-weensie bit... er... full of myself?

(*GUFFAW*)

I'm just a piker compared to Murray. The man is brilliant. And he can write! He can not simply state - but make - his case!

Fair warning...

(*PAUSE*)

I find myself reading a few pages... perhaps a good part of a chapter... and then taking a break. NOT because it's "heavy" reading in an academic sense, but simply because it's so damned depressing.

(*SIGH*)

Murray lays it out...

(*ANOTHER SIGH*)

There's just no friggin' hope...

(*PURSED LIPS*)

Still...

(*PAUSE*)

You ALL should read this book! At the very least it'll give you a more perfect ability to follow my "short-hand" commentaries here on the blog and on FaceBook.

(Yes, folks... AGAIN... I urge you all to follow me on FaceBook...)

As to Coulter's book...

(*INHALE*)

(*EXHALE*)

Again... it's depressing... and infuriating.

Frankly, I don't give a shit about your visceral "feelings" towards Ann Coulter. They're irrelevant. Coulter's personality is... what it is. (As is mine!) But if you're truly a "grown-up" you'll put that crap aside and just READ the woman's book.

"Adios America" isn't simply Coulter "opining." This is a book filled with cited facts, figures, and on-target analysis.

BONUS: Coulter's book is far less challenging than Murray's. By this I mean you don't even have to be all that well-read, well-educated, or knowledgeable in order to "follow" Coulter. (With Murray... starting out with your own broad knowledge base helps speed along the reading process quite a bit.)

In any case... DEFINITELY read Murray's "By the People." I don't care if you're a registered Democrat, an Independent, a Green, a Republican, a Conservative, a Liberal... whoever you are and whatever you believe... I guarantee you that reading Murray's "By the People" is worth your time and effort. In fact... I'm betting that those of you who answer my "call" will end up thanking me.

(*SHRUG*)

As to Coulter's book... I know that this is a tougher "sell." That said... those of you who have any respect for me (regardless of whether my "tone" and/or my "politics" are your cup of tea) will afford me the RESPECT - as well as the "benefit of the doubt" - of acceding to my... er... "prompt."

Again... I know how I come off to many of you.

(*GRIN*)

I can be over-bearing; obnoxious even! "Condescension?" It's my middle name! But those of you who are honest with yourselves will acknowledge that I tend to know of which I speak.

(*WINK*)

As to my actual friends...

(*GRIN*)

As to my actual REAL LIFE friends...

As to the "FaceBook friends" I've come to love as REAL friends...

PLEASE READ THESE TWO BOOK! PLEASE!

 

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, July 7, 2015


Again, folks... I'm quite active on FaceBook as well! Friend me!

In the meantime... onward to Newsbites!


Friday, July 3, 2015

Nothing to See, Here, Folks... Move Along... Hope and Change...




Just askin'...

Follow the bouncing newsbite ball as you read this stand-alone newsbite:

*  *  *  *  *

Senior Obama administration officials are defending Iranian nuclear violations...

* OF... COURSE... THEY... ARE...

(*CRADLING MY HEAD IN MY HANDS*)

...in the aftermath of a bombshell report published Wednesday by the United Nations indicating that Iran has failed to live up to its nuclear-related obligations, according to sources apprised of the situation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) disclosed yesterday that Iran has failed to meet its commitments under the interim Joint Plan of Action to convert recently enriched uranium gas to powder.

While Iran has reduced the amount of enriched uranium gas in its stockpiles, it has failed to dispose of these materials in a way that satisfies the requirements of the nuclear accord struck with the United States and other powers in 2013.

Secretary of State John Kerry declared last summer that Iran would be forced to comply with such restrictions...

* APPARENTLY NOT!

(*SNORT*)

(*SMIRK*)

...and State Department officials were assuring reporters as recently as last month that the Iranians would meet their obligations.

* FOLKS... YA CAN'T MAKE THIS $HIT UP...

(*SIGH*)

Wednesday’s disclosure by the IAEA sent the State Department rushing to downplay the Iranian violation.

* I'M SURE IT DID!

Obama administration officials insisted that despite Iran’s failure to meet its obligations, negotiations were still on track and that Tehran would face no repercussions.

(*SILENCE*)

One U.S. official who spoke with the Associated Press on Wednesday said that instead of converting its uranium gas into uranium dioxide powder as required, Iran had transformed it into another substance. The IAEA found that Iran had converted just 9% of the relevant stockpile into uranium dioxide. The official went on to downplay concerns about Iran’s violation, claiming that Tehran was only having some “technical problems.”

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

David Albright, a nuclear expert and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), warned that the United States is weakening its requirements on Tehran as a final deal gets closer. “The choosing of a weaker condition that must be met is not a good precedent for interpreting more important provisions in a final deal,” Albright wrote in an analysis published late Wednesday.

* YA THINK...?!?!

The IAEA’s disclosures are in contrast to comments made by Kerry last summer when he assured observers that Iran would live up to the interim agreement.

The Israel Project (TIP), which has sent officials to Vienna to track the deal, wrote in an email to reporters that the administration looked like it was “playing Tehran’s lawyer” in a bid to defuse potential fallout from the IAEA’s report.

One Western source present in Vienna said the administration is scrambling to ensure that nothing interferes with a final deal. “Once again, the White House will go to any length needed to preserve the Obama-Iran deal, even if it means covering up Iran’s failure to convert all of the nuclear material as promised,” said the source.

* FOLKS... WE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE AN ACTUAL "MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE" IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

“If they had admitted Iran failed to live up to the letter of the JPOA — as is the case — this one-week extension period of the JPOA would be totally invalidated and the talks would be over,” the source added.

“Like they have for months, the administration continues to hide violations and is acting more like Iran’s advocate than the honest broker the American people deserve."

Long Holiday Weekend Newsbites: Fri. 7/3 Thru Sun. 7/5


My Poops is home! She's got Friday off for Independence Day! Woo-hoo!

She's been busy all mornin'... washing my clothes... putting away my newly washed and dried clothes... making and serving me coffee...

(*HUGE FRIGGIN' GRIN*)

GOOD POOPS...!!!

(*STANDING OVATION*)

Ahh... but don't fret, folks... I DO appreciate ALL the Poops does for me... so... NOT only am I gonna take her to lunch... BUT... I'm gonna let her order off of the ADULT menu!

(*GUFFAW*)

Oh, Lord... I do crack myself up...

(*STILL LAUGHING*)

(*THINKING ABOUT SHARING THIS POST WITH THE POOPS*)

(*REJECTING THE IDEA OUT OF HAND - AT LEAST TILL IT'S POSTED*)

Anyway... AFTER lunch... I'm gonna take the Poops with me on a ride... an airport pick-up; one of my regulars...

(*SMILING WINK*)

THEN... we're taking our nieces out to dinner tonight. Italian. They love it! (Ages 14 & 15 respectively.)

Then... tomorrow... bbqing with friends...

Sunday... more bbqing with DIFFERENT friends...

Life is good!