Plains Feeder

Appeasement Never Satisfies

2010-09-25T20:32:00.000-05:00

A Facebook comment posted by Harold Thompson 9/25/2010. This cat has his head screwed on straight.

A few weeks ago I posted a short history of how Europe tried to deal with Hitler early on. The decision was made to appease Hitler. If he was accommodated, then he would be happy and all would be well.

The appeasement reached its apex when ...Czechoslovakia was forced to cede to Germany a large part of its territory, known as the Sudetenland, in Oct 1938. In March of 1939 Hitler invaded and occupied the remainder of the country anyway. The beginnings of WW II were in place.

Appeasement and accommodation never satisfies an aggressor. The more weakness you exhibit, the more appeasement they demand.

Same situation as which a school yard bully. The more you give in to a bully, the more he demands. Either you totally surrender or you stand and fight.

Eventually Islam will force us to fight or surrender. Then and only then will most Americans realize trying to pacify Muslims is a wasted effort and is futile.

Islam gives infidels (that is us) 3 choices: 1. convert; 2. submit; or 3. die by the sword.

The sooner we understand this, the sooner we will deal with Islam.

Facebook isn't only about what my cat did today.

A Man Never Looks...

2010-09-25T10:30:00.001-05:00

New York Post: Liberal media goes on attack against GOP's Boehner. Keeping it classy.

Catching Boehner with a mistress is the only way to destroy him politically before the election.

A man never looks behind the bedroom door unless he has hidden there himself.
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More: Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Democrats' strategy: Start slinging.

Teresa Lewis Executed in Virginia

2010-09-24T06:12:00.005-05:00

Small Anti-Death Penalty Protest

The death penalty is alive and well in Virginia. It seems Teresa Lewis conspired with a couple of other low-life types to have her husband and step-son murdered in the hope of collecting some insurance money. Hiring someone to commit murder is seen as more nefarious than doing the deed yourself, for reasons that elude me. In Teresa's case, she reportedly used sex to recruit at least one of the actual killers. To look at her makes me wonder how the jury bought that theory, she isn't what I would call a siren. At any event, Lewis was convicted and sentenced to die by lethal injection. Her co-conspirators, the ones that she met in a Walmart and enticed into shotgunning her victims, 'rolled over' on Teresa and got life sentences.

To read most of the news coverage one might get the impression that the execution took place despite a huge public outcry against the enormity of the "machinery of death in Virginia" snuffing out "the beautiful, childlike and loving human spirit of Teresa Lewis". In fact, only about a dozen protesters showed up at the prison, outnumbered by pro death penalty demonstrators and the press.

I think the death penalty serves a purpose. Even though I'm generally an anti-statist, the reality of the situation is that we don't have any other sensible way to get rid of those among us that commit truly heinous crimes. Sure, some folks will whine that executions cost society more than life sentences. If that is true it is only because the anti death penalty busybodies that have put so many roadblocks in the way of the legal process. And there is always a chance that life sentences might be commuted or that the perp might escape. The death penalty is final.

I also believe the death penalty serves as a deterrent, but you never hear of those murders that never happen, so deterrence can't really be proved. Common sense tells us that some would-be murderers consider the possibility of paying the ultimate price and make other plans.

It would be nice to think that common sense is making a comeback in America.

Onward

2010-09-24T05:01:00.005-05:00

Wild Horses in Our New Mexico Orchard

The old feeder has come through a rough winter. I didn't feel well enough to run the Plains Feeder, partly because of cancer and partly due to the chemotherapy and radiation treatments. These times were chronicled on Facebook. If you are curious, just find P. T. Gustan's Facebook account, ask to be my 'friend' and read about the struggle. I don't want to let my circumstances impinge too much upon this old blog any more.

Even though I have moved to New Mexico, I remain a Plainsman at heart. I intend for the Plains Feeder to continue following the Midwest scene at a distance. I'll try to add something of interest to New Mexicans as well as to continue covering national and international news that I consider Feedworthy. As always, I'll try to include some personal anecdotes, minus the tedious expilcation of my own battle to stay alive.

Onward!

The unhealed injury

2010-09-11T08:51:00.003-05:00

Posted September 11th, 2010.
It takes something really important for the old feeder to break from his decision to stop posting here at the Plains Feeder until he has the energy to spare. There will be, no doubt, all the 9/11 memorabilia, photos, videos, remembrances you have a taste for on the intertubes today. I plan to partake sparingly this year.

The day is in danger of solidifying into one of those memorials from which most of the real juice has dried up. Many of us do it for the doing of it, like Memorial Day grave decorating. The 9/11 attacks have never been resolved. Not for me. Osama bin Laden is still free. His people want to build a Mosque de Triomphe on the ruins and remains. The anger and pain are even worse for me now than they were in 2001.

Fellow bloggers, If I don't check in at your 9/11 post today, it is because I can't bear to, not because I don't want to.
ptg
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Reposted:

September 11, 2001: Images I won't forget

Doomed victims above

Smashed WTC jumpers' bodies below

Like the poor ~~victims of the Mohammedan Jihad pictured above~~, you have a choice to make. Unlike them, one of your options is life.

Life free of the threat of murderous ~~Islamic~~ madness, if you have the guts to choose it. The other choice is the slavery of Muslim dhimmitude or death.

The Spirit of '76

2010-07-04T22:05:00.001-05:00

Anyone still have the Spirit of '76?

The Declaration of Independence is the document that explains the Spirit of '76. The concept is nearly incredible from today's perspective: Americans advocating and fomenting the violent overthrow of their own lawful government. These Patriots offered more than protest, petition for redress, even than resistance. They offered war.

Before I sully this day with my own sour thoughts concerning the "Spirit" of today's American citizen, I'll move on to my real point. I think it would be nice if all Americans made it a tradition to read the Declaration of Independence aloud at least once a year. That day might as well be the Fourth of July. Do it by way of testimony if you are a solitary person. As a family or group, do it as a civilized custom and a lesson to the young. Don't do it if you don't want, but wouldn't it be nice if more of us did?

Click for big

Give the old parchment a read:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration
of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. ——— We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. ——— He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. ——— He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. ——— He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. ——— He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. ——— He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. ——— He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. ——— He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. ——— He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. ——— He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. ——— He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. ——— He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. ——— He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. ——— He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: —— For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: —— For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: —— For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: —— For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: —— For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: —— For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences —— For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: —— For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: —— For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. ——— He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. ——— He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. ——— He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. ——— He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. ——— He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. ———

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. ——— And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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Be free.

Cease and Desist!

2010-06-24T22:48:00.005-05:00

That Other White Meat?

Have you ever gotten a "cease and desist" demand because of something you posted on the internet? I got a laugh out of this one that ThinkGeek got from lawyers representing the National Pork Board (The Other White Meat people) demanding the Geeks stop using a similar sounding slogan for their Canned Unicorn Meat. The Pork Board's stodgy lawyers really egg up their faces; I hope they didn't bill the Pork Board anything over the retainer for this brilliant piece of legal work.

I've only gotten one serious "cease and desist" demand from a real lawyer representing a real company with a real beef. I manufactured and marketed adult ant farms on the internets. As it turns out Uncle Milton, who makes Uncle Milton's plastic toy Ant Farms owns the words "Ant Farm".

Uncle Miltie's lawyer agreed with me that I could go on using the words Ant Farm as long as I noted that Miltie was the owner. Heck, I wasn't competing with Milton's cheesy plastic toys. I made the Genuine Bauman Formicarium, a furniture quality ant habitat for the adult enthusiast.
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Such Tripe!
The Pork Board's law firm web site actually features this statement:

Sustainability is a priority for our firm. We also believe environmental stewardship and effective client service are fundamentally connected. When Faegre & Benson participated in a sustainability pledge campaign in April, more than 500 employees promised to add three environmentally friendly actions to their work habits. The result? More Together.

500 more together employees took the pledge. Save us from being PC.

From Texas: Don't Aid the Castro Regime

2010-06-21T12:35:00.000-05:00

Castro Monument

Saw this first at Babalu blog, my favorite anti-communist source, who got it via Capitol Hill Cubans. Its a good, short read by U.S. Representative Mike Conaway of Texas, a Member of the House Committee on Agriculture, in the San Angelo Standard-Times:

After reading the Standard-Times' recent editorial regarding legislative efforts to lift the travel ban to Cuba, I felt the need to respond. This is an issue that my colleagues and I on the Agriculture Committee continue to examine and in the newspaper's analysis of the issue, I believe some pertinent concerns were overlooked.

The U.S. Declaration of Independence asserts with no equivocation that liberty is an inalienable right, granted to us by our Creator. The government of Cuba unequivocally disagrees with us on this point.

Fidel and Raul Castro have erected, as their own sister once said, "an enormous prison surrounded by water." According to the U.S. State Department, Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism, one of only four in the world.

The Cuban government, along with Syria, Iran and Sudan, has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism and engaged in the trade of prohibited materials with other state sponsors. It has allied itself with Hugo Chavez, FARC rebels in Colombia and Basque separatists in northern Spain, and it continues to harbor U.S. fugitives.

Further, the government of Cuba consistently ranks as one of the most repressive, draconian and abusive regimes in the world.

Our relations with Cuba are not merely an economic question, but a moral question as well.

I support our current agricultural export policy with Cuba because I believe that supplying this nation with foodstuffs lessens suffering among the citizens and drains the Castro regime of funds to spend on more belligerent uses. The humanitarian goal of feeding innocent people and the strategic goal of exhausting the funds of a totalitarian government outweigh the moral hazard of trading with a nation as corrupt as Cuba.

Our agricultural producers should rightly be proud of the role they play and the profits they earn in helping to protect the Cuban people.

However, the question of lifting the travel ban presents a different set of moral concerns. Tourists traveling to Cuba to spend their money will enrich the Castro regime, largely without ever seeing the desperate poverty and crushing oppression that the average Cuban faces. The tourism industry in Cuba is, in fact, run by their military and they will, without question, enact and enforce laws restricting the interaction of the Cuban poor with Americans on travel.

The money American tourists would trade for sandy beaches and quaint, old hotels will be funneled into the state-run business and the Cuban government's coffers, where it can be used for malicious activity.

It is possible that this money could be used to buy food from Texans or Georgians, but the Cuban government has a proven track-record of violent political repression, financing Marxist revolutionary movements in Latin America and arming terrorist organizations.

In your editorial, you cited a letter written by 74 members of Castro's opposition who support lifting the travel ban. It is unfortunate that you were not able to also consider a response letter sent to the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson, by several hundred former prisoners of Fidel Castro.

In their letter, they explained to Chairman Peterson: "We are former Cuban political prisoners, who have spent a combined 3,551 years in Castro's gulag. We are living testimony of the unspeakable tortures, cruelty and deprivations of the military dictatorship of the Castro brothers. (E)very dollar (this) legislation seeks to place in the coffers of the Castro regime will only be used to further repress the Cuban people."

The letter is a powerful statement about the true nature of the Cuban government and the lengths to which military dictatorships will go to maintain their grip on power.

As a Christian, I have a deeply held conviction that the oppression of the Cuban people by the brutal Castro regime is morally reprehensible. While I am a strong supporter of existing and improved agricultural export relations with Cuba, lifting the travel ban and opening Cuba to American tourism is an issue separate from those exports. Lifting the ban would strengthen the Castro regime and enrich a state-sponsor of terrorism.

In my travels and meetings in Congress, I have met with many Cuban refugees. I have heard the depths of their suffering and I look forward to the day when all Cubans live in a nation free from fear, repression and retribution.

However, unilaterally lifting the travel ban, with no commitment from the Cuban government to improve its record on human rights, political freedom and economic openness, will not meet this goal.

Our nation should work toward free elections in Cuba with every tool and resource at our disposal. When that day finally does come, Americans and Cubans alike will enjoy the freedom to travel between our countries; but most importantly, Cubans will finally get to enjoy true liberty, a God-given human right.

Without true liberty all the rum drinks taken in quaint old hotels while being served by quaintly oppressed peasants should taste bitter in the mouths of the thoughtless hypocrites and stooges who think they will be helping. For the ones who know the real score and still support a US policy that will give aid and comfort to our mortal enemies, the Communists: may Castro's rum turn to poison in their mouths.

Flag Day, USA

2010-06-14T13:57:00.004-05:00

Old Glory at the Old Feedlot (click)

Today is Flag Day here in the USA. Fly 'em if you got 'em. You don't have to fly Old Glory today, but it would seem only decent not to mock those of us do. Like Time Magazine does, whose readers are far too cool for anything as silly as Flag Day.

Tea Party Rally in Seward on Flag Day

2010-06-06T23:50:00.004-05:00

York, Nebraska, has an active Tea Party group with plans for a rally on Flag Day (6/16). The local paper, The York News-Times reports:

YORK — Just about two months ago, the Tea Party movement in York County was made up of two like-minded women who said they were sick of high government spending and lack of respect for the U.S. Constitution. Today, the local grassroots group consists of dozens of people, a board of directors and a outreach program that’s assisting their neighbors in Seward County.

Watch the Video Report

Jeremy Jensen, chairman of the York County Tea Party, says the group is partnering with Lincoln Tea Party volunteers to host a Flag Day rally in Seward, June 14.

“Our goal is simple,” Jensen says. “We want to deliver resources for people who feel like us, to take a stand, become informed and provide education about our Constitution. We believe in limited government, free market solutions and fiscal responsibility. We support everything that is in the U.S. Constitution. We do not endorse specific candidates, but rather want to educate the people so they can ask the right questions and make the right decisions when it comes time to vote in November.”

Voting is important — the local Tea Party chairman says they encourage voter registration and are distributing material to help residents be registered and prepared.

“We are not looking to be a third political party,” Jensen said. “We want to provide a platform for the citizens to ask questions of the candidates, on the local, state and federal levels. We believe that if individuals have good information they will make good decisions” in the voting booth. “We want people to study the Constitution and base their decisions on whether a candidate backs it.”

[...]

Jensen said they will also be having an informal event before Flag Day, on June 10, at the York Community Center. “From 1-7 p.m., we’ll have an open house during which we will be giving people complimentary supplies to make signs for the Seward rally. And, if someone wants to make a sign but cannot attend the Seward rally, we can take the signs over for them.”

My friend, Ed, made this short video promotion for the event:

Remember D-Day

2010-06-06T09:04:00.002-05:00

oxycodone zone - recycled

Omaha Beach - Bob Capa photo - click for more

If America loses the spirit that rid the world of the threat posed by national socialism in World War II, or relaxes the vigilance that stayed the threat of international socialism during the Cold War, then the next big war will be lost on our soil.

Don't forget the sacrifices our soldiers and our allies made this day. Don't forget the sacrifices all Americans made to the war effort then. Then ask yourself if today's leaders have the any inclination to resist the infectious spread of National Socialism or the threat of Islamic Jihad.

They say that if it weren't for Americans and Brits like those who stormed the beaches of Normandy, we'd all be eating sauerkraut with chopsticks today. In the future, will we all be slaves of the state?
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Fly your flag today.

Oxycodone Zone

2010-06-05T09:37:00.009-05:00

from the oxycodone zone

The Boss

It is about time I got back to work on the Plains Feeder. As the founder (as in: Bernard Hensley, founder) and no-nonsense boss of the Plains Feeder, there is much that I could explain regarding my absence from my favorite old blog. How I've been ill. The bad prognosis. The move to New Mexico. The cancer treatments. The destruction of the feedlot and the new orchard.

It ought to be easy to get some blogging done. I'm sitting in the shade on the front porch, using our little wireless netbook. I have a cold drink, some day-glow blue electrolyte concoction. It is quiet with only the birds tweeting and a gentle breeze wafting. I ought to be on a blogging roll. Instead, I'm in the oxycodone zone. My doctors have decided that I must take sufficient oxycodone, a synthetic imitation opium, to keep me stupid day in and day out. I'll have to blog on, in spite of my thoughts being clouded, my sensibilities numbed and my typing fingers unresponsive.

So you don't get confused, dear reader, I intend to label all the posts I write while impaired. I will mark them at the top right corner with the words "Oxycodone Zone". You are on notice that the accompanying post will be of low qualty, and may make an informed decision as to investing any time or effort trying to read it. But wait! There is more! No, no.... See what I mean?
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DadBones spotted a Bobcat at the orchard just before he returned to Iowa. Jean sees lizards.

Paul McCartney glued together

2010-06-04T19:49:00.004-05:00

from the oxycodone zone

Persona non grata

He is better than us, that is why I don't like him. He's got some sort of Title. He was a Beatle. He isn't dead from booze or dope. Why does he feel inclined to insult the US on a visit to the White House?

I don't have anything nice to say about England. I've been there and didn't like it. I kept my mouth shut about it. Even now, I could say awful things about the English. But I won't. Unlike Paul, I'm a gentleman. Besides, I know you are already thinking rude thoughts about the English.
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Doesn't it appear from the photograph that Paul looks like his face has been glued up? Stuck in a lovable mop-top Beatle caricature. How old is he, anyhow? His Wikipedia entry says he is just about to turn 68.

It also says: "Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record and film producer, poet, painter, and animal rights and peace activist. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings, according to Guinness World Records, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in the history of popular music." He is better than us.

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T02:05:00.002-05:00

Arlington National Cemetery
“Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

New GMLTV Show

2010-05-22T14:13:00.000-05:00

We have a new Give Me Liberty TV episode running on Lincoln's Time Warner Cable public access channel. There are three segments in this show:

The conclusion of the interview with Tea Party leaders Shelli Dawdy (Grassroots in Nebraska) and Laura Ebke (Red State Eclectic / Campaign for Liberty) hosted by GML-TV’s Patrick Tarr. The discussions cover the Federal Reserve, local grassroots organizations for limited government, citizen efforts to report on legislation in the Unicameral, and the new movie, “A New America.” If you missed the first part of the interview, you can check it out here.

The second is an interview I did with Lory Storm of the Nebraska 912 Freedom Project about their Initiative petition to allow recall of elected officials in Nebraska. The Initiative process in Nebraska allows citizens to place amendments to the state constitution on the ballot by collecting signatures throughout the state in support of the amendment. The purpose of this particular amendment is to increase government accountability by adding a mechanism for the people of Nebraska to remove a politician from office before the end of his/her term. If the amendment reaches the ballot and is enacted, it would apply to Nebraska officials at all levels of government: federal; state; and local.

Finally there is a video of a speech about Repeal and Replace that former NY Governor George Pataki gave in Lincoln recently. It's a good speech, but I'm not a big fan of Pataki based on what I saw of him when I lived in Connecticut. The Governor appeared through RevereAmerica, which seems to be mainly a vehicle for promoting him for the 2012 presidential race. That seems like a pipe dream to me.

New Show at GMLTV Site

2010-05-02T18:25:00.003-05:00

The Give Me Liberty TV group, of which I am a member, has a new show up on the site:

The Tea Party Movement consists of hundreds of small groups operating independently around the country. Of course, GMLTV itself is such a group, but there are many others just here in Nebraska. Laura Ebke, who blogs at Red State Electric, is the leader of Campaign for Liberty in Nebraska. Shelli Dawdy of Grassroots in Nebraska is another local Tea Party leader. Recently GMLTV's Patrick Tarr hosted a discussion with Shelli and Laura. Topics ranged from the Tea Party Movement to the Unicameral's resolution on state sovereignty and the Constitutional balance between state and federal power.

[View the video segments at GMLTV]

Comments on any of the shows are welcome here, there, or at Don't Let Me Stop You.

Easter, a different perspective

2010-04-05T09:14:00.006-05:00

The Feedlot

As readers who are familiar with the Plains Feeder (some readers have been following since 2004) may know, the old feeder, ptg has been ill for the last couple of years. As a result, ptg hasn't been adding much to the blog. The other fine contributors, Abe of Lincoln, Dad Bones and Angela have been carrying the ball and keeping the old feedlot viable. In addition, ptg, whining and complaining about the weather on the Great Plains, has moved away to the high desert of New Mexico.

The Plains Feeder Board of Directors has, in light of the foregoing, decided to give the old feeder his walking papers, pending final approval by the Federal Blogging Commission. You won't see that bum around here no more.
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Important Update from ptg!
Wait a minute! The Plains Feeder is still my blog and I can do whatever I please around here. See: Plains Feeder Terms of Use. I never heard of any Board of Directors. Nobody is going to kick me to the curb just because I'm not feeling 100% and don't live in a wretched old feedlot office building on the Great Plains. I'm in charge here, and will continue to run this show from ~~jail~~, New Mexico or anywhere else.

Now that I have that cleared up...
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An Old Feeder's Perspective on Easter
Angela, a fine Christian lady, has done a tremendous job of celebrating Easter in the preceding posts. I sometimes wish I could enjoy such clarity of faith. I must admit that, having spent much of my adult life studying the evidence we have of Jesus and his teachings, I still don't get the soteriological aspects of Christianity.

I have no problem believing that there is a creator that cares about his creation. I have no problem with the miraculous. To me, creation itself is a miracle, and every little thing that appears before my eyes is miraculous. It is obvious to me that I've been saved from damnation. I just don't see how it works.

The last thing I'd ever want to do is to cause another to doubt their faith. I like to think that I could and would endure anything without renouncing my own. I don't doubt that the events that gave rise to Easter could have happened. I've seen enough to know that nothing is necessarily impossible. I simply can't see how these events have saved me from anything.

Sorry if I seem like less of a Christian for this. Since I'm not in charge of any church, the Board of Christian Directors and the Federal Religion Commission may see fit to give me my walking papers. There is nothing I can do about that.

I will continue to follow the line of Jesus' teachings. I trust that your faith will sustain you as much as mine does me.

Tea Party Panel Discussion on GML-TV

2010-03-27T14:21:00.008-05:00

If your only view of the Tea Party movement has been through the prism of CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and national newspapers, you may think of the protesters as a mob of angry people with pitchforks and torches, looking to tar and feather everyone who disagrees with them. If you get all your news from Nancy Pelosi, you may think the protesters are violent, neo-Nazis. To hear the Leftists tell it, dissent against "Chimpy McBushitler" was the Highest Form of Patriotism, but dissent against the unprecedented expansion of federal government currently underway must, obviously, be due to racism.

In fact nothing could be further from the reality of the Tea Party movement. The vast majority of participants are simply regular people, patriotic citizens trying to restore respect for the Constitutional principles of limited government. We know there's no such thing as a free lunch. All these "free" things the government gives us will have to be paid for, one way or another, in higher taxes now or on our children.We know that a government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.

To give you a direct look at some members of the Tea Party movement we offer this panel discussion featuring three Nebraskans who became politically active in the past year: Bryan Van Deun; Joanne Elliott; and Dan Draney (i.e. Yours Truly, Abe). This is Show #7, and it is hosted by GML-TV’s inimitable W. A. Mitchell.

[I'm sorry for the embedded videos being a bit too wide for the column. You should have seen this problem before I "fixed" it. :) You'll probably want to view them full screen, or click through to watch them on YouTube, or follow one of the links below. - Abe]

[Cross-posted at GML-TV and Don't Let Me Stop You]

I called Congress

2010-03-22T19:51:00.002-05:00

Loser's Cathedral

I called Congress. I don't think they were listening. Perhaps I should have called the Politburo instead.

Laying Blame

2010-03-16T14:45:00.004-05:00

Losing the war in Viet-Nam

In my opinion, the United States has been damaged more severely in the last year than any time I can remember. American status as a world leader has been degraded, the economy is nearly destroyed, the national coffers have been emptied and our debt has multiplied to the point that we must borrow abroad like poor relatives.

Previously, I had thought that the US nadir of my lifetime was the time after our disastrous defeat in Viet-Nam. Today has those grim times beat, hands down.

Who do I blame? I'll start with the Republican Party, the last years of George Bush's administration and John McCain. These three crippled our ability to fight off the poison of Marxist thought. The source of that poison gets the rest of the blame. The Democrat Party, the Democrat controlled Congress and, most of all, the Obama administration. The poison has gone systemic and there is no clear antidote.

It is going to take decades to restore our nation. I don't think I will live to see America recover. I am plagued with the thought that we don't have what it takes to make a recovery at all.

I see our only hope being in a fundamental change in our election process. A large minority of Americans aren't fit to vote and should be stricken from the rolls. We need to make the right to vote something of value again. Being able to breathe simply isn't sufficiently exclusive.

Do I think the nation has the wisdom or the cojones to implement voter reform? I'm not optimistic, given that so many of today's voters haven't a clue about our Constitution or its historical context. What will I do about it? I'll try to live free in an unfree world. The rest of you are on your own. May the devil take the hindmost.

Give Me Liberty TV

2010-02-28T22:05:00.002-06:00

I'm working with a small group of "cats" (as PTG would say) to produce pro-freedom videos. These are carried on the Community Access Channel of Lincoln's Time Warner Cable affiliate. We also post the shows on the GML-TV web site. Here's a post about our most recent effort, an interview with Tony Fulton on the 10th Amendment resolution in the Unicameral.

We were also able to get an interview with Judge Andrew Napolitano during his recent visit to Omaha.

We'd like to get our shows onto the Omaha cable system, too. If you are in the Omaha area and interested in helping with this, send me an email at my GMail account (where I'm AbeLincoln81). Or just add a comment on the GML-TV site or the new Don't Let Me Stop You site.

- Abe

Future News: Election 2010

2010-02-23T23:31:00.002-06:00

It's the Morning After in American, and boy are the Dems hungover. My satirical take on where the current path of the Democrats may lead them is now posted at the new Don't Let Me Stop You blog. Now fortified with even more unnecessary syllables to help build strong vocabularies 12 ways. Just a taste to get you hooked:

The morning after voters issued a historic rebuke to the Democrats, party officials struggled to comprehend the magnitude of the loss. Two years ago the Democrats appeared to have established a permanent grip on the Washington levers of power. Yesterday, every Democrat in the House lost, and the only Senate Democrats to escape the electoral tsunami were those who were not up for reelection. A party operative, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to trash his colleagues, conceded that the party’s legislative strategy might have been an error. “By ramming a series of huge, costly, unpopular measures through the Congress on party-line votes, we lost many moderate voters. When your agenda is opposed by over 80% of sentient voters, using parliamentary shenanigans to pass it makes you appear a little arrogant.”

More at the source.

Thanks to PTG for allowing this shameless self-promotion. :)

Old Plains Feeder Comments Restored

2010-02-12T16:22:00.002-06:00

As you might recall, our old comment system was handled by Haloscan. That company was subsumed by a new one, JS-Kit that insisted that we change over to their Echo comment system. The changeover did not go smoothly, the old feeder screwed around trying until it seemed that everything was hopelessly wrecked. Angela, bless her heart, spent a great deal of time getting things to work again, but it seemed all the years of comments (over 7,000 of 'em) were lost to the big bit bucket in the sky.

Today, with a great deal of assistance from Igor at Echo, all the old Plains Feeder comments are back. We are now using the Echo system. I think the comment interface needs a bit of tweaking, but I'll wait for some feedback from our readers.

Thanks for 'bearing' with us.

New Type of Identity Thieves?

2010-02-10T11:10:00.000-06:00

These rascals will pay your bills!

The old feeder has a gasoline company credit card. I got it to keep track of my fuel expenses, and have used it for more than 20 years. It is a commercial card, issued in the name of a business. Once I got situated here in New Mexico I tried to change the billing address on the card. I paid the most recent bill (in full, as always) and checked the little box on the statement stub indicating that I had printed my new address on the back.

The other day I got a letter from the card issuer demanding that I formally request the change of address on my 'letterhead' and confirm the new address by enclosing a utility bill showing the same. The letterhead would have been easy. It's just a Word document that I can edit any time. For a number of reasons, I've never had my utilities in my own name. Not the telephone, the gas or the electric, and as long as the bills were paid on time, nobody seemed to care. I decided to call the card issuer by phone and get this straightened out.

The customer service person was most helpful and the address was changed after I identified myself to their satisfaction. No need for the letterhead or utility bill. The incident left me wondering, what kind of shenanigans was the original request designed to prevent?

Is there some new type of identity thief who is willing to pay your bills just to use your name? One that changes the billing address on your credit cards so that the bills come to their house instead of yours? Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see the advantage to the thief or any great risk to me.

Strategic Air Command reaction to movies - 60's

2010-01-31T10:30:00.017-06:00

Slim Pickens with old-style H-Bomb - Dr. Strangelove

The old feeder grew up under the threat of imminent nuclear war. Folks reacted to the situation differently. Some families installed bomb or fallout shelters, some joined 'ban-the-bomb' pacifist outfits and some just grew ulcers. Many good Americans, like my Dad, myself and my wife Jean worked to prevent nuclear holocaust by fighting communism and helping the cause of "mutually assured destruction". Other cats made great movies about the threat. Especially in the 1960's.

My favorite nuclear war movie has always been Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. I never gave it much thought, but the folks at the Strategic Air Command, headquartered at Omaha, Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base were concerned that movies like Dr. Strangelove and Fail Safe would give Americans the wrong idea. Sometimes such films made it appear that nuclear weapons could just 'go off' the way gun control nuts think handguns are apt to do.

To counter this notion, the US Air Force made a film to show how safe and secure our nuclear weapons systems really were. That movie, for one reason or another, was never made public and remained classified until recently. I caught an AP story about it in the Omaha World Herald* with a link to the movie and decided to check it out. You can watch it here.

JSTPS office door - from the SAC movie - click

It brought back memories. Jean used to work at the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff, (JSTPS) which is featured in the government movie. The cats in her shop referred to their outfit as Nukes R Us. I remember going to one of their Christmas parties. The mood was macabre, but fun. The theme of the party was "We're making a list and checking it twice" from the Christmas song Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I'll leave you to make the rest of the analogies to the song that were bandied about that night.

What great folks those service men and women were. Dealing with the most deadly weapons systems ever in the history of mankind, 24 hours a day, day in and day out, they still had a sense of humor about their mission. They never forgot, however, that their real mission wasn't world scale destruction, but peace. In those days the entrance to SAC carried this motto: Peace is our Profession. For the entire time SAC existed, from 1946 to 1992, there was no nuclear war, thanks in large part to the vigilance of these troops and their leaders.
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The mission of maintaining the peace with nuclear weapons is now carried on by the U.S. Strategic Command, based in the old SAC buildings at Offutt. It isn't just an Air Force job now.
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* The Omaha World Herald has a goofy notion that folks ought to pay to read their old news, so if the link is kaput, try this one.