RKL Writes

On Autism, Parenting, and Life Experience

2011-12-17T06:56:00.000-08:00

In the mid 1990s I was young adult and as time would show, I had many years between becoming a husband and a father. One of things I noticed around this time was the prevalence of parents to lead their children around on leashes. It was quite the common site back then although now you might go years without seeing it. At the tender age of my early twenties and not being a parent myself, I thought this practice to be barbaric on the one hand, and considered it a willful lack of proper parental guidance on the other. While today most people would probably agree with that, evidently they would not have at the time, or else there would not be so many people leashing their children.

I got married at 33 and had my first child one year later. Up until becoming a parent myself, I would scoff as many people do, when we witness a child behaving very badly in public. I would think to myself, although I never said such thing aloud, "Well you should take control of your child." Or maybe I would think something like "What a terrible father you are, your child is making a scene and you can't stop him." And in many or perhaps most instances when you encounter such a situation, your mental comment is most likely warranted. Ahhh but for the cruel hand of fate, or properly defined in my case, "Your child has Mild Classic Autism."

And should you never have had the experience to encounter a child with Autism whether it be your child, a family member, or maybe a family friend, you will never be truly able to contemplate the stress and strain of those of us who deal with this condition on an minute, hourly, monthly, yearly, and lifetime basis. I certainly had no idea of what it was like before I got to know my daughter.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that it is defined by a level of dysfunction, and it is a behavioral disorder, and is not something that can be tested by blood draws or an MRI. Typical Autistic behavior consists of lack of normal communication, fixation on certain things or behavior, for example children that do only thing all the time, such as stacking blocks or arranging things in a row. At about one year old, my daughter would not look either my wife or I in the eye, nor would she speak in any real words, but she was drawn to the sight of bright lights, and would obsessively align objects in an orderly fashion. She was walking well before one year old. These strange behaviors lead us to getting her diagnosed.

Now at the age of three years old, my daughter can speak at the level of a one year old. Even without professionals evaluating her, this is apparent when she is around other children just younger or just older than her. Children around the same age as her will ask me, "Why doesn't she talk?" I don't know what to say to that, other than to tell a white lie that "she is shy." And truthfully, had we not got the diagnosis as early as we did, we would not have been able to get her the early intervention therapy that we have. So when I say that she talks at the level of a one year at three years old, I tremble to think what might have been should she not have received 18 months of intensive therapy. And yet, my daughter is not stupid nor is she retarded. This is an interesting and frustrating part of Autism. On the one hand, she will not communicate much at all. And yet both my wife and I know that she understands most if not all of what we tell her. It's as if the Autistic child is in their own world that we just can't penetrate. She hears and understands everything, but we just can't break through that shell.

Nothing gives me a bigger belly laugh while at the same time a little bit of envy as when a parent of a normal child complains of the "terrible twos." The age of two is when children begin to develop their displeasure of not being able to control their emotions. In the case of an Autistic child, as they are not able to communicate with other people even at an early age, their frustrations are infinitely more than those of normal children. It is a frightening and heartbreaking sight to see your two year old child repeatedly and intentionally ramming her head into a concrete wall because you did not understand what she was trying to tell you in her gibberish language. And I don't even think of letting her walk through the grocery store parking lot, she will run away because she still has no concept of danger. Since you can't effectively talk to her, you can't instruct her to hold your hand and expect it to happen. You learn to park your car next to the grocery cart stack in the parking lot and put her in a cart as soon as you get out of the car. You unload your groceries and then take the cart back to the stack and then carry her to your car. And it's a sad thing when she's sick but can't tell you why and the Dr asks: "Does she complain of throat pain?"

To be a parent of an Autistic child, you are forced to get out of your comfort zone. In all honesty, you won't be allowed to have one anymore. In public, your child will embarrass you in ways that other parents will never understand. Autism will stress you to your last straw, it will break down your defenses and your will, but should you be parent of one, never will you love your child any less for being what what she is, your perfect child. And to fate, the dealer of this hand to my daughter and family, I raise you all in.

RKL

How to end Racism in America Part 2

2011-11-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago with some trepidation and a little bit of anger I wrote a post titled "How to end Racism in America". To my surprise, this has been the most read post of my blog, although in my opinion it is not anywhere near the best writing I have done. And so with recent events in mind, I'm writing another post considering the same topic.

Of recent news, I would like to speak of Herman Cain. In my writing, I make no attempt to hide that my political views are very conservative. But in the case of Mr. Cain, I will admit to ignorance on his political platform, partly because I'm Texan and at this early point in the next Presidential election campaign I favor my current governor, and partly because with the recent addition of a new son to our family, I've been otherwise occupied. But the rise of Mr. Cain's popularity amongst Conservatives is certainly worth noting, and the media's outlook towards him speaks volumes on the United States of America, or at least how it portrayed by the mainstream media.

The first question that I would like to consider about influential African American politicians in the United States is who are the ones with the most media clout? And the second question I would like to consider is: why? For the sake of this discussion, let's take Obama out of the equation for the time being. In regards to the first question, the names that come to my mind are Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton. I'm sure there are many many others, but all seem to be cut in the same mold, that is: my people, listen to me and vote Democrat infinitely.

And so when a conservative black man such as Herman Cain steps into the political arena what is the establishment to do? A black man that is conservative? Here is the thought process of the liberal political class which by the way is probably 99% white: Well then he's just not one of us. We must destroy him. Find something on this guy, if we have to, we'll "Anita Hill" him. And so they being the liberal establishment have "Anita Hill'ed" him. Time will tell to see if that strategy works or not. Contrast this current witch hunt with how Bill Clinton got such a pass by the media for all the non "womanizing" he did.

My closing point is simple. If Racism is to end in America, people of all races should stop looking at race as a defining point in their political ideology. To do otherwise is to be no better than Nazis or Black Panthers, both of which are evil. And yet what political party plays on racial differences? That party is the Democrats, who whether promising amnesty for Illegal aliens from Mexico, or who are also promising endless "benefits" and possible slave reparations for blacks. How long must these false promises be made before other options are considered? Political promises that imply benefits to a specific class of people are by definition nothing more than reelection guarantees and nothing could be more anti-American in principle. The United States of American was and is still the greatest country in the annuls of history due to the basis of which it was founded, FREEDOM. If we continue to allow that freedom to erode by choosing racial politics and short term favors over the founding principle that all men are created equal, then we will all truly deserve what we get, that is the suffering that those who founded the United States strove to be rid of.

RKL

Tyrants and Tyrants

2011-10-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

From day one of the Libyan operation, I kept thinking, "Why are Americans getting involved in this?" The recent events have not convinced me of an acceptable answer. In the beginning, the President of the United States seemed utterly obsessed with overthrowing the Libyan government, specifically the removal of it's leader, Muammar Gaddafi. I confess to not following Libyan politics for the last twenty plus years, but I will concede that Gaddafi was a tyrant and most certainly a thorn in the side of the USA since Reagan's time and before. But since when has the US been a tyrant eliminator when the safety or interests of the United States are not at stake? Who suggested that Libya threatened the United States in such a manner that immediate regime change is required by the force of our military might?

As much undeserved heat as the Bush administration took over every silly minute detail that happened with the Iraq and Afganistan wars, the Obama administration has recieved a free pass when it comes to this Libyan "expedition". There was a push to force Obama to do the right thing, that is to get Congressional approval for a war as is required by the Constitution. That simply died off because the administration claimed that we are just shooting rockets and not putting boots on the ground. To debate these details is not the point of this post, but rather I would like to discuss some simple thoughts on the matter.

When Saddam Hussein was captured, he was hiding in a somewhat similar manner as Gaddafi. Both men who were certainly tyrants were reduced to hiding like animals in a dark hole. There is some karma in that I suppose if you believe in such things. But after of these men is where the similarities end. Hussein was tried, convicted, sentenced, and executed by his countrymen. Debating the fairness of that could take thousands of lines of text, but that Gaddafi was shot dead without a trial is another thing altogether. Normally a tyrant being shot by a rebel would concern me in no way, but the United States was involved in this. I confess that in my entire life, I have never felt that being an American was dirty until yesterday.

RKL

On Autism and Altruism

2011-09-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

My daughter Kaitlyn was born November 5, 2008, which was due to my political leaning, an ominous date. She was and continues to be from the beginning of her life to the present day the most beautiful creature I have ever encountered. But early on my wife and I noticed some things that seemed at the time unusual, but we did not know why nor did we expect and long term problems. That we now chock up to ignorance.

When my daughter was a baby, she was fascinated by lights. She would stare at a light source but not respond to her mother or anyone else. As she approached one year old, she started to speak, but only in a form of gibberish. She was walking by about nine months, so following typical parental foolishness, we assumed that by doing physical things sooner than beginning to speak, this was just a type of inversion of the natural order of things. We soon were to learn how wrong we were.

When by the age of one and a half years, my daughter had still not said her first real word, including mommy or daddy my wife and I became suspicious of some sort of problem. Sure she was walking and running and doing many physical things, but could she be retarded? After my wife had a chance discussion with a chiropractor who has an Autistic son, we decided to have her evaluated by a child behavior specialist (one of only three in the Dallas / Fort Worth area). After observing her and giving her behavioral tests, this Dr confirmed our worst fears, our daughter has "Mild Classic Autism".

I should mention that prior to the official diagnosis, my wife told me about her conversation with the chiropractor. I in my overestimation of my actual knowledge of the world dismissed the possibility of my daughter having Autism. My only previous experience of Autism was of Dustin Hoffman's character in "Rain Man" so I did what any modern parent would do, I scoured the vast reaches of the internet to learn more. And when I read about the tendencies of Autistic kids, it became very clear to me that most likely my daughter did have Autism. All of the signals were there. Autistic children don't communicate well, check. Autistic children fixate on objects, check check. Autistic children won't look people in the eye, check check check. Autistic children love order in things, meaning that they stack or arrange objects in an ordered fashion, checkmate.

So after such a diagnosis what were we to do? This was a great weight upon our shoulders, one that caused great soul searching individually among my wife and I and an issue that greatly impacted our marriage. Fortunately I love my wife dearly and she feels the same for me. We recognized that raising our daughter is our greatest responsibility of our lives: the truth is that it matters little whether she is perfect, normal, retarded, paraplegic, autistic, or anything else. She is what she is, and we will love her regardless. Autistic children are in my experience the probably the most beautiful children of all. I attribute that to their prolonged innocence, and their hidden genius which shows itself at unusual times.

On the use of the word genius, there are some interesting considerations on that. While even at nearly three years old, my daughter cannot speak at the level of her peers, she could count to one hundred at one year old, and she also knew the complete alphabet by that time. While those milestones don't make me suggest my daughter is a genius, it is difficult to know because she can't communicate well enough to where one would know for sure. But there are indications here and there that make you think as a parent, wow this is a really smart child, even more than I would expect. In a few years maybe we'll know for sure, my point is that I'm convinced that while her condition may limit her communication, at this point, I see no bounds on her intelligence.

As parents, my wife and I had to ponder the question, with such a challenging situation, what are we to do? Well the answer turned out to be simple, we will do as any other parent would do, we will do the best that we can for our children. In our case, we learned that the state of Texas has a government sponsored program called "Early Childhood Intervention" or ECI that provides multiple therapies for Autistic children and other types of childhood mental disabilities. The ECI program provides speech therapy, occupational therapy (meaning learning how to do physical things), behavioral therapy, as well as other therapies which roll up into a great curriculum for Autistic children. All told we have had more than five therapists working with our daughter, provided by a state program free of charge. In nearly a year since we started with the program, the results have been astounding, my daughter speaks at a much higher level, she has a better understanding of her surroundings, she now makes eye contact, and if all goes well, she may be able to attend a normal school when the time comes. This remains to be seen.

As a conservative I must admit I was concerned with taking this state "charity" when we first started. By no means rich, I do well, and my family does not want for much. Even so, if we had to pay the people of ECI the rates that their education and experience require, it would surely put us out of house and home. But I would do it if I had to. Therein lies my conundrum and the source of some considerable guilt on my part. I won't say that this life experience has altered my stance in the government's role in providing such benefits, that would imply that I either previously had no heart, or had not considered such things. Both of those possibilities are incorrect, because I'm anything if heartless, and I've put plenty of thought into what the government should and should not do. While my guilt cannot be fully assuaged because I would like to say that I pay in full for the services that I accept, I also know that in my thirteen plus years since graduating college, I have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal taxes. For this forced confiscation of my income, I consider the payment for the services my daughter receives paid in full. I take solace in the knowledge that I will give far more than I ever will take. Similarly, I realized very early on that in raising my daughter, she will teach me far more than I will ever teach her.

RKL

The Government and the Governed

2011-09-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Conduct any study you like of any time period of history considering any form of government, and no doubt you will find that there is always a tremendous amount of error and waste of the industry and wealth of the governed by those who govern. The magnitude of the waste depends on many factors, such as the circumstances of the times, the people in positions of leadership, and the structural construction, constraints, and limits of the government in question. In the current situation of the United States and much of the Western World in general, the governments in power have run an unsustainable course that puts their citizens in great danger pending future outcomes based upon the fiscal policies of those governments. For most of the working Western world, did we work any less harder before and during this crisis? Did the working man and woman do any less or make the mistakes that caused this financial mess? One could argue that the financial policies of our times and the issues that have arisen from those policies are products unforseen economic effects and that the politicians who advanced those policies are victims of circumstance. That argument in my view would be extremely naive, or at best foolish, if not outright ridiculous and idiotic.

And so if one agrees that the government has enacted policies that have caused the decline of the economies of the world, the logical question is, "Why were they allowed to do so, and what limits should they be held to in the future to prevent such events?" In the case of the United States, the answer to this question is simple. The government of the United States is constrained by the US Constitution. And yet if one takes a critical look at the recent actions taken by our government and compares those actions to what is allowed by the Constitution, there is no doubt that government is taking a role and expanding it's power in ways it was never designed to do. The United States became what it is based upon many factors, but the one factor most overlooked in modern times is the perfection of the Balance and Limits proscribed by our Constitution. For our leaders to ignore or to sidestep those Limits set forth by the Constitution puts "We the People" at great peril to our just deserts, for by allowing such actions to occur by ignorance, or by apathy, or political polarization, we advance the predicaments that governments are by their nature inclined to present. The rights of man are not provided by the government, but instead, the government is instituted to protect the rights of man, and when we lose sight of this, we risk losing everything.

RKL

Regulations

2010-06-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

When you hear liberals or statists discussing anything to do with policy and law, they always chime out the word regulation. Whenever something bad happens in their view it's because enough regulations were not in place. The Enron collapse, not enough regulations. The BP oil spill, not enough regulations. The shooting at Virginia Tech, not enough regulations. The stock market collapse, not enough regulations. What an easy peg to hang one's hat on, if only reality were so simple.

And yet despite the left's constant heaping of regulations to all forms of human activities, the negative effects of regulations are never discussed by leftists. If you ever watch programs on the MSM such as Dateline or similar, you will hear sad stories of how someone died because the "Red Tape" of something didn't allow them to get the something that would have saved them. Definition: "Red Tape" equals Regulations. My point is not to say that there should be no regulations of any sort, rather that carefully crafted regulations should be in place where needed, and the consequences of those regulations should be studied before they are ever put into place. Calling for regulations just because there is a problem of some sort is simple minded. Perhaps the regulations already in place created the problem, perhaps criminals don't care about regulations, perhaps the regulations proposed will make the problem ten times worse.

To show what I think are good regulations, I think that it is good that there is a standardized household electrical plug prong for all of our electrical devices. I that it is good that there are safety requirements for new cars. I think that it is good that there are certain requirements for the food that we buy. I could go on and on. But I don't think that it is good to force regulations on businesses just to say they are regulated. The minimum wage law is a good example. You can read in just about any newspaper how the teen summer job market is in the worst shape it has been in years, that is a result of the minimum wage law or regulation. The mortgage crisis was in part caused by regulations on banks to lower their lending standards. That brought our entire economy down. To those who say regulations, regulations, we have to point out the truth, regulations can be good and bad, and they can have far reaching consequences.

RKL

The Loss of Integrity

2010-06-11T17:50:00.001-07:00

I had a hilarious discussion during a smoke break with some of my coworkers yesterday (Yes I do smoke and yes I am considering quiting). The topic of customer service and contractor nightmares came up. It was a free for all conversation between five of us that lasted about thirty minutes and three cigarettes. I related some of my stories that I've described here and here and listened to some other great ones that my fellow coworkers have experienced. After the Kirby vacuum sales pitch and several other nightmares had garnered their laughs, one comment stuck with me because it is so inherently true.

But before I get to that, I should note that I had a very bad experience with a roofing company a few years ago on a rental house that I own. Long story short, that experience left such a bitter taste in my mouth that I wanted to kill roofers on sight. Last year we had some terrible hail storms here in Texas and the roof for my home needed replacement. Insurance wrote me a check but I kept putting off selecting a contractor due to the bad experience that was still on my mind. Given the economy, almost weekly for the last year we have had roofers (who could see the damage from the street) hitting us up to let them replace our roof. In several cases I was quite rude to these people and one man made the mistake of walking around our house looking at the roof at sunset. He'll never know how close he came to seeing a gun pointed at him when I told him to get off my property. But recently my wife found out that one of our neighbors owns a roofing company (Wives have a great ability to find a solution when their husband is being obstinate -- or more appropriately in this case, a jerk). He came by and gave us a great quote so we signed the contract. Today my roof was completed and the work done was excellent. What more could you ask for: great work, no hassle, and a great price?

And so now back to the comment my coworker made. First I should note that this man is a mid forty-ish high school grad who works in our factory. But what impresses me about him is that he has the old stile southern wisdom that seems to be lacking in the current generation. A person does not need to be college educated to be wise, as wisdom comes with experience and the careful observation of the world that one lives in. His comment was simple, which in itself is a characteristic of wisdom. Paraphrased be me, he said that isn't sad that nowadays when you try to obtain a service whether it be a roof replacement, support for a computer problem, warranty work on car, installation of Internet, or any other need that you may request, that customer service has degraded to point of trying to get you to give up when you have been wronged? In so many ways this is true, I can attest to it personally in the dealings I have had with "customer service". Is it not a sign of the times that corporations look at customer service as something that should be outsourced to India for cost savings? Is it not a sign of the times that one should have to press 20 button options before speaking to a human? Is it not true that entire "customer service" business plans are designed to make you give up? These things trouble me, and I hope that businesses wake up to the errors of their ways, but you won't find me holding my breath, it is what it is, as they say.

RKL

Politicians, the MSM, and the Tea Party Movement

2010-05-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

From what I've read in the mainstream media and watched on the news, it seems that many people have difficulty understanding what the Tea Party movement is all about. I read an article in Time that was typical of the misunderstanding of the movement. To paraphrase it, the writer couldn't get a grasp on the Tea Party protests but could sum it up to this: most of the protesters are disillusioned with the government (true), some are pure racists (not true), some are anarchists (not true), some are village idiots (not true), and there are a few misguided people of color in the movement (not true as regards to misguided). I find this lack of understanding strange because nothing seems more easy to understand if one takes a good look at it.

I will mention that I have been to two Tea Parties. The first was tax day last year, and the second was tax day this year. As I've mentioned in previous posts, the people I've met were for the most part very informed, and highly educated. But my personal experiences do not define a national movement.

When the Obama administration began, Democrats held full power in this country. They had the Presidency, and control of the House and the Senate. This is of course not unprecedented, as it was not that long ago that Republicans could boast the same thing. What is different and what defines the reasons behind the Tea Party movement is what has taken place since Obama began his Presidency. Remember that Obama did not win a landslide election, and he most certainly did not get a mandate from the people as the mainstream media might think. The problem is and the reason that Tea Party began is that Obama and the Democrats have seized this opportunity to ram through every pet project that their liberal hearts have ever desired while they can regardless of whether or not the majority of people want it. As long as they can pass a bill and Obama will sign it, there is not restraint in what they will do. Think about the stimulus packages, the bailouts, the mortgages of foolish people being paid off, the unions getting everything they ever desired, the weakened foreign policy, the prepare to swallow health care bill, the horribly corrupt cap and trade bill, and soon to follow, the every illegal is now legal bill, and remember that this is only the beginning. The American people do not like to be told what to do, we do not like tyrants, and we do not like socialism. The Obama administration and the Democratic Congress is both socialistic, and Tyrannical.

It is my contention that United States of America was founded on the results of lesser Tyranny than we see today. I hold that anyone who does not see the huge expansion of the federal government, and the rapid march towards socialism is either blind, weak, or a socialist, all of which are UN AMERICAN. The Tea Party movement is a result of those people who do see what is happening and want to do something about it.

RKL

Salve! Si Vales, Valeo.

2010-05-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is my century post. For those who have read this blog, you know that I like to read and study history, I always have and I always will. I particularly like ancient Greek and Roman History. My wife and I visited Rome last summer and had the time of our lives. Partly it was because Rome is a beautiful and exciting destination for a man and woman in love, and partly because I could see the actual locations where great history that I am familiar with had taken place. One of the things that has always fascinated me about the history that I have studied is that many persons of antiquity have lived lives that were extraordinarily courageous and wonderful for one reason or another. Perhaps they were extremely brave or cunning or endured a tremendous amount of suffering or great fortune. What I find most interesting and at the same time surprising is that I don't think that they were all that different from those of us who are alive today.

When we complain about our state of affairs today, we should know that everything that is being done today has already been done many times thousands of years ago. There have been a vast multitude of tyrants, infinite wars, and great suffering of innocent masses at the mercy of those who should not be allowed to call themselves leaders. And at the same time, there have been great periods of peace and understanding, prosperity and growth, and the unending and unstop-able increase of the information of man in the arts and sciences. And the older I get and the more experience and knowledge that I attain, it seems to me that it is only through unbalanced experience can a person truly know what what living life is all about. For if one is always successful, then one will not appreciate success. If one always fails, that one will never have the courage to succeed. I don't think you can ever know how high you can fly until you have crashed and burned. Those who take the risks and rebuild after failure are the ones who truly succeed.

And so when I think of the current problems in my life, and the things going on in the world that trouble me, never far in my mind are the troubles of the people who lived long before. And at night when I walk outside and look up at the stars, I know that I see the same stars as those great people of the past. I see the same moon, and in the morning the sun, and I know that their problems are the same of those of mine, and I know that my time is now as theirs once was, and I resolve to make the most of my time, as they once did.

RKL

Some Random Quotes and Thoughts

2010-05-17T18:15:00.001-07:00

One of the great things about movies is that they can leave lasting impressions that can shape your life. If you think about modern music, aside from pop, most of the lyrics are pure rubbish. And unless you are twelve years old, pop music is pure junk as well. I used to be interested in poetry in my college days, but what I noticed is that poetry is simply what you interpret from words put together in a clever way. It makes me laugh when I hear someone say that you just don't understand what that Coldplay song really means. Ha...to the songwriter or to you?

But back to movies. Sure movies can be artsy enough to leave them open to many different interpretations. I hate those kinds of movies. A good movie should be pretty clear in meaning. Perhaps if the subject is meaningful, two interpretations could be warranted. Anything open to more is simply pretentious or poorly made. If you think about it, there are probably movies that have impacted your life in big and small ways. There are a couple of movie lines that have stuck with me since I've heard them, it's not a comprehensive list but for the sake of a short blog post, here they are. I've always liked what Clint Eastwood said in Unforgiven right before he blew Gene Hackman's brains out. Hackman says "I don't deserve to die like this" to which Eastwood replies "deserve has nothing to do with it" before pulling the trigger of his double barrel shotgun. Sure you can debate whether Hackman deserved it or not but the lines met the action of the story. Our actions are what they are and we face the providence of man and his reaction to our actions. I think about that when someone says that they deserve something.

Another great movie sequence comes from an old Zorro movie. I'll confess that I don't know what year the movie was made or who the actors were, but suffice it to say that it was on old version, probably from the thirties or forties. If you should catch an old Zorro movie on, give it a chance, because if it is the version of which I speak, it was a very well made piece. In the final fight scene which was glorious, Zorro takes a sword cut across his chest. His opponent, confidently remarking on his score, prompts the following response from Zorro: "I needed that scratch to awaken me." And sometimes I think I need a scratch to awaken me.

RKL

Absolutely Perfect

2010-05-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Once in a lifetime you see something like this.

And within 15 minutes, it was gone. Makes you think.

RKL

Everybody draw Mohammed Day

2010-04-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting story. By now most of us have heard that Comedy Central cut a portion of the South Park episode that featured depictions of Mohammed. Muslims consider images of Mohammed to be banned and are willing to kill those who defy that ban. But what I don't think many people in the US realize is that threat is real and it created huge problems in Europe ever since the Dutch newspaper Jyllands-Posten ran a series of cartoons in 2005.

The cartoonist Molly Norris who came up with this idea is quoted as saying:

"As a cartoonist I just felt so much passion about what had happened I wanted to kind of counter Comedy Central's message they sent about feeling afraid,".

I personally wonder if she knows what she's getting into. If she thinks this is a simple run of the mill free speech issue she is mistaken. Certainly on the surface it seems to be that but there is more to it. The Dutch cartoonist Kurt Westergaard has had a 1 million dollar price on his head since his work in 2005. Earlier this year that bounty almost got paid if it weren't for the precautions he has taken for his own safety:

In Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror movie “The Shining”, Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, in an attempt to murder his wife and 6-year old son, chops his way through a closed door with an axe, shouting “Heeere’s Johnny!” It has become an iconic image.

Last Friday, the Shining was reenacted in real life, when a 28-year old Somali man, armed with an axe, smashed his way through the glass door into the bungalow of the 74-year old cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, in a middle-class suburb of the Danish town of Aarhus. The door, made of reinforced bullet-proof glass, eventually gave way, but Mr. Westergaard, who uses a walking-stick, had time to get to the bedroom of his 5-year old granddaughter, wake her up and lock themselves up in his bathroom.

The Westergaard bathroom has been converted into a panic room. It has a steel door and is equipped with an emergency button directly linking it to the police. It took the officers three minutes to arrive. Meanwhile, the Somali was smashing at the steel door with his axe, shouting “Blood” and “Revenge” as he tried to work his way in: “Heeere’s Muhammed!”

So while on one hand we have a freedom of speech issue, on the other we have a very real threat of death to those cartoonists who may participate. And I don't think that they know what they're getting into.

The bigger issue involved here to me is what happens after these cartoons get published somewhere? How will the American people who have probabaly never heard of the European cartoon incident react if deaths occur over this? Maybe it will open some people's eyes about what we're dealing with.

RKL

A Series of Articles Americans Should Read

2010-04-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

I'm referring to the "From Meccania to Atlantis" series of articles by Takuan Seiyo. (That's a pseudo name by the way. Truthful statements about the threat of Islam can land you dead or on trial in many parts of the world.)

The series is in it's 15th part, but you need not start at the beginning to follow along. The insight that Seiyo provides into what the Progressive movement is and intends to do is deep and in my opinion, as insightful as Ayn Rand's writing was (and still is). I recommend that all American Conservatives take a look at these articles. I think you will see alot of truth in what he's saying.

RKL

Update on the Navy Seals

2010-04-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

The first Navy Seal has been found not guilty of the charges brought against him for being a hero. Hopefully the other two will get the same verdict.

RKL

A Letter to the President

2010-04-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

Obamacare Class Action

2010-04-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

Over the years I've signed on to a few of these online petitions that you see going around. My thought is that they most likely will have no effect but it doesn't hurt to sign them if it is a good cause and is managed by a reputable entity such as the Patriot Post for example.

I heard about this one last week and signed on to it today. This is a class action lawsuit against the government take over of health care. There are some videos on the "case status" tab that describe what they intend to do with this suit.

If you agree with this I hope you'll sign it and pass it around to other like minded folks.

RKL

Tea Party Article

2010-04-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

This local news article was about our tea party yesterday. The lady mentioned is my coworker Ada. Her husband Jim put it right, "Obama acts like a dictator."

Here's a picture I took of them (in the center) from my vantage point at the tea party.

RKL

Tea Party McKinney Texas 2010

2010-04-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

I attended the Tea Party in McKinney yesterday. It only drew about one quarter of the people that attended last year. This didn't come as a surprise to me because this event was not publicized like it was last year. There was a big tea party in Grand Prairie which is about 45 minutes away.

I didn't bring any signs or flags, I just went to chat with folks and take it all in. This location is a busy intersection in our city and as there was last year, there were plenty of horns honking and thumbs raised in support. Here are a couple of the people I met:

The guy on the left is named Mark. He has a Bachelor's degree in Art History and a Masters in History. He hopes to become a high school history teacher soon. I was impressed with his knowledge of history and current affairs, as both of those are passions of mine. On the right is Tom hugging his wife. They are recent transplants from California. They owned an art supply store there and finally got fed up with life in the People's Republic of CA. We discussed the reasons why we were there and current state of affairs. Talking to these gentlemen and some others made it clear to me that many of us understand what is happening today. It's no secret to those of us who pay attention. The main difference I have with many people is that I believe we have already passed the point of no return. As I've said before, I don't believe that the "We'll show you at the polls in November" plan will make much difference. I think we are way past that, and that our freedoms have been eroded too deeply. Time will tell and I hope that I'm wrong, we'll see.

Here are a few more pictures of the small crowd.

The old man with the US and Gadsden flag was a nice fellow.

RKL

Victory at Last

2010-04-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the new HP machine that I purchased from Best Buy. The machine itself is great, but the operating system was not as advertised. I purchased the machine online and in three places on the specs it stated that it had Windows 7 loaded. When I received the machine it had Vista.

I sent a kind email to their customer support giving all of the relevant information like the order number, etc. I simply stated that what was advertised was not delivered and asked for a copy of Windows 7 to be sent to me free of charge. Their support checked their web page and as you may guess, it said Vista. Therefore too bad so sad buddy. But they didn't know that RKL is not a country bumpkin. I always create a PDF file of any web page that I purchase items from. As I mentioned it said Windows 7 not once, not twice but three times. Even when I attached the PDF they still would not budge. I really thought that they were going to continue to ignore my legitimate claim. So I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. This finally got someone with a brain to look at my complaint. And here is the final result after much back and forth:

Truth be told, I kind of enjoy these little battles, for a while I actually thought I was going to lose this one.

RKL

Will the American Dream Die This Weekend?

2010-03-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

While the country waits to see if socialized medicine becomes the law of the land, I can't help but think when is enough enough? At what point do we have to throw out our government and start over? If this horrible bill passes, can we stand by and wait for more of the same? This is not a simple change that is on the table, it is a major structural change that will take this nation further down the road to decline and at a much greater rate than we are already experiencing. Socialized medicine is not a new idea, it's in place all over the world and has always failed. Several US states have tried it and it has failed. What strikes me the most is how un-American it is.

The founders of this country created a federal government that was limited in scope and left the rest of the powers to be in the hands of the individual states. Over the years, the federal government has expanded it's scope against what is allowed by the constitution. Since Obama was elected this power grab has grown exponentially. This nation is becoming one of men, not laws. Look at the backroom deals that are being made to try to pass this bill. These deals are nothing short of bribes with our taxpayer funds. The bailouts that saved some companies over others are acts of pure tyranny. Look at how the government handled the automaker bailouts, the unions were given a big share of the power while secured creditors got the shaft. Unions are big Democratic supporters, again, a nation of men and not laws. Never mind that the unions are probably one of the biggest reasons that the automakers failed. The have the right friends at the moment, and that's all that counts.

There is a reason that this country was great for as long as it was. It was no accident or stroke of luck. It had nothing to with natural resources or location or timing. It isn't that Americans were smarter than everyone else in the world. What made this country great was the freedom individuals were afforded by our constitution. What made this country great is that you have freedom of speech, of religion, of press, of assembly, of the right to bear arms, and many others, the most important freedom being to follow one's own destiny, wherever that might lead. And from these freedoms sprung the greatest of dreams, the American Dream. The American Dream is that any person can by their own choices become anything that their ability and work ethic will allow. It's the dream that awakens the desires in the hearts of people like Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Henry Ford, and the thousands of other success stories in this country's history. Take away the freedoms and see how many innovators remain. Seen anything great come out of North Korea lately?

The American dream worked only because of the freedoms that were allowed by the constitution. Everything that we see happening today is nothing but the constant erosion of our freedom. As the federal government continues to take more and more power through unconstitutional means, our freedoms will continue to be trampled upon. The speaker of the house when responding to a reporter's question of whether or not the health care bill was constitutional, said that that was not a serious question. This is not the time to wait until November to vote out the bad politicians, this is the time to expel all of them. We are fast approaching a turning point, a point from which we can't return, and a point from which we must decide, will we take liberty or will we acquiesce to the soft tyranny of high tax nanny state government slavery. Personally, I'm ready to take up arms.

RKL

In Today's Military, Heros Go to Trial

2010-03-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

This is not a new story, but I just heard of it today. Navy Seal Matthew McCabe and two others are facing charges that after capturing a high value target they punched him in the gut and or split his lip with a punch. Let's first look at what this "angel" did to get on the radar of the Navy Seals:

The four Blackwater agents were transporting supplies for a catering company when they were ambushed and killed by gunfire and grenades. Insurgents burned the bodies and dragged them through the city. They hanged two of the bodies on a bridge over the Euphrates River for the world press to photograph.

So after these Seals captured the mastermind of this attack, they are getting charged for allegedly giving him a punch or two. I believe that our Military should be held to a high standard, but we have remember that they often have to engage in combat with evil murdering savages from a culture that can't wrestle it's way out of the middle ages. A small transgression here or there can and should be overlooked. It troubles me that we've come to this.

RKL

New Machine and a New Battle

2010-03-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

I ordered a new machine last week from Best Buy. It's an HP with a terabyte hard drive, a 2.5 gigahertz processor and eight gigs of RAM. I've lived with my little laptop for so long that I just wanted some POWER. This machine has that and then some. When I was deciding what to buy, I made sure and select one with Windows 7. While I have heard that it isn't much better than Vista, I hate Vista with a white hot searing passion. I can't stand how much memory and CPU resources that it uses up, all for a bunch of stuff you don't want or need. Well guess what? This machine had Vista loaded. I always create a PDF of the website page when I order something big, and it stated very clearly that "Window 7 is preloaded." I'm currently at war with Best Buy to get a copy of Windows 7 sent to me. They are resisting but they will comply when all is said and done.

Here is a view inside of the case.

Here is a view of the CPU fan in the center and the fan on the right for getting the hot air out of the case. I'm considering ordering a liquid cooling system for the processor so I can overclock the CPU. From what I've read, I should be able to get to 4 GHz with stability. I've got quite a bit of research to do before I try that but it would be nice to that kind of speed. I'm a "more power" kind of guy whether it's computers or cars or firearms.

And last but not least is the video card. This is the Nvidia GT230 which gives 1.5 gig dedicated video memory. It's smoked with ease everything I've thrown at it so far. It's such an improvement over my laptop with two gigs of memory and no stand alone video card. It's a pretty nice package.

RKL

The Origins of Current Phrases

2010-02-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

In my reading of the classics, I've come across many interesting things. What often surprises me the most is when I find the origin of a commonly used phrase comes from antiquity. How often do we find ourselves saying these things but did you ever know where they came from?

"Pyrrhic" Victory. King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated the Romans in battles around 280 BC. The losses were so great on both sides that while he could claim victory, he was undone by his losses.
"Draconian" measures. Draco was a lawgiver in Athens around the time of the 600's BC. His punishment for crimes was very harsh. According to Plutarch when he was asked why he gave the death penalty for most offenses he replied: "Small ones deserve that, and I have no higher for the greater crimes."
"The Die is Cast." In latin this is Alea iacta est which were the words of Julius Caesar before he crossed the Rubicon river into Italy with his soldiers according to Suetonius. The Rubicon separated what was then Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. At that time, for a Roman to lead troops past that point was in effect a declaration of civil war.
"I came, I saw, I conquered." This was Caesar's description in a dispatch to Rome after his victory over Pharnaces at the battle of Zela in modern day Turkey according to Appian. In latin this is Veni, Vedi, Vici and Suetonius mentions that in his Pontic triumph in Rome, one of the decorated wagons in the procession carried a sign with those words on it.

I confess to using Wikipedia like the rest of us, but all of the above I have found in books I've read. If you're interested in reading the Classics, I recommend trying Penguin Classics. They are nice paperbacks at a reasonable cost with good modern translations and notes.

P.S. The cover picture on the book on the top right of the picture is a relief on the Arch of Titus in Rome. I had the pleasure of seeing that in person last summer while I was actually reading that book.

RKL

Health Care Summit

2010-02-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone has their own take on this Health Care Summit, but here's mine. In my opinion, the key question one needs to ask is why would this need to occur after both the House and the Senate have passed health care bills? And as the Democrats have majorities in both houses, what do they gain by this? The answer is that they are now publicly engaging the Republicans in the national spotlight. Those of us who pay attention to current affairs know that this is nothing more than grandstanding. The Democrats do not intend to change their plans. That they didn't have this summit the day before the health care bills were started shows that they aren't interested in ideas. Imagine if you worked on a project in your professional life for a year and then asked for opinions right before you finished. It wouldn't go over well, nor should this. In actuality, it is an outrage, the American people are being played as fools. But to those who only see talking points on NBC or ABC or are readers of the New York Times, they will hear what the President and the Democrats want them to hear. The Democrats want to paint the Republicans into a corner by saying "your input was solicited." "Your ideas were taken into consideration but our ideas are better so they are in the bill." Then they can say since we didn't use your inferior ideas, you're just the party of no. We the people are not fools, but we are and should be the party of no. We are the party of no to bad ideas. And this health bill is a terribly bad idea.

RKL

A Sign of the Times

2010-02-21T07:49:00.000-08:00

For the last two weekends, my stepson and I participated in what is called "Scouting for Food." This is a program of the Boy Scouts of America where cans of food are collected to distribute to the local Food Pantry to be given to those in need. We've done this for the last four years. Basically it consists of distributing plastic bags to households on a weekend, then returning the next weekend to pick up the bags with any donations included. The bags are clearly marked to give the purpose of the program, and the pickup date and time. Homeowners who wish to donate fill the bags and place them out on their front porch the morning of the pickup. Scout parents follow the scouts in our vehicles through the neighborhoods as they distribute the bags and then again later as they pick them up. The various scout groups divide up all of the neighborhoods in the city and we take care to try to get full coverage to all of the homes. On the pickup, our group has typically had about four to five trucks that follow the scouts and collect the bags. I have a full sized truck so I help with the pickup and delivery of the bags. Typically I follow two scouts through a neighborhood of about one hundred houses. In years past, we've always filled my truck bed with at least one full layer of bags. Sometimes we've even had a couple of layers of bags full of cans. When we meet up at the Food Pantry to disperse the food, we have typically had five pickup trucks full of cans of food. This year, canvasing the same size neighborhoods, my two scouts only got two bags. Our entire troop only collected about thirty bags, not even enough to fill one truck bed.

This came as quite a surprise to me, I know the condition of the economy, I know that times are tough, and around here, the Boy Scouts are still respected especially when they go out into the cold weather to work for charitable cause. I think there are a couple of reasons why the donations were down. True many people are hurting financially and probably don't want to give anything away. But I think there is an element of reduced donation that comes with all of the government bailouts, payoffs, stimulus spending, and waste. People know where this money comes from. They know that out of control spending is going to mean things will get worse before they get better. They know taxes will be going up shortly. They know that they need to be careful. They don't want to be the next in line at the Food Pantry.

RKL