Programming Alert

Still a little bit more time to vote in our NYC Ground Zero Mosque poll.

Check it out on the right-hand margin at the top.

Building on a robust culture

In our Burqa ban? article, which was cross-posted at The Liberator Today, B-Daddy left this comment that we wish to liberate here:

One more point about the whole assimilation thing. I notice in Australia that what appear to be second or third generation Indians, Chinese, etc. all speak with an Aussie accent. I think that with time the robustness of our culture overwhelms the cultural (but not religious norms) of the immigrants, but it takes a generation or two. We should be patient about this; not condoning the burqa, but allowing human nature to take its course. In a free country, what young woman would really want to be required to wear a tent from head to foot; I don't see this lasting.

"...robustness of culture..."

We love that. B-Daddy's exactly right. Europe is fighting a rear-guard action currently with respect to trying to preserve their culture and it is resulting in very reactionary and illiberal policies like the Burqa ban.

A Burqa ban is not needed in this country because we have not capitulated to the extreme elements of the Muslim community or other immigrant groups and because our belief in American exceptionalism has led to a robust American culture that is centered around the rule of law, property rights and freedom of speech and religion.

We could and should be doing much better, however, as we have shown signs of caving to outside cultures that do not share a steadfast resolve towards the qualities of American culture as spelled out in the paragraph above. (And by saying that, it should be perfectly clear that this nation's "culture" is in no way, shape or form race or religion-based)

So, as a way to promote some discussion, what are some positive and concrete steps we can take to promote a more robust culture here in America?*

One thing we'd like to see is all voting ballots and official government documentation printed in English. We've always admired the fact that we do not have an official language. There was a time when it was understood that the language of the public square, the language of business, the language of success was English. There is no need to have an official language with that pervasive mindset across all socio-economic and racial strata. What better way to create unity within a culture and tacitly acknowledge the verbal road to success than to have everybody singing figuratively from the same sheet of music?

OK. That's one idea. How about some more? Whaddya all think?





*We're not doing the GZ mosque debate here, so just spare yourself the time and energy.

Because it's not shaped like a wing

The counter-intuitive reality of dimples on golf balls and why they make the ball go further.


Release your inner physics geek, here.


H/T: Deadspin

It all just depends on what your definition of is... is

Nancy Pelosi promised us that we would find out what's in ObamaCare once ObamaCare was passed and as we've documented in our running post Nancy's Nuances: a journey of discovery, she's been more right than perhaps even she realized.

There are some things, however, that we may never get a handle on.

My God, what have they done.

Earlier this week, the Congressional Research Service reported that the new bureaucracy the bill created is so complex and indiscriminate that its size is "currently unknowable." Capitol Hill's independent policy arm added that among "the dozens of new governmental organizations or advisory bodies," it is "impossible to know how much influence they will ultimately have."

No wonder Missourians rebelled, as with voters in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia last year. There will be more such what-have-they-done ObamaCare moments. Wait until the public discovers the government is now literally determining what qualifies as "health care" in America.

That isn't a typo. ObamaCare mandates that insurers spend a certain percentage of premium dollars on benefits, but Democrats never got around to writing the fine print of what counts as a benefit. So a handful of regulators are now choosing among the tens of thousands of services that doctors, hospitals and insurers offer. Few other government decisions will do more to shape tomorrow's health market, or what's left of it.

(italics, ours)

Terrific. 2,800 pages and they don't even get around to defining exactly what ObamaCare is.

But perhaps that was done by design

Your health care will now be sufficiently politicized to the point that candidates will stump on what "benefits" in ObamaCare will be expanded, cut-back, eliminated, etc.

As for actually defining what those benefits will be, in the meantime, let's again consult our ObamaCare wiring diagram to see how this might actually get done.





So your health care is now in the hands of a regulatory bureaucracy over which you really have no control. Every two and four years, you might have the opportunity to leverage things one way or another but suffice to say, your health care has undergone a redistricting and you are just along for the ride.

As the statists among us have pined for, just like the Constitution, think of ObamaCare as a living document.

Radio KBwD is on the air (Special Edition)

We hope you've enjoyed our Sir Elton John appreciation week 'cause we sure have.


This will be our final installment, so if you thought we were going to go an entire week without going there, you'd be sadly mistaken.


Ladies and Gentlemen, from our Pop Tarts, Ear Candy and other assorted guilty pleasures iPod play list, it's Elton John and... Kiki Dee performing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".





Oh yeah, we went there.

Link of the day

While some of us were twisting off making the rounds of local breweries here in San Diego, others were minding the freedom and liberty store. W.C. Varones attended the National Doctors tea party down by San Diego harbor and reports out here.

Quickies

A round-up of articles and blog posts that caught our eye this past week.




Robert Reich: You know what the problem is with Obama's statist agenda? It isn't sufficiently statist enough.



In the story about the city of Bell, California and the salaries of its city employees, the term "working class community" is a cruelly ironic one in this economy.



Hmmmm... legalizing betting on sports to help with the debt here in California? Color us intrigued.

Incidentally, a line in the original story that ran back on Thursday: "Tax hikes are out. Gov. Scharzenegger wants them but the Dems won't let him do it." has been changed to: "More cuts are out. Gov. Schwarzenegger wants more, but the Dems won't let him do it." Don't know if it was an honest mistake or if author is from another planet. Regardless, commenters pounced and the sentence was changed to reflect the reality of Sacramento.



Hmmmm.... take two: If there are sanctuary cities out there that refuse to observe federal immigration laws, why not states that refuse to abide by ObamaCare? Colorado will be asking its voters that question in November. That whole ungovernable thing cuts both ways, now doesn't it?



And legalizing gay marriage in return for striking down Obamacare? Deal us in.



Unexpectedly... USA Today editorial takes Team O to the woodshed over tax credits and its unwavering commitment to Keynesian demand-side gimmickry that has been a spectacular failure.



Why are U.S. tax dollars going to pimp a new constitution in a foreign country and one that legalizes abortion, at that?



Doc Zero: the rich really aren't like you and us. The reason why soaking the rich or attempting to soak the rich as a source of additional tax revenue doesn't work is that the rich have more options on what to do with their money than we do. The rich, quite simply, have more and better avenues by which to stay ungovernable.



And finally, Congratulations to Conservative Generation of the Left Coast Rebel network, whose piece on GM and Chrysler got picked up by the Daily Caller.

Radio KBwD is on the air (Special Edition)

We hope you have been enjoying our salute to Elton John this week as we've attempted to provide some songs from the man with which you either may not be familiar nor have not heard in a while.

With that in mind, let's dust off this classic which is advertised as being the oldest known footage of the Sir Elton.

Ladies and Gentlemen, once again, it's Elton John performing "The Border Song".

Holy Moses!

Programming alert

We'll be out of pocket the rest of the day doing a San Diego brewery tour so blogging from here on out to the next 24 hours will be of the light to scheduled variety.

San Diego brewery tour.

It just felt good typing that. Careful - might happen again.





San Diego brewery tour

Told ya.

Not of us

So, you still think that epic American Spectator piece by Angelo Codevilla regarding the gap between the ruling class and the country class was a tad hyperbolic and representative of overheated rhetoric?

First, check this out. Rasmussen reports:

Eighty-six percent (86%) of voters nationwide say there should be “limits on what the federal government can do.” A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only nine percent (9%) believe the federal government should be allowed to do most anything in this country.

86%! That's comforting. But isn't it a little disconcerting, still, to know that nearly one in 10 people in this country are fine with totalitarianism if it comes to that? Who would those people be?

But, of course!

These views are overwhelming shared across virtually all partisan and demographic lines.

The only exception is America’s Political Class. By a 54% to 43% margin, the Political Class believes the federal government should be allowed to do most anything. Mainstream voters reject that view by a 94% to three percent (3%) margin.

94 to 3. Much better.

Go to the link and find out more about just how wide this gap is.

Stay ungovernable, friends.




Addendum #1: Liberated from the comment section as we were on the same wave length but were not capable of the verbal turn. Our pal KT, finishes our thought:

Your last line begs to be rewritten in the tone of The Most Interesting Man in the World.

"I don't always get politically involved, but when I do, I prefer to join Tea Parties. Stay ungovernable, my friends."

H/T: Hot Air

Radio KBwD is on the air

Happy Friday, everybody! Continuing our Sir Elton John Appreciation Week we bring you perhaps our favorite song from our guest of honor.


Ladies and Gentlemen, channeling Bobby Charles, it's Elton John performing "Honky Cat".


"But I've quit those days and my red neck ways"