WELCOME!
This blog consists mostly of common sense responses to happenings (news articles, political events, etc) that just cry out for someone to say "WHOA! Hang on a second, here!" Too many people get away with just inventing their own facts as they bull-rush their way through an argument.

Unless you're dodging a taxicab or sidestepping a falling gargoyle, it's usually wise to take what time is available to evaluate and apply actual common sense. Good, old wisdom. It is, of course, my opinion, but I'll try to show why I think it's factual.
Thomas Paine said, "To argue with someone who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ... but I argue with drunks, egomaniacs, anti-gun Statists, Socialist/Keynesians and climate-fraud peddlers, too.

**PLEASE share this around. I didn't research, consider, write and post this junk just to have it hidden.
And feel free to comment.**






CONTACT SophosArchaeus: eMail at sophosarchaeus@hushmail.com
[SPECIAL
NOTE: this page does not endorse violence, racism or threats, nor permit such abuse in any direction.
Though Americans are fully able to end a fight, that is a last-resort, defense-only option.
If you're here for such crap, get the hell off my page!]


Saturday, April 23, 2011

Since this page is about to-the-point common sense:

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, Give me Liberty, or give me Death!"
~Patrick Henry

I can think of nothing more depressing and wretched than to fail to at least try to live up to these words - - if not for yourself, at least for the sake of your beloved friends, family and descendents.  Defeat, resist, or at least defy evil to the end.  My ancestors, kinsmen and countrymen, faced occasionally with overwhelming odds, no prospect for victory and little chance of survival, would shout "Donough ABU!!" and then charge the pikes and axes.  Clan Donough defies you!

The ancient Laws of Chivalry were written slightly differently in each principality.  But they all include an exhortation to the effect that "Thou shalt be, everywhere and at all times, the champion of right and good and the foe of injustice and evil".  Even if all you can do is glare at the enemy, glare hard!
  • Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches, and shalt be faithful to its directions.
  • Thou shalt defend the Church.
  • Thou shalt constitute thyself the defender of the the poor, the weak and the helpless.
  • Thou shalt love the country in the which thou wast born.
  • Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
  • Thou shalt make war against the wicked without cessation, and without quarter. 
  • Thou shalt keep thine arms and thy self prepared and postured to do thy duty.
  • Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy master's will, if it be not contrary to the laws of God.
  • Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word.
  • Thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to everyone.
  • Thou shalt be, everywhere and all times, the champion of the Right and the Good and the foe of Injustice and Evil. 
Only a fool would believe that Christian Knights (or anyone else, since the Crucifixion) lived up to all of these ideals all of the time.  Perhaps most of them managed to keep most of their vows most of the time. Everyone needs to rest and to laugh at times, and then there are poor judgments, weak moments and failures.  America, not being a precinct of Heaven, is also far from perfect, but Americans have almost always tried to do their best, even when that was not very good.  Generally, it has been far better than the efforts or even the official policies of other nations.  Nearly all Americans have always wanted to live up to their songs, their stories, their heroes' examples and their families' visions of them.  They have never built shrines dedicated to, nor taught their children to chant, "Death to" anyone.

Friday, April 22, 2011

In case you hadn't noticed (or weren't born yet)...

Socialists and "Environmental Justice" fraudsters are pushing for draconian restrictions on our energy, food, etc.

See if any of the following scenarios (and related facts) sound familiar:
[thanks to ReasonTV and YouTube]


I remember the "we'll eat each other" predictions, "frankenfood" claims, first "global cooling" scare and the DDT frenzy. Actual fact was just as irrelevant then as it seems to be with the Left (and their misinformed followers). ...just saying.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

In memorium...

...and with respect for the thoughtful reverence of the People of Mississippi.



[thanks to YouTube]

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Threats, indeed

In an April 20th letter, “Threat to pensions”, Jeffery Griffith moans about “teacher bashing”. Jeffery must be a teacher since he asserts that a citizen had no right to write her own letter, defending fiscal responsibility, if she isn’t in the teachers’ union.

Only a small but extremely vocal minority (less than 10%) actually belong to unions, especially public sector unions (about 30%). However, government records show that they are paid well above their private (i.e. productive) counterparts. Jeffery points to Wisconsin, New Jersey and other states where loud, self-centered unions mostly in the public sector, caused disruptions and damage as they demanded their huge share before any kind of budget reform. He might also point to Greece, Portugal, Britain, France and others, who are a few years further down the Socialist road, and had actual riots over their entitlements. They, too, called their special perks “rights”. It is interesting to note that both Liberal hero FDR and Labor icon George Meany were strongly against public sector unions, since they would be lobbying their own tax-paid legislator/employers for tax-paid wages and benefits.

Jeffery asks if voters would “approve banning the flag salute or prohibit property ownership”. If teachers themselves had not openly discouraged or banned the Pledge of Allegiance, disrespected the American flag in favor of foreign ones, submitted false “doctors notes” to defraud their schools out of sick pay while demonstrating, and coordinated with self-proclaimed Socialist (anti-private property) organizations, he might have a point. As it is, the average teacher is probably fairly decent, but their rich Union Bosses and thuggish behavior speaks against them. Perhaps, if the California Teachers’ Association did not appear to be planning a “State of Emergency” walkout of their classrooms and takeover of the Capital on May 9th -13th, to squeeze more taxes out of the rest of us.

On a related note, while most of our Firefighters and Police have recently adopted voluntary pay cuts or other “give backs” to help their City, County or the State, Jerry Brown is blithely giving away what’s left of the farm. He campaigned on his imaginary frugal, low-tax plans. He has refused to address the massive welfare and illegal alien costs to state and local governments. Most were confused when he the first thing he did was to try to force through a FIVE year extension of a TWO year tax increase. When the Legislature actually held the line for us, he made the usual threats of “laying off cops, firefighters and teachers”. As “Brown OKs contract” (Page 1) shows, he can still hand out freebies to big Unions. He just negotiated a contract with the State Correctional Officers’ (prison guard) Union (which donated heavily to his campaign), giving them unlimited vacation time. The average California guard makes (according to the Sacramento Bee) double the national average and already has 19 weeks of vacation on the books. This vacation must be cashed out at retirement (the most common source of government over-extension) at a cost of $600 million. Few big-government Democrats question the gift.

So, one wonders what kind of reception all those AWOL teachers will get when they take Wisconsin strong-arm tactics to Sacramento.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Obeisance weakest of all

In his letter, “Pen mightier than the sword” (April 18 in several Inland papers), the writer, Peter, tries to make the case that the current Progressive Socialist administration has magically saved the Middle East and the world. Ignoring Obama’s deep bows (of the elected President of the most powerful superpower in history) to the same feudal warlords now being revolted against, Peter says, “…two years after hearing [Obama’s] speech, the citizens of Egypt have overthrown their dictator of 30 years.” Also, there was “not one single soldier lost, not one single bomb dropped. Not one single dollar spent.”

Peter claims that (despite several relatively fair elections by brave, proud voters), “…neither [Iraq nor Afghanistan] has a self-sustaining democracy”. That ‘self-sustaining’ thing might have to do with the ongoing insurgency of outside Jihadist fighters. And though there were “thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis killed” in U.S. wars, at the rate that Hussein and his sociopath sons were killing civilians, nearly a million living Iraqis and neighboring peoples would be dead without Bush’s intervention. Also, Afghanistan-based Al Qaida had not been able to mount another successful attack (until the last two years) on American soil.

What Peter forgot to point out was that while Mubarak was a dictator, he was also the region’s strongest supporter of peace with Israel. He doesn’t mention that Mubarak had outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood (founders of Black September [Munich Olympic massacre], Hamas and Hesbollah [bombing Israeli civilians], Islamic Jihad, Taliban, Iran’s Ayatollahs, Al Qaida and many others). While it is probably true that most of the Egyptians that revolted were not Muslim Brotherhood, the M/B was unquestionably happy to return to open political power, in the country where it was founded in 1928.

Peter is correct in that no priceless troops or expensive ordinance have yet been expended in the current Egyptian situation - - as far as we know. However, thousands of American and other civilians have been murdered by the terrorist M/B network, and thousands of U.S. and allied troops have died and much treasure has been spent in resisting them. Mubarak is a bad guy and really needed to go, and the Egyptians, like all People, needed to be free. But it would have been far better for America to encourage a more orderly transition to moderate leadership than just leaving it to chaos and intrigue.

How was news of the Egyptian insurrection greeted by those that everyone considers bad guys? The ruling Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami announced that, "I herewith proclaim to those [Western leaders] who still do not want to see reality, that the political axis of the new Middle East will soon be Islamic rulership and democracy based on religion." These guys believe that the “Twelfth Imam” will only come and settle the score when the world is ruled by Islam, and after it has been bathed in blood (Israeli blood first). Obama ignored both popular freedom uprisings in Iran.

And let’s not forget the spreading “Middle East Spring”, or Obama’s, “New Beginning”. Libyans also wanted to shake off their tyrant, the terrorist Khadaffi. Obama said Khadaffi “has to go”, and then went on vacation. As Khadaffi’s troops and mercenaries mowed down Libyans and ground up their revolution, Obama failed to take the lead, make a plan, inform the American People, or seek the required Congressional authority for an attack. The uprising went from nearly complete to nearly wiped out. After the Arab League asked (twice) and French Premier Sarkozy (evidently the new Leader of the Free World) decreed that the U.N. (evidently the new Constitutional authority) was going in, Obama obeyed his marching orders and fell in line with the unauthorized, undefined, unplanned non-war. He calls this one a “Kinetic Military Action”.

Really?

Weeks later, Obama finally announced, “American leadership is essential” and “the United States is NOT going to deploy ground troops into Libya” but will only provide “protection for civilians”. Mission command was tossed around like a hot potato. With no definition at all, the mission has now morphed from brief no-fly zone to regime change, with attacks on ground targets, troops to train rebels and a long term, bloody civil war. With “allies” that include M/B. We are now seriously offering money and bigger weapons to the rebels. American weapons have been turned against Americans in the past; Clinton’s Stinger Missiles are still fired at us in Afghanistan.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Why all the fuss over ideals? Just compromise and don't worry about it...

Want to avoid a confrontation? Prevent a fight? Just surrender your position. They'll be gracious, right?
 
Be sure that the other side isn't about to give up their decades-long or centuries-long fight against the American giant that has thwarted them for so long. Also, if once they win, they will NOT suddenly adopt a kindly, merciful philosophy - - that they denied to their own people - - for those that frustrated and embarrassed them as their Communist or Jihadist regimes collapsed or ate each other while we prospered in happy freedom.

 [Thanks to YouTube]



But... it CAN'T happen here, right?

[Thanks again to YouTube]