Chowan River Patriot

Re-Elect Captain Obama

2012-01-27T09:54:00.000-05:00

by Rick McKee - January 17th, 2012 August Chronicle

Obama Energy Policy

2012-01-20T22:58:00.005-05:00

by John Ransom (On Facebook)

America BORROWED money from CHINA to give foreign aid to BRAZIL so Brazil can drill for oil that it sells to CHINA while we PAY INTEREST TO CHINA ON THE MONEY WE BORROWED from them to provide them the oil from Brazil. Meanwhile Obama refuses to drill for oil here, or even allow Oil refineries in America that are sitting idle to import oil via the Keystone pipeline from Canada to refine for our use in America - so Canada sells that oil to China as well."

That about sums up Obama's energy policy in a nutcase.

Nutcase is right!

The Ron Paul Effect

2012-01-16T07:12:00.001-05:00

by Dr. Ada Fisher - January 15th, 2012

Win or lose, the Ron Paul campaign will have a lingering effect that will affect not just our assessment and inclinations on the federal reserve banking system, but also on foreign policy. In a recent visit with a dear friend who I considered marrying and who was a Vietnam War Veteran with shrapnel still in his chest, I asked, why were we there and was the war worth it? Without pause he articulated the mission to stop communism.

And then, he wavered on whether it was worth it noting that in his battalion alone were two of his black classmates and while in Vietnam he ran into about six men who were in his segregated high school.

He and I then agreed that the best line of the 2012 New Hampshire Republican debate was when Newt Gingrich tried to ‘professorally’ respond to Ron Paul’s accusation that he was a “Chicken Hawk.” Gingrich hid behind the shield of having a wife and children to which Paul’s rejoinder was so did he, but he served.

In my high school senior class, 10% went to the military for the impact of the draft was felt. I was distressed that one of the young men whom I loved was one of the first to die. The wavering from my friend was about the sacrifice of our children that our black communities made while the children of the rich and famous too often went to college, think tanks and job offers, some developing public policies destined to send more to war. My friend said he couldn’t marry me when we were together more than 25 years ago for he was still messed up and believed I was going somewhere and didn’t need him holding me back.

The take away from youth is they no longer want to fight wars in ill defined missions on behalf of a nation whose Congress lets the battles begin without being willing to sign their names in formally declaring a war, defining our mission and insuring a viable exit strategy. Paul is right about the previous impact of wars on the economically distressed and minorities who sacrificed much and returned home battled and broken to find no jobs, limited support and insufficient health care. And his message had best be heeded by conservatives in reference to youth who Paul attracts in abundance.

Though many of us may feel his views aren’t main stream, Paul is articulating what a lot of our children's believe about not getting into wars where the national interest is questionable.

Iran, the instability of Israel and its neighbors, China’s meddling with economies and Russia’s hidden hand in Middle East nuclear escalations, up the ante for war in the near future. As I weekly visit the VA Salisbury cemetery about a mile from my house and pray for those who sacrificed so much that we might be free, I can’t help but wonder who will fight on our behalf if our children continue to so disengage?

Dr. Fisher is right when she says conservatives (and moderate Republicans too) need to accept that wars must be justified. It is my opinion that we should have pulled out of the war against the Islamo-fascists the instant that they voted in new governments. For those who forget, that was several years ago. Why did we stay? Why to "nation build" of course.

As America has repeatedly proved, it only takes us a couple of weeks to invade and defeat these nations. Having disarmed them, we should have made it clear. Stay on our side and we will help rebuild. Oppose us and you can rebuild by yourselves. Plus, the second you start military actions again (even if you use so-called non-aligned Islamo-fascist terrorists), we will invade and disarm you again. But in the meantime, we are out of here.

No President has the moral right to conduct nation building exercises using American troops to fight the battle for others who are not willing to fight for themselves. That is not moral or just. Yet that is exactly what George W. Bush did. That is when he lost my support.

In fact, though he is my third choice, it is his position on fighting unjustified wars that is the reason that I would vote for Ron Paul before I would vote for Mitt Romney. This issue is not going away. Dr. Fisher is right. The real "Ron Paul Effect" is his position on America fighting wars that do not serve our national interest, but serve the interests of others.

Democracy Cannot Be Sustained

2012-01-12T08:38:00.000-05:00

Two historians and writers, Alexander Fraser Tytler and Alexis de Tocqueville, contributed significant insight into the problems that are known to plague democracies. Their work has over the years been paraphrased into a short denunciation explaining why Democracy is so often reviled by those who favor the individual liberty the founders of America sought to establish.

One paraphrase of the work of these two writers, sometimes attributed as a quote to Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, follows:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

It often continues with a detail breakdown of the above summary as follows:

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
- From bondage to spiritual faith;
- From spiritual faith to great courage;
- From courage to liberty;
- From liberty to abundance;
- From abundance to selfishness;
- From selfishness to complacency;
- From complacency to apathy;
- From apathy to dependence;
- From dependence back into bondage."

There is no documentation that either paragraph is a direct quote of Tytler's. The first paragraph above is consistent with Alexander Tytler's known writings. It also draws from known writings by Alexis de Tocqueville. However, according to Wikipedia, it actually first appears in its quoted form as a 1951 editorial by Elmer T. Peterson in The Daily Oklahoman.

The second paragraph is sometimes included as a detailed explanation of the summary. It comes from a 1943 speech by H. W. Prentis, one time president of the National Association of Manufacturers, titled "Industrial Management in a Republic". It follows the same logic of both Tytler and de Tocqueville's criticisms of Democracy. Again though, it is neither Tytler's nor de Tocqueville's words but a paraphrase of their work by Prentis.

Democracy has always been an evil system that ends in dictatorship. Both the work of Tytler and the work of de Tocqueville accept that premise. Those who adore the tyranny of democracy can't dispute that so they argue that some have mis-attributed the summations to the wrong author. That critics appear more focused on contesting who first wrote a specific version of the thoughts than the accuracy of the thoughts is a classic misdirection.

Democracy is incompatible with individual freedom. It always evolves into a fiscal disaster that destroys the nation and the freedom of its citizens. Our current fiscal crisis is proof the thoughts are true - whoever wrote them. We are progressing, apparently irrevocably, to the usual outcome.

Original Rick Santelli RANT Is Back On YouTube

2011-12-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

by Ron Santo

11 Rules Of Life

2011-12-22T07:11:00.003-05:00

Paraphrased from an op-ed by Charles J. Sykes, author of "Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good about Themselves, but Can't Read, Write, or Add."

RULE 1......Life is not fair; get used to it.

RULE 2......The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

RULE 3......You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you EARN both.

RULE 4......If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.

RULE 5......Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.

RULE 6......If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

RULE 7......Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try "delousing" the closet in your own room.

RULE 8......Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

RULE 9......Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summer off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

RULE 10.....Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

RULE 11.....Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Some great advise in these rules!

Groundhog Day And State-Of-The-Union Address Are On Same Day In 2012

2011-12-21T07:01:00.004-05:00

This tidbit of information comes to us from Ronald VanLandingham on Facebook

These two days being the same is an ironic juxtaposition of events.

One involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to an insignificant creature of little intelligence for prognostication.

The other involves a groundhog.

I love it!

Obama Is All About Money

2011-12-07T05:56:00.003-05:00

Most of it from Wall Street.

by Gary Varvel

History Repeats - As Usual

2011-12-01T07:06:00.002-05:00

During the great depression there were repeated upticks in the economic data.

Every time this happened, Democrats insisted the continued wasting of money in stimulus and government programs was finally paying off. It never sustained during the great depression. It will not sustain now.

Tomorrow the jobs data will indicate a small upswing in jobs and a tiny drop in unemployment. Barack Obama has already seen the data and without it even being announced is proclaiming the good times are returning. This in the face of the Federal Reserve and all national banks around the world flooding money to prop up the data just as they did in 2008. You must remember, there is nothing that has been done to create that money except print it.

Inflation, real inflation in areas such as food, continues to inch up as it always does when government prints money. There is deflation in housing and other niche areas of the economy that temporarily hides this problem. However it is only a matter of time before inflation destroys the earning power of everyone not in government and prices get out of control. Since only government can index itself to inflation by laws, private workers are the people who always get screwed.

Prepare yourself.

The Geese Are Beautiful

2011-11-22T08:35:00.004-05:00

I love fall on the Chowan River.

Early in the morning the geese start stirring and moving about on the river below the cliffs. They are the kings among the numerous flocks of ducks and seagulls that sleep in the middle of the huge expanse of the river. There must be a couple of thousand birds in total. As the morning begins the geese start to honk, clearing their throats for the calls they make as they fly. With no apparent pattern, one of the flocks will start to swim, slowly at first and then faster and faster until they start to flap their wings. The river boils with their efforts to break free of its embrace. As they clear the water they skim along, not gaining altitude, just speed. Then one will start to rise and the rest follow him up as they head out, flying in large circles over the water. They start to climb, gaining more and more altitude, organizing the huge V they always adopt. Their circles expand. Then they skim above the tall trees on the top of the cliffs by our home, so close overhead I feel I can almost touch them. After a final circle they head inland, seeking food which will give them energy for their later flights south - as well as the next generation which they will start in the spring.

It is a dazzling show, even on days like today, with overcast brooding skies. Various flocks have been at it for a couple of hours now. Another huge V just passed overhead, honking constantly as they head West. The earliest flocks have been here on the river for a couple of months now. It is never clear what plan they follow as their arrivals are always chaotic - spread over weeks and their departures vary by months - depending on the weather. Yet their morning displays of flight never cease to entertain during the months they spend on our river.

I am so glad I live on the Chowan River. I can't imagine a better place to view God's beauty. The geese are the best.

48th Annual Perrytown Herring Supper

2011-11-17T23:56:00.000-05:00

Friday - November 18th
4 PM till 7 PM
Perrytown Community Building

$7.00 Per Plate
Eat In or Take Out

All proceeds benefit the:
Perrytown Volunteer Fire Department
Station #53

Don't miss this great annual event!

Benneton Mocks Obama For His Constant Anti-American Rants

2011-11-17T07:13:00.002-05:00

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Chinese President Hu Jintao

Even his supporters understand that Obama loves communists more than he loves America!

Wall Street Is Not Free Enterprise

2011-11-14T17:11:00.014-05:00

by Dean Stephens - November 14th, 2011

Occupy Wall Street? It would be much better to abandon Wall Street. Sarah Palin has summarized the errors of the Occupy Wall Street movement with her great quote, "They say `Wall Street fat cats got a bailout so now I want one too.' And the correct answer is no one is entitled to a bailout." Sarah Palin is right. However, just because the Occupy Wall Street participants are wrong does not mean that Wall Street deserves our support.

There is a delusion in the ranks of Republicans and Independents that is based on an outdated truth. Funding capitalism used to be the goal of Wall Street. That is no longer true. There is a lot of evidence that pretending to support capitalism is simply much of Wall Street's way of deceiving the public.

In recent years Wall Street has given nearly three fourths of its campaign contributions to Democrats who are socialist sympathizers, such as Charles Schumer, Kristen Gillibrand, Chris Dodd and Harry Reid. Most of the rest it gave to supporters of big government and big business, beltway insiders who sell our laws to Wall Street lobbyists, such as Mark Kirk and Richard Shelby. Few, if any significant campaign contributions go to people like Jim Demint or Paul Ryan who are proponents of free enterprise or small business. Even the temporary switch in the bias between the parties has not changed the preference for big government, big business supporters such as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Why does that not get more notice?

Their deceit is paying off. Wall Street's major firms are wallowing in wealth and profits. The rich Wall Street firms who were bailed out by the tax payers made more money in the time since Obama became President than in the entire eight years under President George W. Bush. Not that Bush was ever a real supporter of free enterprise. Bush was actually fond of the big government, big business Wall Street barons. His incredible quote after protecting them with bailouts, “I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free market system” still annoys me. What Bush really ‘saved’ was crony capitalist fat cats, not free markets.

Wall Street's record profits are coming at a time when small business is struggling, the economy is stagnant, millions are unemployed, and profits for most companies facing competition are nil. AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac are exceptions to the outrageous financial firm profits but that is only because they are tied to the home mortgage disaster. That fiasco was inflicted by government regulations. The traditional percentage of all profits made by the financial sector, 16%, has increased to 41%. Is anyone surprised that the percentage of profits earned by financial firms has soared while profits from businesses that produce goods and services have declined?

A perfect example of Wall Street logic is the Republican position on capital gains taxes. Big business, big government Republicans have abandoned the Ronald Reagan opposition to special tax rates, special deductions and special subsidies for special interests. Reagan equalized the rates for capital gains with the rates for income. He did this because his opposition to special deals for some was explained by the story of the plumber. Never heard it? It is a great story.

Two men graduate from the same high school. One becomes a plumber and starts his own small business. The other inherits money from his family. The plumber works hard and masters his trade. The heir invests his money carefully. After a few years both are doing well and make exactly the same amount of money. The plumber has created a number of jobs as his firm grew. The heir's investments are assumed to have done the same. If you truly believe in free enterprise, capitalism, you believe that they are receiving in income the fair value they each provide to society.

So why do Republican insiders argue the investor should pay lower taxes? Five of the current Republican candidates for President actually argue the investor should pay nothing in taxes. Ronald Reagan would be appalled at both that idea and what is happening in America. Under current practices, the plumber is paying a huge amount of money in social security taxes on his income, double the average employee, while the investor pays nothing towards social security. The plumber also pays much more income tax than the investor pays in capital gains taxes. Don’t forget, free markets gave them exactly the same compensation! Why has the Republican Party abandoned the common sense fairness and belief in free markets of Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp?

Too big to fail is a euphemism for regulated quasi-monopolies, another example of how little modern Wall Street believes in capitalism. The overwhelming desire to create huge businesses and eliminate competition is the motivation behind Wall Street's focus on mergers and acquisitions, often encouraged by government regulations embraced by elements of both parties. Fat profits always flow to the newly dominant companies which then increase prices at their customer's expense. That's us! The claim that it 'could' strengthen competition is always the excuse that is trotted out to cover up their actual goals.

Another related example is when Wall Street engineered legal changes treating capital gains and dividends differently to encourage people to steer their money to growth stocks. The result was the dot com boom and bust. It correlates exactly with the creation of this advantage in 1997 and then its removal in 2003. How many fortunes were created and then destroyed by this manipulation of tax law? I bet the Wall Street crony capitalists made out on both ends.

There is additional proof. Wall Street created a useless form of investments called "derivatives" that are nothing but Las Vegas style gambling under a different name. Wall Street promoted the abandonment of Glass Steagall because it constrained conflict of interest practices permitting banks to mislead investors and depositors. Wall Street also led in the bundling of mortgages to mislead investors about actual risk, dramatically aggravated by sub-prime lending, and sold this junk at inflated prices. Wall Street welcomed Sarbanes Oxley because it handicapped small business from securing funding and favored the big business takeovers that Wall Street prefers. On issue after issue, the dominant Wall Street culture of today has favored big government regulation over free market competition. Their highly biased campaign contributions in favor of big government are not an accident. Conservatives need to take note.

In our opposition to the socialist goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement we must guard against trusting a Wall Street which has strayed. If we believe in individual freedom, it must start with free markets based on John Locke's natural rights to property, not the venture socialism of Barack Obama and the elements of Wall Street that back him. That Wall Street is not free enterprise.

Neil Cavuto's News Of The Day

2011-11-05T11:58:00.002-04:00

It may not be the most earth shattering news. For a few it may not even be a surprise, but it will not be many. That said, here it is:

Ralph Nader informed the world that he agrees with Ron Paul on many issues.

Yep. That is right. Ralph Nader, the classic left wing extremist, thinks that he and Ron Paul, the classic Libertarian extremist, are in agreement on many issues. Cavuto looked shocked and then actually interrupted Nader to change the subject.

If you had asked me about their positions on certain issues, such as hostility to wars of preemption, I might have noticed this confluence of opinion. However I must admit it caught me by surprise when Nader made the statement. In retrospect, I guess it is obvious. I still bet it surprises both Nader and Paul supporters to hear it said out loud.

Line Of The Day

2011-11-03T09:48:00.003-04:00

I Don't Want
To Be Argumentative BUT ---
I DISAGREE WITH THE ISLAMIC BELIEF
I SHOULD BE KILLED!

Thanks to Kenneth McKain on Facebook for this great line.

Charges Against Cain Cannot Be Ignored

2011-10-31T07:54:00.013-04:00

by Dean Stephens - October 30th, 2011

Herman Cain supporters keep repeating his claim he is an American success story. Yet they seemingly ignore his actual history with that claim. Cain is a success. The question is, just how much of that “success” did he earn on his own and is it really the “Horatio Alger story most would like to, or are being led to believe?

During the late 70s and the 80s, Herman Cain was an employee of big consumer corporations, starting with Coca Cola. He was not an entrepreneur. He didn’t take any risks with his own capital. Affirmative action had recently become the law of the land. Big corporations were under pressure to prove they were complying. True conservatives have never accepted the premise of affirmative action, that you can reach equality by suppressing the rights of others by government edict. Yet Herman Cain defends affirmative action to this day. He received a lifetime achievement award for promoting ‘diversity’ in the food services industry. You have to wonder why. You also have to wonder why mention of this award has been removed from his web sites.

His actual track record in business indicates some possible explanations. Cain went from an entry level analyst position to top management in one decade. He was made what would normally be called a regional manager by Burger King. He was then made manager of a small subsidiary by Pillsbury. Would Cain’s rocket to the top have happened without the special treatment and considerations given him as a result of affirmative action?

Herman Cain did not build Godfather's Pizza. He was made manager of an existing organization within a large corporation and given a staff and title. The parent company soon spun it off as they often do with subsidiaries that offer little upside potential. Cain did not grow the business while he ran it as a subsidiary or after it was spun off. He made it more profitable by closing restaurants and firing several thousand employees. Cain then used that profit success as a stepping stone to run for public office and quit. That act itself was typical of an employee not an entrepreneur. In fact, many insiders do not consider Cain key to the turnaround. They tout Ronald Gartlin, who helped build the chain before Pillsbury bought it, was key to Cain’s efforts to return to profitability, replaced him on Cain's departure and continues to run the business today.

For the last 20 years Herman Cain has been active in politics. Although he has never won public office he and his supporters cannot realistically claim he is not a professional politician. He is!

Cain was appointed to the Federal Reserve board because he was a black businessman. He has absolutely no credentials in monetary, fiscal or economic policy that would justify the appointment. I cannot find any transcripts or video interviews of Cain discussing economic issues with any depth or breadth of insight. He talks in generalities. Details that require true knowledge are avoided. Cain is a sound bite candidate in a sound bite era. Even so, why is this experience considered a good thing? Many of our problems in economic mismanagement are directly attributable to board members like Cain rubber stamping disastrous Federal Reserve policies.

His supporters also give him a pass on his actions at Aquila, a corporation that invested employee retirement funds in its own stock. It then suffered huge losses. Cain was a director. What is a director supposed to do except make sure such things do not happen?

The latest questions to arise are accusations Cain sexually harassed two women while he was Chairman of the National Restaurant Association. I doubt these accusations are accurate. However the reactions by his supporters are curious. Cain's supporters do not want to know if they are true. They simply dismiss them as unfair attacks with total disinterest in whether there are any facts to substantiate or not. Aren't the charges serious enough to warrant some investigation? If you ask most of Cain’s supporters, their answer will be, “No!”

Here is something else to consider. Cain attended an all black college that is known for its cultural hatred for whites. Cain says he was too focused on his studies to notice the racism but you have to wonder about his choice of college. Cain still attends a black church that is only marginally less racist than Jeremiah Wright's church. Cain openly acknowledges his "church is still in the 'hood" but doesn't go further to denounce the racism that implies. Voters should demand more than another sound bite reply from Mr. Cain.

Here is something I and others have sadly found out recently:

If you criticize Herman Cain for anything you will be the one denigrated as racist. The enchantment with Herman Cain is curiously similar to the earlier adoration for General Colin Powell. Powell was never the conservative military genius he was proclaimed to be. Republicans were desperate to believe he was for reasons a psychologist would struggle to explain. Clear warning signs were ignored. Is that perception repeating itself with Cain?

Herman Cain has shown by his gaffes on foreign affairs that he is not prepared to lead our nation in the one area that can get us all killed. He never served in the military. He has shown no interest in our history or involvement in the world. He was so ignorant that he claimed to not know what 'neo conservative meant'. His trite dismissal of the need to understand foreign issues is an insult to voters. If you care about America how can Cain’s foreign policy naiveté not be a red flag?

At some point you have to stop and ask some serious questions about this man. Unfortunately the answers are being delayed because Herman Cain is treated differently. Cain will not allow the questions he is uncomfortable with to be addressed. Instead he dismisses concerns and changes the subject. Push him and you risk being verbally attacked.

In summary, voters actually know very little about Herman Cain except his personal interpretation of his own resume. This must end. The office of the Presidency is not an entry level position. People who forget that are making a huge mistake.

The Risk Of Revolution Grows

2011-10-25T09:06:00.011-04:00

by Dean Stephens - October 25th, 2011

Our world is coming apart. The reactions to this are daily becoming more ridiculous. The reactions to this are daily becoming more serious. Are we in a repeat of the dichotomy once summarized "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"?

Like this opening to the famous tale about the French Revolution with its anarchist extremes and brutal bloodletting, the world is reaching a crisis and the world's people are confused and angry. The dichotomies identified in that opening paragraph are being repeated today, "... it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity... " The rich are adamant that the world is perfect as it is. The poor are adamant that the world must be torn apart. Neither is right. Neither is wrong.

It is happening globally.

China has created a self inflicted cultural crisis with its 'one child policy'. It faces a growing chasm between the excessive number of male children in their nation and the limited number of women who they can marry. War has long been the final solution for nation's facing such cultural pressure. Which is why China is making noises about invading Vietnam and Taiwan. War by China is coming. Yet experts on China remain oblivious. Amazingly, our mainstream media ignore the signs as if such a war will not affect America.

Huge wage pressure has nearly eradicated China's cost of labor advantage of 20 years ago. The currency manipulation which cleverly hid the eradication is about to collapse. At the same time Greece considers unilaterally wiping out debt, something unheard of since the end of World War II. China faces the reality that their huge surpluses in owning debt around the world could become a massive problem if write-downs become epidemic. They would really like to reduce exposure to American debt, yet where else can they safely go? How does China grow their economy at the rate needed to keep their population happy while facing cultural and economic catastrophe? Are they prepared to face serious blow back from the United States, China's number one trading partner? It happened before and would likely happen again. China’s heretofore strengths are rapidly becoming its weaknesses. It may thus perceive only one rational choice. War!!

At the same time, Americans are slowly waking up to the open warfare from La Raza extremists who are intent on tearing America apart. They are invading us in numbers they hope will force a vote for secession by many Western states. "It can't happen here" is starting to become an obvious farce as the reality sinks in. Yes, "it can happen here". It is happening. Others in South America are recognizing our weakness. Argentina is saber-rattling. Threatening to invade the Falklands over a two hundred year old fester wound to its national pride. America would not be immune from the consequences of such action, regardless of whether it was Britain or Argentina that prevailed. Instability in the Americas is indeed surging as Cuba and Venezuela work to undermine their age old enemy, the U.S.

The massive growth of Islamic extremists around the world is being fueled by a deluded foreign policy initiative from the Obama regime. Muslim extremists are reacting aggressively, seizing control of every major nation in the Pan Arabian region; Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Syria, Turkey. Nation by nation we are facing an increasingly hostile Islamist world. Sharia law is being pressed everywhere, even in America. It will rapidly get worse. Israel is about to become a victim of the first nuclear world war. It will not be the last. America may soon be a target as well.

Simultaneously, the global socialist movement is organizing "Occupy Wall Street" actions to destabilize America's financial system. The failure of most Americans to accept the visceral hatred by certain elements in the world against any semblance of free enterprise still shocks me. The socialists have openly planned to destroy free enterprise, what they call capitalism, for over a hundred years. Yet most Americans are still oblivious. These enemies may be aligned with foreign movements but they are internal enemies and they currently control our government. The Obama regime is a part of the global socialist movement.

With all these crises around the globe and here at home, the campaign for the Republican primary is superficial and irrational. What political party of sanity can leap from Donald Trump, to Mitt Romney, to Michele Bachmann, to Rick Perry, to Herman Cain, to whoever is the next hero of the moment and pretend it is going to unite to win an election? Each candidate in turn has temporarily led by large margins. Huge numbers of the Republican base still support Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, two narcissists who have long since proved their shortcomings are incompatible with governing our nation. Clarity remains elusive, while rage continues to grow.

At the same time Republicans are wasting their energy on smears of each other, Obama continues to accumulate a huge war chest that he will use in a 'battle to the death' general election campaign that will be the dirtiest in history.

As in the age of the French Revolution "... it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness... ", history appears to be repeating itself. The only question that remains is which idea will prevail? The French chose ‘foolishness’ and chopped off each others heads. Will we choose wisdom?

Still My Favorite Car Shelby Cobra 427

2011-10-20T08:24:00.005-04:00

I owned one of these in British racing green back during the sixties. I had to sell it since I could not afford the speeding tickets. Sure wish I still had it. What an amazing machine! Zero to sixty in four seconds. Zero to a hundred and back to a complete stop in twelve seconds.

It was awesome.

Unpopular Truth For The Day

2011-10-20T07:21:00.000-04:00

Why do some Republicans find this so hard to understand?

From Jim McGowan On Facebook

2011-10-16T08:56:00.006-04:00

Greatest American Eagle Picture Ever? It is powerful but if you think about it, saddest might be a more appropriate caption. Thank you for the photo Jim. Hope you don't mind if I share it with my readers.

Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Came From Video Game

2011-10-15T08:11:00.006-04:00

SimCity source of new tax proposal by candidate Herman Cain!

Kip Katsarelis, a senior producer for SimCity’s production company, Maxis... said game developers chose the simple tax code so gamers could focus more on “ building their cities and have fun thwarting giant lizard attacks, rather than be buried by overly complex financial systems.”

No wonder Herman Cain was evasive when he was asked who provided him with an assessment of the 9-9-9 plan. The inventors of the 9-9-9 tax proposal wanted to thwart giant lizard attacks! Herman must be so proud.

Health Care’s Legal Drug Deals

2011-10-11T06:49:00.000-04:00

by Dr. Ada Fisher - October 11th, 2011

I repeatedly cringe when I hear` politicians talk about the corruption in the way medicines are patented, made, dispensed and regulated as if they aren’t part of the problem. The regulations in place regarding medicines are keeping or delaying the entry of some onto the market because they have not met the required safety trials and had enough case studies to identify potentially hazardous side effects. The manner in which medicines are manufactured is not controlling shortages of essentials including epinephrine used to treat shock, potential vaccines, cancer chemotherapeutic agents and hospital drugs mainly including sterile injectibles. The movie “Contagion” spells out clearly what problems we face if we don’t plan better.

Was the Human Papilloma Vaccine (HPV)’s production hastened since another manufacturer was threatening to encroach on the money to be made from this vaccine as Congresswoman Bachman hints? Should only girls have been targeted since boys carry the virus? Were enough study cases done before the vaccine was brought to market to insure its safety?

In my opinion, one of the worst federal legislative moves was to give vaccine producers an exemption from liability if they made them believing that this would prompt more to compete for this business and decrease the costs. So who will bear the financial burden created by those who now develop side effects from these vaccines such as that had with Guillian Barre Syndrome (a form of paralysis) caused by a previous Swine Flu? Is the government now liable for these costs, particularly when companies may not have shown due diligence in completing adequate safety research?

As our baby boomers continue to age into the over 55 generation, our problems with medication availability for those diseases associated with aging such as cancer will increase. Doxcil (AIDS, ovarian cancer, breast cancer), Taxol (breast cancer, ovarian cancer), Cisplastin (ovarian, bladder, lung cancers) and 5 FU (invented by one of my professors Charles Heidelberger who played a critical role in my medical school training) are a few of the 213 drugs all in short supply on any given day depending on your location and facility’s connection to the manufacturing pipeline.

Even Propofol, an anesthetic which Michael Jackson had no problem acquiring, is in short supply in many hospitals. This means that doctors are being asked to play G-d and decisions on care are increasingly rationed by criteria that are neither universally acknowledged nor sanctioned by some medical body.

The drug pipeline slows when drugs are made into generics some companies may lose money that could have been shuffled to research and pocketed profits or drug company consolidations have forced out some research drugs which have high need value but low profitability reality. Designer drugs specifically targeted to diseases are are costly and more difficult to make which insurance doesn’t always want to cover; meaning if the government won’t pay the bill or a patient is not in a research protocol he is not likely to get it. Third party payers are increasingly dictating who can get what without regard to life saving potential, curative benefit or necessary research study value. In other words if you don’t have the money up front, you aren’t always likely to get what you need.

Is anyone asking for a full disclosure of the ties of our politicians to drug and pharmaceutical concerns and lobbyists?

Who is going to pay the bill to extend our lives even when we abuse our bodies?

Who should be the judge of what care is available?

Who should have priority for treatment?

Are we really ready for the big time of Nationalized Health Care—more rationing of care?

A think the question really comes down to a simple one. Will we get better care, even if we are poor, if we depend on the government bureaucrats of socialized medicine or if we depend on the historical success of each person seeking out a private doctor for medical care and recommendations of drugs that will help?

I know what I think.

Democrats Launch Senate War

2011-10-07T07:26:00.001-04:00

Reid uses ‘nuclear option’ to block GOP [Votes]

by Stephen Dinan - October 6th, 2011 - The Washington Times

In a move that threatened to calcify an already dysfunctional Senate, Democrats on Thursday voted to change chamber precedent, in effect rewriting the rules to ban a work-around Republicans had used to force votes even when the Democrats in the majority didn’t want to hold them.

Things got so heated that all sides agreed they needed a cooling-off period, and they suspended business for the rest of this week, promising to return Tuesday and try to repair what appeared to be lasting damage to the comity and relationships critical to the functioning of the upper chamber.

The move was similar to the “nuclear option” Republicans had threatened to use to end filibusters of then-President George W. Bush’s judicial nominations six years ago, which was averted in a bipartisan deal.

“We have changed the rules of the Senate,” said an angry Sen. Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican, as he and fellow Republicans excoriated Democrats for using the backdoor method.

I do not understand why Republicans are surprised at this move. It is only Republicans who care about "comity". Democrats never care. They simply demand that Republicans adhere to such decorum. Then again comity has never really helped anyone except the fence sitting moderates. So those of us who believe it is time to stop losing our nation may finally get a chance to fight back.

I think that the extremists who are currently trying to overthrow our government with their riots are going to change this election in a dramatic way. I am simply not willing to predict that the MSM cannot make that impact a negative one for our nation. This fight is providing the rioters with encouragement.

Obama Fried Chicken Spreads To China

2011-10-03T14:28:00.003-04:00

Though a similar company started up in Germany a couple of years ago, it appears that the latest use of Obama's name and likeness to promote fried chicken has appeared in China. As the linked article shows in the pictures, use of Obama to sell fried chicken has already occurred at a couple of locations here in the U.S. as well. As one commenter sarcastically suggests, next we will see Obama Watermelon stands.

The Obamas Go Shopping

2011-10-03T07:59:00.004-04:00

Does anyone think this staged picture could be any less fake if it showed Michele's oldest child in the basket?

Obama Is In His Own World

2011-09-22T07:04:00.005-04:00

A special thank you to Lucianne.com for this photo. As noted on her site, the photo is not altered. It really does show Barack Obama so oblivious to everyone else in the world that he blocks the view of another world leader while he waves to the camera. After all, isn't it all about him?

Drudge Report Headline

2011-09-21T07:13:00.001-04:00

Today's Drudge Report leads off with the headline

"Shock Poll: Palin pulls within 5 points of Obama."

What else is there to say?

Inner Banks Comment Of The Day

2011-09-20T07:29:00.001-04:00

A poster on NRO came up with the best comment of the day.

"We expected Barack Obama to be a disaster as President, and he exceeded our expectations."

Inner Banks Reality

2011-09-20T06:51:00.004-04:00

President Barack Obama has more access than anyone in America to the statistics about our government and the taxes it imposes. So why is he LYING?

The taxes paid by the top 1% of our citizens (the wealthy) are reported every year by numerous organizations. They have not changed materially in years. The top 1% of income earners makes 20% of all income and pays 38% of all taxes.

Conversely those who make below the median national income of $34,000 a year (the poor) earn 13% of all income but pay only 3% of taxes.

It is possible that Warren Buffet has rigged his income tax to be abnormally low, but that is not typical of the wealthy or the percentages would not prove that the exact opposite is normal. Taxes on the wealthy, even after all the special tax breaks that they get, are still EIGHT TIMES the percentage on low income earners. Remember that - the next time President Barack Obama starts his demagoguery about 'the rich'. There is simply no reality to the claim that low or middle income earners pay higher rates than the wealthy. It is an ignorant claim.

It is also true that the greatest beneficiaries of the Republican tax cuts of the last 10 years were the middle class, not the rich. That too is something that Barack Obama LIES about constantly.

Seven Million Miles From Earth

2011-09-18T07:21:00.008-04:00

This is a unique photo taken from Voyager I near the start of its epic exploration of our solar system. It was taken when the craft was only 7 million miles out on September 18th, 1977. No human has ever been in a position to take this photo. Voyager was already farther out than any human has so far ever been. Today (34 years later) Voyager I is still reporting data several times a week and Eleven Billion miles away from Earth as it continues to streak along on its amazing journey.

Perrytown Fire Department Remembering 9-11

2011-09-12T07:29:00.021-04:00

A large crowd gathered early for the Woodmen of the World flag presentation to the Perrytown Fire Department, given as part of their Woodmen of the World Salutes America's Heroes program.

Perrytown Fire Department Fire Chief Bud Lee (below) was Master of Ceremonies for the event.

Reverend David Baker (below), Volunteer Fireman and Chaplain of the Perrytown Fire Department gave the invocation.

Betty Jo Shepard (below) read a letter from U.S. Senator Richard Burr honoring the 9/11 heroes and gave his respects to the attendees.

Doug Causey (below), USDA Area Director, spoke about the 9/11 Remembrance and the actions of the nation in improving first responder capability all across America.

Misty Deans (below), Interim Emergency Management Coordinator for Bertie County expressed appreciation from her department and the County Commission for all of our first responders and the magnificent job they, and their families do, to serve our communities.

Woodmen of the World Representative Eleanor Hollowell (below), expressed their appreciation to the many first responders in our nation, and presented the flag which was the occasion of the ceremony to Fire Chief Bud Lee.

Plymouth Fire Department Honor Guard Representative Tyrell Arnold (below) led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to start the actual flag raising portion of the event.

Next came the singing of the National Anthem by Sue Tripp (below).

Perrytown Fire Chief Bud Lee, with the Plymouth Fire Department Honor Guard (below), attached the new flag to the new flag pole which the Woodmen of the World had funded, raised the flag, then lowered it to half mast in honor of 9/11 victims.

The ceremony was concluded by Bud Lee (below).

After the ceremony, the Perrytown Fire Department volunteers (below) gathered for a picture with the new flag and flag pole.

The day ended with food and drink (below) in the adjacent Perrytown Community Center.

A special thanks to the Plymouth Fire Department Honor Guard (below) for their assistance in conducting the flag raising ceremony.

Perry Versus Obama

2011-09-06T06:07:00.001-04:00

by Ramirez

Sarah Palin Drives Media Nuts

2011-09-04T09:27:00.007-04:00

Sarah Palin is hated by the national media, and yet they cannot stop covering anything that she does. She was in Iowa and gave a speech yesterday. 2,000 people came out in the rain to hear her, yet the media could not admire that she had that many die hard fans. They panned her for being too stupid to come in out of the rain. Of course if she had not given the speech they would have panned her for disappointing the crowd. The question is not whether she has done something wrong. The only question is how do they spin whatever she has done today to be wrong so they can ridicule her. Whatever she does is always obviously wrong. The only question is in what way is it wrong.

Of course her supporters have long since figured this out and delight in the way Sarah drives the media nuts. They no longer care what the media says. They would only care if the media did not smear her.

In the picture Sarah and Todd take a break from the bus trip through Iowa beside a sign cut into crops by one of her supporters. What other candidate has such committed supporters?

Inner Banks - Job Statistics

2011-09-03T06:54:00.003-04:00

Since the day he took the oath of office, Barack Obama has seen the loss of 2.4 million jobs in our nation. There are 2.4 million less people employed today than on that day.

Among people with jobs over 3 times that number, 8 million, are working fewer hours than they previously worked and would like to work. They have essentially lost a critical portion of their income.

Around 5 million young people have entered the work force since that day. Though some have found jobs, for every one who found a job someone else has lost a job. Since there are fewer people working today it is safe to say that the natural job growth needed to keep unemployment steady has not taken place.

If you count the people who would like to work but have given up looking (a number ignored by the government) real unemployment currently exceeds 20% of our workforce. This is approaching the unemployment rate at the depths of the depression in the 1930s.

Barack Obama insists he has created 2 million jobs. I think that his claim is gibberish. Like most left wing extremists he believes that his irrational explanation should satisfy even the millions whose lives he has destroyed.

Good Night Irene, Goodbye Irene... Good Riddance Irene

2011-08-29T15:03:00.005-04:00

Sometimes I live in the country
Sometimes I live in the town
Sometimes I have a great notion
To jump In the river and drown

Irene good night, Irene good night
Good night Irene, good night Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Hurricane Irene was very wide, slow moving and lasted a long time because of it - but at least she did less damage than Isabel. Windsor as usual got flooded though. Here are some pictures from earlier today.

Hammer Head's Oyster Bar was surrounded by water, along with Bunn's Barbecue in the background.

Edward Jones Investments is going to have to provide waders if anyone is going to change their investments.

And of course, the Chamber Headquarters was flooded again.

Windsor as always will come back strong. We're tough.

Inner Banks Philosophy - Thought For The Day

2011-08-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

Life is hard.

It is even harder if you are stupid.

Some Facts About Obama's Campaign To Increase Diversity

2011-08-29T08:00:00.006-04:00

Our President, Barack Obama has just initiated an aggressive campaign to "increase diversity" in federal jobs. Before you react with approval to his complaint that the 13.5% of Americans who are black do not have enough federal jobs, you should understand the following about black employment already:

18% of all federal employees are already black - where is the evidence that blacks are not getting their share of federal jobs?

25% of Treasury is black.

25% of Veteran Affairs is black.

31% of the State Department is black.

37% of the Department of Education is black.

38% of Housing and Urban Development employees are black - yet blacks constantly complain they cannot get HUD grants because "there are not enough blacks in the department". It was this same agency that presided over the housing debacle caused by rules demanding banks loan to unqualified blacks. No one can doubt that the stupidity of these rules was not influenced by the excessive representation of blacks in the department that wrote the rules.

55% of the Printing Office is black.

One important statistic about blacks in government. The number of blacks who are killed in battle is 10%, 30% less than their percentage of the population would suggest. Despite the constant mantra of how blacks are overrepresented in the armed forces due to a racist desire to see them die, that particular complaint is a lie which statistics have never supported. However it never stops the black instigators like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton from repeating the lie endlessly even in the face of the volunteer nature of our armed services.

President Obama is ignoring reality in creating this NEW diversity program. There is no rational way that any black can complain they do not get their fair share of federal jobs. The Obama program proves that no matter how much special treatment blacks receive they will NEVER believe it is enough.

As a specific example of this government demand for special treatment even in private jobs, blacks are 70% of professional football players and 28% of head coaches (twice their percentage of the population), yet the players association demands yet more blacks at every level of the game. Nothing will satisfy them until whites have been eliminated from the sport. How can anyone not see this drive to eliminate whites is racist to its core?

Thank you Sandra Day O'Connor. Affirmative action will never die. Equal protection under the law has ceased to exist thanks to the most corrupt court rulings in our history.

Where Presidents Come From

2011-08-26T07:54:00.009-04:00

Presidents are formed by the choices they make in life.

After college, Eagle Scout Rick Perry served his nation as a pilot in the Air Force. He has acquired a reputation as a man with the John Wayne vibe typical of men who are accomplished in dangerous fields of endeavor.

After college, Barack Obama lived on Manhattan's Upper East Side, venturing to the East Village for what he called "the socialist conferences I sometimes attended at Cooper Union." It was where he acquired the habit of hanging out with racist radicals who hate our nation and smoking pot.

My personal favorite picture of Rick Perry, at a 2006 event where he gave the keynote speech on free enterprise. He emphasized the importance of government allowing business to create jobs so that the economy can thrive. Even then his mantra was jobs, jobs, jobs. It is not a new focus adopted opportunistically to address the current crisis in jobs our nation is suffering.

"Obama Care Explained"

2011-08-17T20:48:00.004-04:00

by Donald Trump

Let me get this straight... We're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it...

... passed by a Congress that didn't read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a President who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, for which we'll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare,

All to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke!!!!!

'What could possibly go wrong?'

Trump is not someone I would trust to run a country, but he is certainly better at summing up the catastrophe of Obama Care than Barack Obama.

Barack Obama And The 'Magical Misery Tour' - Buses Built In Canada!

2011-08-16T08:11:00.011-04:00

Best quote of the day is from Lucianne, "Obama's $1 million plus non-campaign bus will drive him around his non-campaign 3 day whirl giving non-campaign speeches."

Nobody is fooled that this "Magical Misery Tour" in Obama's built in Canada depressingly black "Death Star" buses with their painted out windows is not a totally illegal taxpayer funded campaign junket. Nobody.

The irony is his touting his green jobs program in the same week that one of his favorite green job companies went bankrupt. They failed even after they moved all the American taxpayer funded jobs to China. They can't make their green nonsense profitable even with the huge subsidies of tax dollars they got from Obama!

Michelle Malkin had a great quote. "Obama is on his bus tour surveying all the damage he has done to the American economy."

Inner Banks Philosophy

2011-08-16T07:12:00.001-04:00

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

-- Thomas Paine

Inner Banks Philosophy

2011-08-15T07:39:00.000-04:00

“If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”

–- Samuel Adams

Inner Banks Humor - Hope And Change

2011-08-14T07:26:00.002-04:00

The best Tee Shirt available for sale at the 2012 Iowa Fair on Saturday?

HOPE and CHANGE.
I hope we change our President.

Inner Banks Humor - Hope And Change

2011-08-13T07:38:00.001-04:00

"Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy"

-- Rudy Giuliani

A Coil of Rage

2011-08-10T08:13:00.003-04:00

by Anonymous - Received this as an email with author unknown. The points it makes are too valuable not to post until I can find out who wrote it.

The character of any man is defined by how he treats his mother as the years pass... need I say more about this person below other than there is no character, no integrity but there is a ton of attitude and arrogance that defines his shallow past and hollow future...

I bought and read Obama's book, Audacity of Hope. It was difficult to read considering his attitude toward us and everything American. Let me add a phrase he use to describe his attitude toward whites. He harbors a "COIL OF RAGE". His words not mine.

Everyone of voting age should read these two books by him: Don't buy them, just get them from the library.

From "Dreams From My Father":

"I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."

"I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."

"There was something about her that made me wary, a little too sure of herself, maybe and white."

"It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."

"I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself: the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela."

And FINALLY .............. and most scary:

From "Audacity of Hope":

"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

I don't care whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, a Conservative or a liberal, be aware of the attitude and character of this sitting President.

United Kingdom Humor

2011-08-09T22:10:00.004-04:00

A sign was posted on a local branch of the London subway in response to three days of race riots by black immigrants. The riots have continued because the police have been ordered not to interfere!

"Due to the imminent collapse of society, we regret to announce we are closing at 6pm tonight."

The London Telegraph called it gallows humor.

Furious Obama

2011-08-07T21:37:00.000-04:00

Obama proclaims the weak economy is NOT HIS FAULT!

Inner Banks Humor - Obama's New Slogan

2011-08-05T09:18:00.003-04:00

For 2012 Obama has abandoned his previous slogan from 2008. His failure on the economy makes the old slogan hard to defend. His new slogan is "Change You Can Make Believe In!"

Blogger "DaBigGuy"

America On The Brink

2011-08-04T07:50:00.005-04:00

by Dean Stephens

In the aftermath of the debt ceiling crisis it is not uncommon to read articles that predict a continuation of our economic doldrums. The shell games that were being played by Geithner and Bernanke to hide the fact that we had exceeded the debt ceiling had to be undone quickly. In the process of undoing these hidden scams, they used up 60% of the debt ceiling increase in a SINGLE DAY. the increase was supposed to mean it would be 2013 before we would hit the ceiling again, but it will not last that long. As much and as fast as Barack Obama is spending, we will run out of money again long before next year's election. We will have this entire discussion again and Obama will blame it again, not on his spending, but on Republicans refusing to be 'fair' and increase taxes on the rich.

Obama is not alone in seeking scapegoats. Progressives all over the world are using emergency fixes for long term problems that will not go away just because they wish they would go away. Socialism is a creeping failure. Europe has been riding on the backs of American productivity for two generations. Their dependence on government spending was hidden by their ability to export to America. However after more than twenty years of sending our jobs overseas, America no longer has the excess capacity to absorb the exports of the entire world. With no other profitable economies to absorb their exports, and with third world nations increasing their exports to fund their own socialist programs, the global economy is grinding to a halt. The result is that world wide, socialist nations are coming unraveled. Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Italy are merely the first wave. Socialism is always a failure. Always. Yet you cannot get the delusional progressives to accept that.

That is why Barack Obama is already talking about another stimulus bill. Just like FDR, progressive politicians of today will not believe that taxing and borrowing from the private economy ultimately destroys the private economy. The tale of "the goose that laid the golden eggs" was something that earlier generations understood. No young people today even know the story, much less believe it. For the private economy to recover, regulations must be ended so that private businesses can organize to create jobs. That takes an extended period of time of stability that government will never allow. Government goons must always fiddle to justify their own existence. Stability is not in their DNA.

We face other global crises as well. China is in desperate need to fix its shortage of marriageable women, a direct result of its one child policy. That is driving them towards a war to take over Taiwan, which also satisfies their nationalistic pride.

North Korea is collapsing, creating another trigger point in Asia. At the same time, Japan is weak militarily, has a huge aging population and its dependence on U.S. forces leaves it vulnerable if the region becomes unstable. Obama has made it clear, America is no longer a reliable ally for anyone.

The middle east is coming apart. The Islamo-fascists are gaining strength in Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia and within several other minor players as well. They have been solidly in control in Iran since Carter's screw ups. Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan have stable governments that are confident of surviving the regional trends, despite all the billions that George W. Bush threw at them. With most in America not truly understanding the risk to world stability that Islamo-fascism represents, an intelligent plan to defeat Islam has not emerged.

We also face a serious problem here in the Americas with nations such as Cuba and Venezuela supporting the larazan racist movement in conjunction with an ideological commitment to communism. With the blurred lines between the Aztlantists, La Razanists and Communists, few in America even accept that this is a movement that we need to fear. That ignorance is a mistake we will come to regret.

This means we are facing threats in Asia, the Middle East and the Americas, all at the same time. All three movements are serious threats. All three would be a challenge if we were economically sound. As noted above, these threats come at a time (just like the last century in the thirties) when America has its own economic problems.

The great depression was a major contributing factor to World War II. The current great recession could easily become a new great depression. As that happens, America will weaken itself voluntarily, just as we did in the last century. This reaction is likely to lead to the first nuclear world war. Weakness always attracts enemies to attack you.

It saddens me to realize how few see the growing threats for the catastrophe they will become. The world's economic problems will aggravate these other ideological movements to seek extreme measures. People become more accepting of irrational solutions as their economic conditions worsen.

Despite the recent vote on the debt ceiling, we are still on the brink of some horrible consequences. Yet many still seek the easy answer for the immediate crisis and ignore the growing warnings of disaster just over the horizon. America is on the brink of some truly bad times.

Rick Santelli Rant

2011-08-03T08:46:00.003-04:00

The original YouTube of Rick Santelli's rant was disabled by hackers for quite a while, but that has been fixed in this new YouTube posting.

Rick Santelli Rant

The Truth About Our Deficits

2011-08-01T06:31:00.010-04:00

by Dean Stephens

There are a lot of lies that are spouted about our deficits. However at the macro level there is some interesting data that clarifies what is false and what is true.

As an example, it is claimed that Clinton produced a booming economy and ended deficits. In truth, Clinton only enjoyed positive numbers in a single year, his last in office, and that had more to do with revenue increasing as a result of the technology boom than it did with any actions he took. The World Wide Web was invented before Clinton was elected and that unique technology was the sole factor that drove the huge boom late in his Presidency. He was lucky, not talented. With a Republican congress Clinton could not increase spending, so the revenue growth generated a small surplus in his final year. [Click here to see details of the budgets for the last 40 years.]

Looking at the macro numbers for George W. Bush also provides some interesting insight. Revenue plunged after the collapse of the tech boom and the horror of 9/11, both occurring in Bush's first year and did not recover until 2005. However the Bush tax rate reductions which Democrats still denigrate did not harm revenue at all. It even resulted in revenue increases as business recovered and created jobs, resulting in the lowest unemployment numbers since the boom years of the 1920s. This data supports the general theory that revenue always goes up in response to rate reductions. It is not immediate but it always takes place as long as the tax reductions do not fall below some rational rates needed to fund real government obligations.

However the Bush years also show that outlays grew much faster than revenue, indicating that Bush failed to exercise reasonable restraint. With a Democrat congress starting in 2007, outlays jumped even quicker. They went up $100 billion in 2007 and another $200 billion in 2008. It is arguable that the increased loan demand to fund the deficits Bush and the Democrat congress were running sucked capacity from the private sector and contributed to the recession in Bush's final year. It almost certainly helped to create the credit crisis that was the precipitating cause of the recession. As a result of the huge increase in borrowing by government, the private sector collapsed and revenue plunged $400 billion a year.

Everything that Obama has done has left the private sector staggering. Revenue remains flat at that $400 billion lower level. Spending has surged by $800 billion thanks to 2 years of total Democrat control of our government. The combination of reduced revenues and increased spending has created a structural deficit of $1.2 trillion that will not go down until something dramatic is done to change it.

However Obama insists on actions that continue to strangle private investment, crushing any chance of economic recovery. It is unlikely that tax reductions will fuel growth since taxes are near historical lows. However tax increases will damage revenue further and be counter productive. Realistically the only option we have is to reduce public spending so that we can stop sucking money from private financial resources. Freeing that money up will fuel investment opportunities. Economic growth will generate revenue through increased profits and greater employment.

How do we get Democrats to understand that?

Curious Vote

2011-07-30T08:23:00.003-04:00

Six Republican Senators voted to table the House Bill to end the Debt Ceiling crisis. What is curious is why they did it? These are the six Republican Senators.

Rand Paul, Kentucky
David Vitter, Louisiana
Mike Lee, Utah
Orrin Hatch, Utah
Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
Jim DeMint, South Carolina

The two South Carolina Senators, DeMint and Graham, voted to table the bill in support of the entire South Carolina Republican caucus. They voted against the bill in the House because it did not cut enough spending. Certainly this was not the reason every single Senate Democrat voted to table the bill. They wanted increased spending and tax increases and are unalterably opposed to a balanced budget amendment ever becoming law. This is the total opposite of these two Republicans. Yet these two diametrically opposed camps voted the same way. Curious.

I have not heard what motivated the other four Republicans. However I would sure like to know why they voted to table the bill. Send me an email with links if you see any articles that explain their votes.

[Update - Mike Lee and Rand Paul announced their opposition to the deal based on the belief that the cuts will never happen. So they join the SC delegation in opposing the deal for reasons opposite to the Democrats. Still have found no explanation for the opposition of Vitter and Hatch.]

Inner Banks Humor -Obama Threatens Suicide

2011-07-30T07:48:00.000-04:00

by Michael Ramirez - July 27th, 2011 - Investor's Business Daily

Inner Banks Humor - Chavez On Obama

2011-07-27T08:13:00.002-04:00

""Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to [his] right."

-- Hugo Chavez, warning famed communist Dictator Fidel Castro about Barack Obama's extreme leftist leanings

As much as this may be funny (considering how the American press denies any possibility that Barack Obama is an extreme Marxist) Hugo Chavez actually believes this.

Inner Banks Politics - Debt Ceiling Debate

2011-07-26T07:28:00.004-04:00

"... raising the debt limit does not let us spend more money... "

-- Barack Obama

What a delusional, partisan, petulant, pompous, hectoring hypocrite our President has proven to be. We have elected the least prepared and most narcissistic amateur our nation has ever seen to the most powerful position in the world. In last night's speech Obama said the problem was that people outside Washington were too stupid to understand the debate and he alone knew what to do.

God help us. No President in history has ever called the American people stupid before. Obama was serious. He has nothing but contempt for you, me... everyone he sees. Contempt. He does not even try to hide it.

Communist Icon - American Traitor

2011-07-17T21:25:00.006-04:00

1972 Picture of Jane Fonda cheering the North Vietnamese communist soldiers who daily shot and killed Americans using the very gun on which she proudly posed for this photo.

"If you understood what communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees that [America] would some day become communist... I, a socialist, think that we should strive toward a socialist society, all the way to communism. "

-- Hanoi Jane Fonda

Seems she has forgotten her enthusiasm for dealing death to Americans nearly 40 years ago. Today Hanoi Jane Fonda says, "I have never done anything to hurt my country or the men and women who have fought and continue to fight for us."

Can anyone tell me how she can reconcile these two positions unless she is and always has been a traitor to our nation? Fonda feels loyalty only to the global socialist movement that seeks our destruction.

Inner Banks Humor - Jimmy Carter

2011-07-13T07:44:00.002-04:00

Want to know how bad things have gotten under Barack Obama? This says it all!

Inner Banks Humor - National Debt Limit

2011-07-09T10:09:00.004-04:00

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure,” the senator thundered. “Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. . . . Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.”

-- Barack Hussein Obama II

Of course that quote was made when George W. Bush was President. It no longer applies now that Barack Hussein Obama II is President - just because....

Joke Of The Year

2011-07-01T07:13:00.001-04:00

Wes Pruden has written the funniest news story this year with the following:

Bill Clinton, who is no longer president except in his own mind, suggests that the solution to the budget dilemma is to agree to both cut spending and raise taxes, but not actually do either one. “What I’d like to see them do is agree on the outlines of a 10-year plan and agree not to start either [raising taxes] or the spending cuts until we’ve got this recovery underway,” Bubba told ABC News in Chicago, where he is holding forth at something called the “Clinton Global Initiative.” Finally, a plan —promising something and then not delivering — any politician could master.

There was a time when Bill Clinton would have been too astute to say something this stupid. You have to wonder, has he listened to Barack Obama for so long he is starting to become as radical and irrational as Obama?

Inner Banks Philosophy

2011-06-26T23:16:00.000-04:00

"What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving."

--Dr Adrian Rogers

Obama Insults Two Heroes

2011-06-24T06:31:00.007-04:00

"First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn't receiving it posthumously."

-- Barack Obama

There is only one problem. Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Monti's parents, because Jared Monti died serving our nation. Barack Obama presented another Medal of Honor to Sal Giunta, the living winner. The White House excuse for mixing these two men up? Obama did not have a teleprompter to remind him which of these two great Americans was alive. You know, the one he actually met, rather than the one he claimed he remembered meeting.

Like his 57 states comment, Obama and his aides at the White House just cannot be bothered with really caring about our military forces, any more than Obama can really care about our history. Obama is too important to be bogged down with trite issues like our history and its heroes. Clearly he was just going through the motions in both ceremonies. He is too important to pay attention. Plus, he hates the military. So do his aides.

With this callous display of indifference to two great men, men he is not worthy to stand with, Barack Hussien Obama has dishonored everyone who has ever served our nation.

Obama And Courts Strip Non-Union Employees Of Their Pensions

2011-06-23T06:30:00.003-04:00

The bankruptcies of both GM and Chrysler are typical of the total corruption of the American Court System. A couple of rational rulings this week encouraged some to start talking again about what a great system we have. It was quickly proved it was a lie. Our court system is rampant corruption from top to bottom. The judges, both left and right, care more about their totalitarian power than they care about justice. That is why they stood by as Obama appointees stripped non-union employees of pensions they were due under bankruptcy law even as they illegally gave union employees pensions and benefits they were not due.

Why else except corrupt judges do illegal invaders, career criminals, union thugs, government goons and corrupt legislators get more rights than innocent victims and private citizens? A veteran Marine is murdered in his house by a SWAT team, just as hundreds of other innocent people (who like the Marine were never charged with a crime) have been murdered by police. Nothing will be done. The judges do not care.

And this is proved with the new knowledge coming out in emails that it was not just preferred stock holders, bond holders and secured creditors who were all raped to protect the unions. The salaried employees and non union employees were also stripped of their rights.

There is no justice in America. Not in the silly childish corrupt and tyrannical game of court under which we live. Obama is using that corruption to destroy our freedoms.

Inner Banks Humor - Obama Yard Sign

2011-06-20T09:14:00.003-04:00

Yard sign seen in Florida!

Amid Scandal, US Republican Weiner To Step Down

2011-06-16T15:37:00.008-04:00

This is classic. The left wing Republican hating Reuters wing of the Main Stream Media (MSM) cannot allow the Weiner resignation to hurt their favorite political party so they claim in their headline that the Democrat is a Republican. No wonder Weiner is so arrogant that he lies and blames Andrew Breitbart for framing him for something that he knew from the beginning he had done.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes before they correct the lie in the headline.

Update: It has been more than 24 hours and the error has not been corrected. My opinion. It was an intentional error to brainwash those who did not already know Weiner was Democrat into believing he is NOT a Democrat. Does anyone wonder why conservatives despise the MSM? They are pathological liars.

Update 2: After 2 days they simply removed the article. Clearly the lie in the title was intentional and they were so invested in the lie they could not simply fix it.

Obama's Economic Plan Is 'Shovel Ready'

2011-06-16T08:48:00.002-04:00

'Shovel ready' as in 'ready for burial'. However I don't think that is what Obama meant it to mean.

Barack Obama Orders Israel To Abandon Its Natural Borders

2011-06-11T07:30:00.004-04:00

The Arabs attack Israel and lose the land that they won in the 1948 war against Israel. That second war was in 1967, only 19 years after the Arabs had taken by war land given to Israel in the partition of the British territory that created Jordan and Israel. Israel won this land back after having been given this land as their birthright. Arabs took the land by force in 1948. They feel it is theirs. Israel takes it back by force in 1967 even though that war was started by the Arabs too. According to Obama, the land is not theirs. They have to give it back.

By what logic does Obama demand Israel give it back? Why the logic that Jews have no rights to live in peace anywhere in the word. Obama accepts that incomprehensible position which the Arabs promote as reasonable.

Can someone stop this insane maniac before he blows up the entire world?

Inner Banks Quote - Benjamin Frankin

2011-06-09T07:49:00.001-04:00

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

-- Benjamin Franklin

Education Officials Break Down Stockton Man's Door

2011-06-08T11:42:00.002-04:00

by Leigh Paynter - June 8th, 2011 - News 10 (Sacramento)

Kenneth Wright does not have a criminal record and he had no reason to believe a S.W.A.T team would be breaking down his door at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

"I look out of my window and I see 15 police officers," Wright said.

Wright came downstairs in his boxer shorts as a S.W.A.T team barged through his front door. Wright said an officer grabbed him by the neck and led him outside on his front lawn.

"He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there," Wright said.

It turns out that his estranged wife owed STUDENT LOANS. Recently, federal goons sent to a Marine's home in error (for the dastardly crime of knowing a man who was involved in drugs) killed him even though he never took the safety off his gun. They gave him no chance to surrender. They immediately lied and claimed he had shot first but it was proved this was false. These SWAT goons are gutless tyrants, ready to kill at a moments notice.

Kenneth Wright is lucky he and his children survived.

It started with the arrogance of the TSA goons groping the best looking women in line. Then it moved to abuse of the war on drugs as justification for middle of the night no-knock break-ins, and murdering anyone who resisted even when they got the wrong house. Now it has progressed to breaking down doors and handcuffing children for owing STUDENT LOANS! America is as fascist as any nation on earth.

Civil unrest is coming. There are too many Americans who will not live in a tyranny like the one Barack Obama is creating.

Inner Banks Profanity

2011-06-05T11:27:00.004-04:00

"I Think Anybody Could Be President In This Dumb F**king Country"

-- Bill Maher

The idea that everyone else does not despise Sarah Palin with the same vitriolic disgust that he has developed seems to have expanded to Bill Maher hating America itself. Or conversely, perhaps it was his hatred for America and Palin's love for this land that led him to despise her.

Does it matter which came first?

Obama Secrecy

2011-06-03T07:22:00.006-04:00

1) Marriage license between Obama’s father (Barak Sr.) and mother (Stanley Ann Dunham) — not found, not released (Even if found it would merely prove that the marriage was an act of bigamy since Obama's father was still legally married in Kenya.)

2) Obama’s baptism records — sealed

3) Obama’s adoption records — sealed

4) Records of Obama’s and his mother’s repatriation as US citizens on return from Indonesia — not found, not released

5) Name change (Barry Sotero to Barack Hussein Obama) records — not found, not released

6) Noelani Elementary School (Hawaii) — not released

7) Punahou School financial aid or school records — not released

8) Occidental College financial aid records — not released. (These records were, however, subpoenaed but Obama lawyers succeeded in quashing the subpoena in court. No other Occidental records have been released.)

9) Columbia College records — not released

10) Columbia senior thesis — not released

11) Harvard Law School records — not released

12) Obama’s law client list — sealed

13) Obama’s files from career as an Illinois State Senator — sealed (Appointment records: “lost”)

14) Obama’s record with Illinois State Bar Association — sealed

15) Obama’s medical records — not released

16) Obama’s passport records — not released

There is also the matter of Barack Obama's SSN, for which there is no record except in a State in which Obama never resided and therefore could not have been issued legally.

Though all of the above records have been requested, each and every government entity refuses to release the records, or has been ordered by left wing extremist judges to seal the records even where the law clearly requires disclosure. Why is Barack Hussein Obama's history the object of so much deceit and secrecy?

Thanks to ProgressiveEd for this compilation.

Inner Banks Philosophy

2011-05-30T09:07:00.001-04:00

"Now is the seedtime of continental union, faith and honor. The least fracture now, will be like a name engraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak; the wound would enlarge with the tree, and posterity read in it full grown characters."

- - Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

Puppy Crawls Home

2011-05-27T11:38:00.005-04:00

It took him two weeks, because of his broken legs, yet this puppy kept fighting to get home. Can you imagine the two weeks of pain he endured crawling on these broken legs? Poor guy. He still has some pain to endure but his owners immediately took him to the vet to get his legs fixed up. His name is Mason. Here is wishing Mason a speedy recovery.

Inner Banks Humor - Obama Is So Smart He Sounds Dumb?

2011-05-27T08:34:00.003-04:00

"It's not that Obama can't speak clearly. It's that he employs the intellectual stammer. Not to be confused with a stutter, which the president decidedly does not have, the intellectual stammer signals a brain that is moving so fast that the mouth can't keep up."

-- Meghan Daum [Obama sycophant]

With advanced degrees from Yale and Harvard, can you explain why that was not true when George W. Bush made a mistake?

ROTFL

Obama Is Stuck In 2008

2011-05-25T06:50:00.005-04:00

Had any Republican President made such an incredible mistake it would have been proof, endlessly ridiculed, that he was a dunce. Barack Obama signed the guest book at Westminster Abbey with the year 2008, right here in the middle of 2011. He probably would have gotten the month and day wrong but he asked a bystander. They told him May 24 but assumed he would know the year. He didn't. Is he really that out of touch? Sheesh!

No President in history has ever made as many mental bungles as Barack Hussien Obama II. Remember the "57 state, one to go" gaffe? Or how about the gaffe when he insisted that 10,000 people in Kansas had died from a tornado, "An entire town" according to Obama? Do you still remember when Obama insisted that there were dead heroes in his audience? How about when he got lost in his speech and started introducing people he had already introduced? He followed it up by a tone deaf toast to the Queen of England, droning on even while the orchestra played "God save the Queen". It showed Obama's narcissistic self absorbed unawareness of others. You almost want to ask if he is drunk, or on drugs? Yet our press ignores these bizarre errors. Why?

I repeat. No President in history has ever made as many mental bungles as Barack Hussien Obama II. And yet the left still calls him brilliant. No stupid failure will ever change their mind.

Inner Banks Philosophy

2011-05-23T06:50:00.001-04:00

"No people will tamely surrender their liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and virtue is preserved. On the contrary, when people are universally ignorant, and debauched in their manners, they will sink under their own weight without the aid of foreign Invaders."

-- Samuel Adams

Inner Banks Humor

2011-05-22T06:27:00.000-04:00

Greatest new joke of the day. Liberals accuse Herman Cain for President supporters of being "racist"!

Inner Banks Trivia

2011-05-22T05:07:00.005-04:00

How you are raised tells a lot about the character you acquire in life. A young Bibi Netanyahu on the left. A young Barry Soetoro (as he was known at the time) on the right. Netanyahu became commander of the Israeli elite special forces unit, Sayeret Matkal, one of the toughest in the world. The radical Marxist Barry changed his name back to Barack Hussein Obama II and became a community organizer, whatever that is.

Thanks to lucianne.com for these photos.

Conservative Public School Teacher Calls Florida Exam 'Soviet Style Propaganda'

2011-05-19T08:43:00.005-04:00

by Kyle Olson - May 18th, 2011 - Big Government

There are many conservative teachers sounding the alarm about the hijacking of their profession and the radicalization of school curriculums by left-wing union leaders. Exhibit A: Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis saying they’re not teachers but “education workers.”

Dean Kalahar is a Sarasota, Florida high school economics teacher. On his blog, he says his guiding principles include private property rights, free market entrepreneurial capitalism and the U.S. Constitution.

Kalahar recently brought attention to the new Florida high school senior exit exam, which he says will “indoctrinate children into a progressive and revisionist model critical of America.”

It is sad when parents who love America send their children to public school to be indoctrinated into left wing radical thought. Who would expect an assumptive question like "Analyze the major factors that drove American Imperialism?" to be on a school test. It is not much different than "Have you stopped beating your wife?" but with a political motive. Yet the first is actually a typical test question in the standard curriculum of public schools today. Despite this, radical left wing extremists insist they have not hijacked the curriculum and smear those who complain as not fit to teach.

If we don't wake up soon, it will be too late to save our nation.

Inner Banks Politics - Republican Reminder

2011-05-16T22:10:00.004-04:00

Some Republicans have chastised Obama for a number of shortcomings that George W. Bush is actually responsible for too. This does not mean Obama has not made our economy worse. Nor does it mean Obama necessarily has a different position. It is just a reminder of how badly we were damaged with a massive increase in government before Obama made it worse.

Deficits of record magnitude? Bush.
The bailout of banks? Bush.
The bailout of auto companies? Bush.
Government take-over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Bush.
Adding a new entitlement to the tune of almost $8 trillion in unfunded government liabilities? Bush. (Medicare Part-D -- more than the entire unfunded liability of Social Security)
Ethanol subsidies? Expanded by Bush.
Outlawing light bulbs? Bush.
"Comprehensive" immigration reform? Bush.
Campaign Finance Reform? Bush signed it into law.
No Child Left Behind? Bush signed it into law.

Inner Banks Humor - MSM

2011-05-16T06:49:00.002-04:00

A Yemeni Muslim charges up the aisle of his airplane and pounds on the cockpit door shouting “Allahu Akbar”. The MSM fails to report he is a Muslim. They instead report that he was "confused and delusional" and authorities are talking with his friends and family seeking "to determine his motivation."

Yeah. That's a tough one.

Jane Fonda Draws Raves At Cannes

2011-05-13T22:10:00.001-04:00

What do you call a traitor who is famous, rich, physically fit, good looking, well connected, politically correct and stars in a movie?

Why traitor of course!

Osama Dissed

2011-05-07T09:01:00.004-04:00

For those of us not into computer gaming this picture takes an explanation. The Term "PWND" is shorthand for Permanently Owned, and it is a bragging expression used when one gamer convincingly beats another. This picture appeared all over the Internet as T-Shirts and posters almost immediately after Osama was killed and is likely to be something you see on the street soon.

Inner Banks Quote

2011-05-07T07:22:00.001-04:00

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized."

-- Edward Bernays

It is amusing how the left wing adores those like Bernays and Alinsky who have mastered the "big lie" as "higher truth". Both Bernays, the inventor of 'corrupt advertising', and Alinsky, the inventor of 'hate politics' are idolized by Democrats.

Unemployment Statistics

2011-05-06T09:52:00.002-04:00

The national unemployment rate has returned to 9%. So much for the delusion that increasing the price of oil would not damage our economy.

Drill, damn it, drill.

Inner Banks Humor

2011-05-06T08:06:00.004-04:00

What an incredible mistake. The extreme left wing news site Mediaite has posted an article that mis-identifies Debra Burlingame (the sister of Charles "Chic" Burlingame III, the pilot of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 that was flown into the Pentagon on 9/11) as a widow.

They refuse to change the title of the article - arguing that it properly identifies her biases to the public at large. What does calling a sister a widow accomplish? How does it communicate her bias? Could it be the bias is all on the side of Mediaite? Or is it just proof they are a joke. They are certainly morons.

Inner Banks Philosophy

2011-05-05T06:39:00.001-04:00

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death."

-- Thomas Paine

Inner Banks Philosophy

2011-05-03T10:48:00.000-04:00

"When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set."

-- Lin Yutang

Inner Banks Photos

2011-05-03T08:46:00.000-04:00

Interesting Expressions!

Inner Banks Philosophy

2011-05-02T23:55:00.001-04:00

"History does not write its lines except with blood… Glory does not build its lofty edifice except with skulls; honour and respect cannot be established except on a foundation of cripples and corpses."
-- Abdullah Azzam (Osama Bin Laden's mentor)

Osama bin Laden has become one of those corpses.
-- Praveen Swami (London Telegraph)

N.C. Volunteers Sprang Into Action After Storm

2011-05-02T23:44:00.001-04:00

by Jeff Hampton - May 1st, 2011 - The Virginian-Pilot

Fire Chief Milton Felton watched from his kitchen window as the giant twister barreled over an open field. It had already demolished a nearby mobile home park and killed a woman, and it was moving fast.

Felton and his wife, Mary, a registered nurse, jumped in his truck and sped toward Glovers Cross Road about two miles away and in the tornado's path. He called members of the Cole-rain Volunteer Fire Department and chiefs in other communities for help.

A great article about our local volunteers and the incredible job they performed in response to the monster Askweville-Colerain tornado.

Inner Banks Thoughts

2011-05-02T18:43:00.002-04:00

Want to hear the most cynical explanation offered for how we got Usama Bin Laden? An intelligence analyst who wishes to remain anonymous has offered the following hypothesis:

Barack Obama wanted to get out of his commitment that Afghanistan was the "good war" and Pakistan wanted America out of their back yard. So a deal was done. Pakistan helped us get Usama Bin Laden and the quid pro quo will be an early departure from Afghanistan.

If the next thing we hear is Barack Obama insisting we can now leave Afghanistan, just remember you heard it here first.

Volunteer Heroes Charge Into Chaos

2011-04-27T07:20:00.013-04:00

As dusk approached Bertie County on Saturday, April 16th, the news on the TV was telling about a huge storm that was moving quickly across the landscape of north eastern NC. Few could imagine the chaos and devastation that was about to change the lives of so many.

As the monster Askewville-Colerain tornado arrived, what happened reminds me of the famous story about the two kinds of people in the world. When the guns of war start, some run towards the sound of danger and some run away. We have right here among our neighbors a great number of the first kind. True heroes.

One of the volunteers, who place their own lives in jeopardy to defend us, is Askewville Fire Chief Darrell Hoggard. He was at home taking a shower when he first heard a tornado hit less than a half mile from his house. Mike Baker, another volunteer fireman, reached Darrell on his cell phone and told him of serious damage to Jakes Trailer Court nearby. Darrell quickly dressed and headed out calling other volunteers on the way, but Darrell could not even make that short distance directly as the tornado had left roads impassable with debris and fallen trees. It was chaos. So he and his fellow volunteers found a way around the obstacles so they could help their neighbors who were in trouble. The roads had to be cleared so they could get emergency vehicles through. So the volunteers started clearing.

A short time later several miles away, Perrytown Fire Chief Bud Lee was sitting at the dinner table with his wife Alice, finishing their evening meal. He had heard the tornado warning so he was listening in on the local 2-way emergency radio, just in case. Colerain Volunteer fireman Woody Pierce was driving and came across the tornado devastation on Morris Ford Road, near Whites Cross Road. He reported the damage to dispatch and told them they needed to get the Perrytown volunteers to go there. Bud heard the report. He and his fellow volunteers scrambled out of their homes and headed out towards the 'sound of danger'. Just as Darrell discovered in Askweville, the Perrytown volunteers found it was not easy to get to the place where people needed them. The tornado had blocked all the roads in the immediate area with huge fallen trees and debris. So they started moving the debris and the trees. Some had brought their power saws while others rushed home to get theirs, along with tractors that could drag large logs. The obstacles and chaos would not deter them.

A few minutes later, Colerain Fire Chief Milton Felton was watching TV with his wife Mary and was actually close enough to see the tornado out his window as it kept moving north. Milton got in his truck and headed out to Glovers Road where it appeared the tornado had been when he saw it, calling for other volunteers to join him. Just as the Askewville and Perrytown volunteers had found, the roads near the tornado damage were impassable. So the volunteers started sawing the trees into manageable pieces so they could clear the roads to get by. Milton reported the damage to Bertie County dispatch and asked for help. It was chaos there too.

On the other side of the tornado damage from Milton, Trap Fire Chief Mike Harrell was home, sitting quietly listening to the pager. When the call for help was relayed, another Volunteer, Brad Brown, heard the call and contacted Mike that they had been dispatched to Glovers Road to assist Colerain. Unknown to either of them, worse damage blocked their way and they could not get there. The tornado had leveled several homes at the corner of Nowell Farm Road and NC 42, between Trap and Colerain. They couldn't get through to Glovers Road, so they dug in and started clearing the obstacles where they found them.

Everywhere the volunteers were dealing with chaos. New calls of death and destruction were arriving minute by minute. The 2-way radio never stopped. Kenny Perry set up communications at the Instant Command Center to help organize efforts and direct resources where they were needed. Each of the groups of volunteers attacked the problems in the areas they found them as resources arrived.

It was the start of a truly long and horrific night which would have been much much worse except for all these courageous volunteers. Other volunteers arrived, including a number of local nurses who simply drove in to the sites to help. Few of these volunteers got to bed until nearly daybreak, and even then only because they needed to recharge and come back to the fight when it was light. Sunday was going to be a long long day.

During that night, these volunteers saved the lives of a number of our neighbors. Digging through buildings that had been reduced to rubble, they found the injured and got them out to where the nurses could tend them and ambulances could take them away along roads that were only passable because of their earlier efforts. It was dangerous work and a number of the volunteers were hurt during the searches. It was hard manual labor under dangerous stressful conditions in total darkness. I thank God that there are so many in our midst who are willing to 'run to the sound of danger.'

In the following days, we have heard of aid from a number of groups who deserve recognition. The first teams on site were aided by a number of other groups in our county and beyond. The people I spoke to constantly mentioned the aid of Windsor, Bear Grass, Blue Jay, Jamesville and Williamston volunteers who came to help out without being asked. Everyone was thankful to the Sheriff's department who they felt did a great job. The Forest Service has been amazingly helpful with both people and tools.

The Baptist Men have performed awesome work, constantly preparing meals for people whose lives have been disrupted. The Red Cross has helped out with deliveries of some of the meals.

On Sunday morning, the fight continued, as it would for several days. These brave men and women, our neighbors, had to deal not just with chaos but with some truly gruesome chores. Most people do not realize how the debris of a tornado can cut off limbs or puncture as the powerful forces suck things into the air and then hurl them sideways into people.

Cars were ripped apart as they were carried up to a hundred yards in places. Entire homes, with people inside were lifted and smashed to the ground a hundred yards away. At least one aluminum barn was lifted off the ground and as recently as yesterday had still not been found. Where it was taken is simply unknown. Chaos.

We owe these volunteers a lot. Even if this particular disaster did not affect some of us directly this time, next time it might!

To these great people, Thank You.

This article was published in the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald and can be found here.

Inner Banks Humor - Obama

2011-04-27T06:24:00.002-04:00

Polls say a majority of Americans want to know "What country is Obama from?"

A plurality of Americans want to know the answer to a different question. "What planet is Obama from?"

Richard Burkett Captures Photo Of Monster Tornado

2011-04-22T06:51:00.003-04:00

The only photo yet known of the Askewville-Colerain tornado at the heart of its deadly rampage. Click on title for complete article.

The green diamond on the map shows where the photo was taken, looking southwest from that point.

Ag Commissioner Views Damage

2011-04-22T06:06:00.000-04:00

by Cal Bryant - April 21st, 2011 - Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald

Troxler, the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture, viewed that damage from the air and on the ground Tuesday during visits to Lee, Johnston and Bertie counties.

After his helicopter landed at Brown Peanut Company in Colerain, Troxler shared what he witnessed with a group of Bertie and Hertford County farmers as well as local agriculture officials.

[Snip]

Those needing assistance can call 794-5308.

Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler is a really good guy and he seems truly determined to help the people damaged by the monster tornado in our area.

Eleven Lives Lost (Now Twelve)

2011-04-20T08:24:00.016-04:00

by Thadd White - April 19th, 2011 - Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald

The Askewville-Colerain Tornado has the highest death toll of any tornado in the recent national storm.

Three people were killed at 1345 NC 42. They were
Barbara Lafferety, 64,
Roy Lafferty Jr., 72, and
Helen Alston White, 90.

Morris Ford Road was also the scene of three deaths.
Milton Sutton, 51, and
Mildred Warren, 68, were killed at 231 Morris Ford Road while
Peggy Leary, 60, died at 245 Morris Ford.

Two people died at 151 Harrell Road.
Robert Perry, 77, and
Celia White, 96, were both killed during the storms.

In addition,
Gayle Hinchey, 56, lost her life at 421 Elm Grove Road;
Louis Chamblee, 54, died at 422 Nowell Farm Road and
Dorothy Mitchell, 66, was killed at 628 Glovers Cross Road.

When you see the small area on the map where all the deaths occurred (indicated by the red stars) and realize it is a rural agricultural area - not a town - it is clear, this was one powerful tornado.

Our prayers go out to the friends and family of these loved ones who lost their lives. May God bless and comfort the friends and family in this time of grief and loss.

Also do not forget, hundreds were injured and many of these remain in hospitals throughout the area.

UPDATE
Bertie Death Toll Rises To Twelve

Mary Williams, age 50 of Morris Ford Road, Colerain, became the 12th victim of the deadly storm. She had been in Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville since Saturday night in critical condition.

The Map has been updated to indicate all who died.

Askewville-Colerain Tornado - The Rest Of The Damage

2011-04-20T08:23:00.022-04:00

I was not able to photograph all of the homes that were destroyed in the storm on my first day of effort for a couple of reasons. One, some of the roads were blocked by power company trucks stringing lines and county vehicles clearing debris. Two, there is only so much destruction that I could tolerate in one day. So today I went back out to document the other half. These pictures are covering the areas I missed in the first article posted below.

I respected the desire for privacy by those who waved me off when I raised my camera. I understand. Having memories of this event is painful. However that has resulted in a lot of serious damage not being included in this documentation of the event.

In talking with people I think a lot who were not in the direct path of destruction felt like I did. Before they understood the extent of the destruction, they were annoyed with the damage their property had undergone. Gutters torn off. Windows broken. Shingles damaged. Tree limbs and debris in the yard. Trees uprooted and stripped of leaves. Entire pine stands with needles stripped and bent over like pretzels. Today we are just so thankful at what we now realize is trivial damage. We are also feeling so guilty. When you look at these pictures and see the awesome destruction of this event, you can only feel sorrow for those who truly bore the brunt of the storm.

Askewville-Colerain Tornado

2011-04-18T13:19:00.022-04:00

The following is a map showing the general path of the Askewville-Colerain Tornado that hit Northeastern Bertie County last Saturday night. Following the map are pictures of around 50 to 55 of the destroyed buildings. 11 deaths is half of all the deaths in NC and a quarter of all the deaths in the nation. Hundreds were taken to the hospitals around the area, some in such critical shape that they are likely to add to the death toll.

One lady who was missing for most of Sunday was found 300 yards back in some woods, nearly a quater of a mile from where the tornado picked her up. We can only pray that she was dead before it lifted her up and carried her so far. The possiblity that she was alive is heartbreaking.

These pictures show barely half the destruction since many of the roads are still closed for restoration of electric power. While I was taking these pictures I saw more than 50 trucks replacing uprooted power poles and hanging power lines. The area is truly devastated. You can tell that from the pictures below.

There were three roads that had significant tornado damage that were still closed when I went out to take photos. I will add pictures of the destruction on those roads as soon as they open up.

NC Officials Get Briefing On Destruction Of Askewville-Colerain Tornado

2011-04-18T11:29:00.011-04:00

I went by the command offices for the tornado, being controlled out of the EMS offices in Colerain. It was there I was told about the planned stop by the Governor of NC to view the tornado damage.

Governer Perdue and Representative G.K. Butterfield were arriving for a tour of the tornado damage and a briefing from the state disaster management officials. To see the damage they were flown into Colerain in a helicopter, to a temporary helipad arranged by Brown Peanuts on the outskirts of Colerain.

A number of local officials came out to watch what is for our small community a unique experience. State officials are rarely seen around here for anything except floods, hurricanes or tornadoes. We had a tornado so they came out for the expected photo op.

Neighbors across the street from Brown Peanut get a front row seat.

More Press in Colerain than anyone can remember.

The pilot and various security personnel wait to fly Perdue on to her next stop.

Bertie County In The News

2011-04-17T23:07:00.000-04:00

Both our local newspaper and the Raleigh paper carried articles about the recent tornado that devastated Northeastern Bertie County.

The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald article titled "Tornado unleashes fury on Askewville" by Thadd White can be found here.

The Raleigh News & Observer article titled "Cleanup, mourning begin; N.C. death toll 22" by David Bracken, Thomas Goldsmith and Josh Shaffer can be found here.