More signs that America is in trouble

No, not in "trouble". "Trouble" is a factor working to the detriment of a situation. This situation is so far gone screwy that I wonder if it's possible to get any more detrimental.

Yesterday I made a post about a few things that, to me anyway, indicate that America as an idea is probably beyond hope. More than a few times since then, I've wondered if I was being perhaps too harsh (and no doubt used too much harsh language) in my assessment.

Tonight, sadly, I must report that I was probably not harsh enough.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to consider the appeal in a case that gives the legal right for developers to extort landowners for their property via the high court's abhorrent decision in Kelo.

And then, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says that "There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution."

From Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution of the United States of America:

"The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

There has been no invasion. And neither, for that matter, has there been any rebellion...

...but at the rate Gonzales and the rest of The Most Corrupt Administration in American History are going, there sure as Hell should be one.

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A sure-fire way to tell if it's going to snow

As I mentioned yesterday morning, we had the first winter storm of the season yesterday. The snow was just starting to come down at a good clip by the time I arrived at the station at 6:40 a.m. The rest of the day I watched it keep falling, then turn to sleet and rain. It wasn't much of a storm at all but it did prompt most of the schools around here to close early, so that gave us something to do all day, what with posting cancellations and all.

Even if it was a pretty minor storm, it did still snow. Which once again validates something that I heard years ago and thought it sounded rather silly at the time, but I've watched this happen so many times since then that I'm starting to wonder if it's a law of nature.

One night in the winter of 1993, when I was 18 years old, we heard some thunder at our house. Dad, sitting in his recliner, said that thunder in wintertime means it's going to snow 10 days from now. I was like "yeah right" especially 'cuz in 1993, our part of the country hadn't seen a real snow in three years: some younger children had never even remembered what snow is supposed to be.

Well, lo and behold, exactly ten days after it thundered, "the Storm of the Century" hit. That it started precisely ten days after we heard the thunder was something I thought of a lot during the next few days as we were trapped inside the house.

And ever since then, whenever I have heard thunder during the winter months, it has snowed almost precisely ten days (a couple of times nine days) later. The same thing happened in December of 1996: I was driving around Elon College with a friend and we heard thunder. "Geoff", I told him, "it's going to snow ten days from now." Geoff had never heard of that before either. But it snowed ten days later exactly and he went around saying "hey Chris said it was going to snow and..." A few years ago during our first winter since getting married, Lisa and I heard thunder one night in early December. Yup, ten days later we got an early snow. I don't think we heard anymore thunder during that winter but it sure snowed plenty enough.

Well, Monday night of last week we heard thunder here in Reidsville. Sure enough, ten days later we get the first snow of the season.

So now you know how to know for certain if/when it is going to snow. If you hear thunder sometime during the winter, it will snow ten days later. You can practically wager money on it. It works here in north-central North Carolina anyway. There may be some regional variation... but give or take a few days and it's something that will probably work where you live, too.

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Art Buchwald has passed away

Darn. He was definitely an original. The local paper used to carry his column several years ago and there's no telling how many mornings I'd be cracking up laughing reading his stuff during homeroom in high school.

Here's one of the many stories about the man that came out today. Among his final wishes, Buchwald wanted his funeral to be "there, on the island, where I'd have a Blue Angel navy plane fly over the site. I would be cremated and my ashes would be dropped all over every cocktail party on Martha's Vineyard."

Last but not least, here is his final column, to be published after his death.

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I'll go ahead and say it: America is dead

A New Hampshire man has barricaded himself inside his house while being tried in absentia on federal tax evasion charges. Ed Brown says he wants the federal government to show him where it states in law that he must pay something outside of his state and local taxes.

This is something that a lot of "tax resistors" have asked over the years. Funny thing is, nobody in the federal government has ever come forward to show where paying taxes to the feds actually is required by law.

Call me a kook for stating that, but that's a fact. Whenever a petition of grievance has been presented to the IRS or some other department of the federal government, that petition has been rebuffed without fail. On this, the feds do not answer to the little people.

You know what's going to happen to Ed Brown? He's going to be found guilty, without the jury even being told what precise law it is he is breaking. The law enforcement officers surrounding his house will get an order to "go in and get him". If he's lucky, Ed Brown will be arrested and his wife won't become a widow. That's if he's lucky. Because the "law enforcement" surrounding his house is probably made up of the ninja-suited "rack 'em and stack 'em" thugs that have a carnal desire to unload some lead into some poor shlub. They will probably go in and kill Ed Brown. And just about everyone else in this country is going to look at Ed Brown and nod their heads and quietly acquiesce to the government and just won't give a damn that one of their own got murdered for nothing more than daring to question the power of this God-damned government.

Yes, I said "God-damned"... and if I ever use that particular phrase, you better know that I'm serious, because I literally mean that this government is God-damned.

Want more? How about this: two Border Patrol agents yesterday started serving prison terms that will last more than a decade. Their "crime": shooting at a Mexican drug lord who had crossed the border into the United States. They shot and wounded the drug kingpin. The Bush Administration then had the illegal Mexican drug lord testify in court against the two Border Patrol agents and they were found guilty. Thousands of pleas for pardons have poured into the White House. Legislators have called on Bush to do the right thing. But the most evil, conceited, inept man to ever occupy the Oval Office has Decided that the two agents will stay in prison.

The President of the United States, who has sworn an oath to defend this country, including its borders, sends two of his own citizens to prison for doing the job that he refuses to do. And defends a criminal who wasn't supposed to be in this country anyway. All the while letting millions of illegals cross the border.

Once again, I defy anyone to defend, in any way shape or form, this damaged little man in the White House.

Somebody tell me: could God honestly bless this country, given how far we've fallen?

Is it at all possible for us to turn off the American Idol and put down the Xbox controller and stop drinking the beer and finally give a damn enough to tell Those In Power that "to this point and no further"?

When a government's sole preoccupation becomes the perpetuation by force of more government, then that government has lost all authority and the people under it are no longer morally beholden to it at all.

What do we owe the American government?

I'm not asking "what do we owe America?". I'm asking "what do we owe the American government?"

Why the hell should we do what "they" tell us to do?

Oh yeah, because they have guns and they aren't afraid to kill you. They will kill you if you don't do what They tell you to do.

There comes a point where disobedience to man is utmost obedience to God.

We fall prostrate all too readily before a god of money and metal and mindless pageantry. And we give nothing to the God of Heaven.

I know some Christians who actually think it's their moral duty to vote straight-ticket Republican.

As their brother in Christ, I can only say: "What fools they are!"

This country has been sold out by a gang of total bastards. And damn us for letting them get away with it.

Yeah, I'm more than a little bitter about some things...

So how does knowing all this make you feel?

And what are we going to do about it?

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Winter weather finally arrives

Fox 8 WGHP is showing live footage of snow starting to fall here. We're supposed to get snow, sleet and freezing rain starting this morning and into this afternoon. The schools will probably be closing early today.

Now that we have the weather for it, it's time to come inside, throw some wood on the fire, snuggle up next to the one you love, and watch a timeless winter classic on the DVD player...

(Yes, I'm eeeee-vil :-P )

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Happy Birthday to the Greatest

Cassius Clay - better known to the world as Muhammad Ali, is 65 years old today.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!"

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AMERICAN IDOL Season 6 tonight

At this point I'm not even going to try to avoid it. For the past few years I've said that I wouldn't watch American Idol again, only to take a curious peek at the vocal train wrecks in the first round of auditions and then getting sucked in for the rest of the season's run. But at least last year we got some real class with winner Taylor Hicks.

So I'm already saying that I'll be watching the two-hour season premiere tonight at 8. Which I'll admit it is pretty fun to listen to the bad ones then call up my parents to hear them laugh about them too.

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