The Most Interesting Advertisments in the World

I love good advertising. Emphasis on "good".
This is good.
...and interesting.

Moore Bull

"To the Democrats in Congress who don’t quite get it: I want to offer a personal pledge. I – and a lot of other people – have every intention of removing you from Congress in the next election if you stand in the way of health care legislation that the people want. That is not a hollow or idle threat. We will come to your district and we will work against you, first in the primary and, if we have to, in the general election." - Michael Moore

That's funny, Michael.  I said something similar to my congressman, but I actually favor a strong America over making a German spectacle of myself and plugging my whinumentaries.  Your idea of healch care reform is Monica Lewinksy giving you a toe job (pedicure that is) and the vaaaaast right wing conspiracy having to pay for it.  The same right wing conspiracy that unzipped Bill Clinton's pants in the oval office.

"If a true public option is enacted — and Obama knows this — it will eventually bring about a single payer system, because the profit-making insurance companies won’t be able to compete with a government run plan and make the profits they want to make." - Michael Moore (again)

Government bureaucracy - Competition in a free market = Poverty

Liberals support a poorer America in the name of fairness because not all people have the same resources.  Do you want to join them in the sinking of all ships?

Sad but true

...or is it just sad?

On Housing (and other things)

I recommend the following interview with Thomas Sowell for your viewing and learning pleasure.  Parts 4 and 5 start getting very interesting:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

And as a fitting accompaniment, this article: readme

What is Quaestor Fidelis?

First, what it's not.  Quaestor Fidelis was not created to preach with hypocrisy.  You may find that it talks of religion, faith, politics, and various passions of mankind and is often full of strong opinion; opinion which you are welcomed to disagree with but encouraged to consider.  Ultimately, Quaestor Fidelis exists as a search; a quest for truth (even though sometimes we just post things because they seem interesting at the time).  We welcome you to be a part of a growing movement of people seeking reality over illusion.

In our relativistic world of competing "truths", the concept of truth can be a little slippery.  It is the goal of this blog to strengthen opinions and beliefs by comparing them to reality.  I cannot claim to be perfect by any means or to know all truth.  But I will claim that only truth can be used as a measuring stick against the sea of information and claims on reality that we all face each and every day.  Remember: a "truth" is not the truth just because I say so or even because the president or your favorite actor says so.  Truth is independent of what you or I may want it to be.  That is why it is so important for us to know what it is and why it is worth knowing.  Our culture tries to teach that everything is relative to who you are or where you're from. But I don't believe that, and furthermore, I believe that is a dangerous perception.

What's a little bit funny/ironic is that people are often afraid of truth. Heck, we all are sometimes. But some people use arguments like, "People who believe in absolute truth are the ones that ran the Spanish Inquisition, slaughtered the Jews, and lynched blacks in Mississippi. Having strong beliefs only leads to problems and prejudice." No doubt, it can. I've heard similar arguments from our own president. The truth is, there have been people throughout history who have believed the wrong things and regarded them as absolute truth. Truth has never been the problem. Perception has. Just because people call themselves Christians doesn't make them followers of Christ. I might just as easily light my rear on fire and call myself a rocket.

Perceptions are the only things that are relative. Truth is what it is regardless of how you might perceive it. Truth is like a large boulder around which a river's water flows. Though continually pushed, it remains solid and still, though etched throughout history with the scars of time's challenge to its permanence.  In the quest for truth, history matters for two reasons: because hindsight is 20/20 and because history repeats itself. Therefore, knowing accurate history ought to improve your foresight.

Our goal is to explore what truth is, correct our errors, and prioritize truths.  As Proverbs 27:17 states: "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."  Therefore, don't sit on the sidelines.  Such a topic as this will stretch into all facets of human life including faith, politics, and philosophy. Fence with us. Sharpen yourself.

As we begin this quest each day, we invite you to join us in our quest for truth that matters.  We invite you to join the discussion, correct us when we're wrong, share your opinion, and be open to learning for yourself.

My Son

“We are content and happy if Obama can stay forever as president of the United States.” - Muammar Qadhafi

Words & Turds

Thomas Sowell is just so awesome sometimes it hurts a little bit.  Besides that, being black, raised in relative poverty, and being a very well educated economist and author makes him even that much more credible in a world where any argument against socialism is considered racist.

article part one: readme
article part two: readme

Chutzpah

[Friday, Sept 18]

STEPHANOPOULOS: But if you’re – have some of your allies made it easier for — handed your opponents some ammunition, like ACORN, for example…

OBAMA: Well, look, the — you know, I think that — are there folks in the Democratic camp or on the left who haven’t — haven’t always operated ways that I’d appreciate?

Absolutely.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Congress has just cut off…

OBAMA: Is — is…

STEPHANOPOULOS: …all funding for ACORN.

OBAMA: It’s…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Are you for that?

OBAMA: Is that true on the other side, as well?

Of course that’s true.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How about the funding for ACORN?

OBAMA: You know, if — frankly, it’s not really something I’ve followed closely. I didn’t even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money.

Really?

Happy Constitution Day

The meaning of the Constitution.

On Racism

When did liberal become a race?

Jimmy Carter recently said in plain words what liberals apparently seem to be thinking in the backs of their mindnubs:  that any argument against the Almighty Obama is RACIST!  Oh no!  Not racist! 

Well, let me argue that with a bit of logic, the liberal's arch nemesis.  I am white or black.  I am not both.  I won't tell becuase you don't need to know.  Let's say I'm black for sake of argument.  But I might just as easily be white.  Now Obama is black (well sort of...for sake of this argument, he's black).  Kind of like Tiger Woods is black.  Whipped mocha choco latte, if you will.  Jimmy Carter is white.  White like the paste you ate in preschool; maybe even a little pink like those baby mice that get fed to rat snakes in science class (before PETA).  But hey, animals taste better than people or soylent green, except that soylent green is PEOPLE...so I guess they taste the same.  But I digress... 

Now then...back to my thought:  I don't think Obama has America's best interest in mind.  Therefore, I must be racist and hate black people, or at the very least feel disgusted by their darktitude.  Hey Darkie, go back to Africa.  Make sense?  But I don't think that Carter has America's best interest in mind either.  Hey Whitey, quit mowin' your suburban gated-community lawn and come see what the ghetto is really like, you rhythm deficient cracka ho.  I'm now very confused because according to Jimmy Carter, since I disagree with liberal brainwashing and communism, that means I'm racist against both whites and blacks, and yet I am black...or white.

If you are sheet-wearing, KKK lovin', redneck, hepatitis carrying, skinhead, please get a life.  If you are a wannabe pimp gangsta, Black Panther lovin', prideful negro, please get a life.  If I'm white, I'm not responsible for whippin' your great great granny for not pickin' enough cotton back on the plantation.  Have you ever even seen cotton outside of WalMart?  If I'm black, it doesn't make me a thug or less intelligent than a white man; I'm a law abiding citizen just like you are, so don't act like I'm gonna steal your purse. 

It's funny...well, in kind of a stupid way, how we've gone from a society which once did mistreat minorities  to one that now feels overly guilty for it even though those times have come and gone and the people responsible have all died.  A white person isn't going to comment on the fact that BET (Black Entertainment Television) is a double standard (what, no WET?).  And yet, a black person isn't going to admit that maybe he has been kept down by "The Man" by taking handouts and welfare.  A white man is uncomfortable admitting that more minorities live in poverty while a minority forgets that they are probably more poor simply because they are behind in terms of how much time they've had to gain wealth.  Instead of time being the culprit, it's whitey.  Well it isn't whitey.  In fact, more whitey's have probably tried to help you than hurt you in the last several decades.  And Whitey, you've got a few things to learn too.  Blacks were mistreated and seem to be brought up to kind of carry that history around with them in the backs of their minds.  So you have to treat that situation respectfully.  It was very very real at one time.  Haneous attrocities were committed against blacks and still are sometimes.  Of course, haneous attrocities are committed against people of all races.  But the racism of yesterday is not the reality anymore.  So it's okay to be frustrated with the dark man for thinking it is, but at the same time be respectful of his past. 

The upcoming generations are sick and tired of being dragged through this racism game.  It doesn't exist to us anymore.  In Jimmy Carter's day maybe it did.  But that's not where we are now, and being against Obama's liberal policies doesn't make you any more racist than not liking the taste of fried chicken or malt liquor.  Although who doesn't like fried chicken?

All of us are created equal by our Creator and considered as equals in the USA regardless of our race.  You are no better than me, nor am I any better than you.  I may have more or have less, be better or worse looking, be smarter or a little less so...but my vote carries as much weight as yours (but no more than yours), and I have the same rights to pursue freedom and happiness as you do, and vice versa. 

So when someone like Jimmy Carter tries to grovel at the throne of Obama so that his soul might be spared in his last days, it makes me kind of throw up a little bit because this isn't about race, this is about the values that America is watching melt on its wrist like a sticky red popscicle glowing in the hot sun of Barack's mighty shining light.

New Media

Today's modern media entertains, tells stories, perhaps even spins the news...shame on them.  There is some pretty damning evidence that certain "news" agencies make it their priority to hand pick the news rather than report to you what would be newsworthy if you only knew about it.  I could probably build a case for that phenomenon being heavily influential on recent elections.  For example, we all saw how Van Jones was pushed out of office as soon as news about him got out.  But that wasn't news in the ordinary sense.  It was cyber news, blogging, videos on YouTube, etc. that were shared and shared again while the big boys like the New York Times sat with it's thumb up its nose.  What if more voters knew more about the people they hired to represent them in government?  I think there would be a lot of changes.  It's not unlikely, therefore, that there is incentive for certain papers to try to keep the status quo.  Prioritizing the news has become political in many ways.  And that's okay, I guess, and it's up to the journalist, news agency, media corporation, etc. to do as it wishes because, after all, this is the USA, a free place with freedoms of speech permitted even if that freedom means strrrrrrrrretching the truth.  The important thing is that we, the public, realize this happens.

Got an interesting blurb on this very topic here: read me

Signs

My favorite sign from the Washington DC Tea Party this past weekend:

Clueless

More than an hour after its first reports, CNN anchor Kyra Phillips said on the air that CNN's initial report [ed. note: of guns fired during a Coast Guard training excercise] stemmed from someone saying "bang, bang, bang" over a radio frequency monitored by the network's police scanner.

So they can't tell the difference between someone saying "bang, bang, bang" and actual gunfire. Idiots.

9/11

Article by Victor Davis Hanson: click here (p.s. that's a different Joe Wilson mentioned in this article than the congressman who shouted out during Obama's speech on 9/9 and is referred to in the post below)

From the Dallas Morning News: Remembering Afghanistan's 9/11 roots

Heritage Foundation's Morning Bell: click here

Recently declassified photos of WTC attack: click here

"You Lie"

Was Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst during last night's speech inappropriate? Yeah, it breaks protocol a little bit. But if he did that because he believed in what he was saying and trying to represent his constituents, then I'm not so sure he owes an apology to anyone. Perhaps he should have finished them off with, "Lying to the American people is what is really inappropriate here! Disrepectful? What about all the things Obama has said that disrespects us as Americans? What about those comments? What about the fact that he and the other libs in office are completely disregarding all of August's town hall meetings full of people who clearly don't want this government 'solution'?  What about the democrats in congress booing Bush during his '05 State of the Union?  What about the hypocrits in office right now?  If I may be so kind, you may all stick it!" Joe Wilson, for a brief moment, was a representative with some balls. Stand up and grovel no more, Joe.

On a side note, Mark Levin made two excellent points last night:

1. It's ironic that Obama calls for "accountability" in health care while he is the most profligate spender in American history.
2. Employment is one of the key ways people pay for health care, and this administration is experiencing (perhaps, in no short supply, contributing to) one of the biggest unemployment rates in a very long time.

Explain this to me

Regarding Grimp's earlier post on the potential "fees" (read: tax) on insurance companies as a way to "defray costs" of the public insurance plan:
I can one-up you.

How about a "fine" (read: tax), administered by the IRS, who become the defacto insurance cops, on people who don't buy health insurance. Individual mandates, this is called. Which is Washington-speak for "we're from the government and we're here to help".

A bipartisan group of senators huddled in the afternoon to decide whether to move forward on an overhaul plan that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) began circulating over the weekend. The plan includes some of the stiffest penalties Congress has proposed for Americans who don’t carry health insurance coverage.

So the "public option" is out in the Senate version of the bill, but an enforced tax on families who don't purchase health insurance (which is, by nature, a completely voluntary act) is in.

So if I don't have insurance currently because I can't afford it or don't need it, you're going to fine me anywhere from $750 to $3800 if I don't go ahead and pay for something I already can't afford or don't need.

Yeah, makes sense to me.

Public "Option"

This Wall Street Journal article mentions an important aspect of the health care bill's public option. As Senator Max Baucus knows, it has to be paid for. That means more taxes, more debt, or a roundabout screwing of someone. So what he is proposing is to charge a fee to private health insurors to "defray" the cost of expanded health coverage. What a novel idea. Make private health insurance more expensive in an effort to make health insurance more affordable. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it? It's actually pretty smart if your end goal is to drive health insurance to become increasingly more expensive and eventually force all private citizens to take the public "option". There aren't enough wealthy individuals to support a total welfare state, so it's time to tap into the corporations themselves. The problem: that strategy is unrealistic, unethical, and also hurts Americans.

Like Margaret Thatcher said, "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."

The Importance of Being

I've written before about the importance of understanding the other side's arguments. Here is libertarian economist Tyler Cowen's attempt to describe modern conservatism. I happen to disagree with his point #4, which I think he has backwards. Strong family structures are the most important domestic issue, from which follows a strong educational underpinning. Tyler is talking about school-based education, which, to me, is only a part of a child's educational experience.
The most thought-provoking point:

10. Responsibility is a more important value than either liberty or equality.

I believe (individual) responsibility both leads to and follows from liberty. And as I have said before, conservatives believe in equality of opportunity, not equality of results. It is difficult for me to separate those three values and assign priority to one or the other, but I think he probably has the order correct.

This is a follow-up to his previous attempt to define progressivism.

See also this follow-up post:

Consider the way our views normally evolve. We sort of hunker down in our ideological bunkers trying to fend off various attacks and challenges. Sometimes an especially forceful argument will require a modification in the fortifications—and on rare occasions, we’ll even be forced to abandon a position. Which is to say, we learn from other perspectives largely in a defensive mode, through a kind of Darwinian selection of arguments. But what if instead we tried to use the insights available from our own perspectives, not to defeat or convert the other guy, but to give his argument its best form? This might sound like giving aid and comfort to the enemy, but even in terms of the Darwinian struggle, there’s value to being able to show how your view trumps even the optimal form of the competition.

Typically, when we’re not at battle stations, we recognize that the other guy’s values are genuine values; we just give priority to different ones.

iPledge

I happened to hear a guest host (Texas senator Dan Patrick) talking on Lou Dobbs' show today while I was driving back to work from lunch, and it piqued by interest.  This particular episode is well worth a listen.  There is an especially interesting call that brings up an important point...scary, and certainly not politically correct, but worth thinking about (somewhere around an hour twenty into it).

Find it here:
http://www.loudobbs.com/programhighlights?date=20090904



Honestly?  'scuse me.  Part of my lunch is coming back up...  This video contains some great messages.  It's a shame so many of them are hypocritical.  It would actually be a great video if it weren't full of political propaganda and if everyone didn't merge into Obama's face at the end like he's the source of righteousness.  Can you say, "Der Fuhrer"?  Did you know you can pledge to do great things for other people without bowing to your president like a slave?  Read the Constitution.  Does it say that you're the president's servant?  I thought I heard you say in the video that you were pledging to end slavery not become a slave yourself.

Also, on kind of a side note...you know...you might think that this health care stuff is a moral issue (some talking heads on liberal tv certainly seem to).  You'd be right in a way.  It is a moral issue to force on the responsible the ills of the irresponsible; to drag down the successful; to grab the heels of the free and weigh them down in the name of fairness.  But you'd also be ignorant because you fail to see that even more than this being a moral issue, it is an issue of what will work.  Logic.  It's a powerful tool they don't teach in Hollywood.  I'd better go say my prayers and ask for forgiveness for my blaspheming now.

PS> In the coming years, I'm looking forward to finding out how Demi freed 1,000,000 slaves.  Maybe she was refering to Ashton's spermatazoa...

I leave you with this...

Fact of the Day

From 1901 through Wednesday, September 2, 2009 there have been 175,461 regular and post-season baseball games played in the major leagues.

Bonus facts of the day:
Here are eleven feats that have only happened once in all that time.

Barking up the Wrong Trees

Straight from the horse's mouth:

"There are those who are focused on the so-called politics of health care; who are trying to exploit differences or concerns for political gain. That's to be expected. That's Washington. But let's never forget that this isn't about politics. This is about people's lives. This is about people's businesses. This is about America's future. That's what is at stake." - B.H. Obama

Look, health care for all my friends sounds like a great idea before you've thought about any of the consequences. But we've seen how government runs things (into the ground), and we're just not so sure that we won't wind up taking it in the keester. Money doesn't grow on trees, you know. Well, unless you consider middle class Americans to be trees. I think we're thru being your birtch.

Caviezel: a voice of reason in Hollywood?

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082505.html I'm not Catholic, but I do share his viewpoint of the abortion issue.

Sincerely, the USA

The following is a copy of the letter I sent to my congressman today:

Dear Congressman,

When you came to our city the other day for your town hall meeting, you said that you were here to listen. It has become apparent that you and other "national heath care" supporters have made up their minds already and are not interested in hearing what the American people actually want. You would probably consider me conservative, but I want to remind you that being a conservative neither makes me rich nor racist. Nor am I an old blue-hair. That little excuse of "racism" that people like Diane Watson(D-CA) use for discounting every conservative's opinion is ignorant at best and tells me that they are racist because they themselves refuse to use their brains in order to think past their own skin color. It's infuriatingly obtuse, and I won't put up with it.

Let me remind you that this evil thing we call capitalism has helped this nation become one of the strongest and best in the world. You say you believe in that. Prove it with your vote from now on. Our standard of living is high in the US, and it's not because of government. Look at Wal-Mart which is always lowering prices and offering increasingly better products. It has increased the standard of living for people both rich and poor because it has to compete with other businesses like Costco and Target. It doesn't offer lower prices out of the goodness of its heart. It does it because it has to compete. We know this works, and yet, I hear nothing in this health care "debate" about increasing competition in order to lower health care costs. All you are talking about is increasing the coverage by distributing wealth.

Rather than causing all ships to rise, you will cause them to sink because they are all tied to the same government anchor. What motivates your need control all aspects of American life? Why do government fingers have to be in every piece of American pie? Almost everyone has some sort of sad story. No one's life is perfect. But you cannot give everyone food, water, shelter, health, peace, and prosperity. You can try, but you'll find in the end that you've worsened the standard of living for all because you've redistributed profits and the incentive to outdo the competition. And then we'll spend the next 100 years recovering from your "help". It is our job, the people's job, to help each other without your controlling us.

If government tries to step in everywhere to help, the people of this nation will become helpless and worthless. Think how far we've come already. If you don't want to, you don't even have to be responsible for getting yourself pregnant anymore in this country! It's legal to literally suck a baby out of a woman's insides, tear it to pieces, and chunk it in the trash. Making that legal is one of government's many contributions. Is that the kind of legacy you want to leave? Is that how you want to be remembered by history, by people, by God?

Examples of higher cost, slower performance, and decreased quality abound when government takes something over which is meant to be controlled by the people (ie free markets). Think about minimum wage. It is a racist law. It has helped keep a lot of minorities unemployed. A business owner might want to hire a minority to do a job but cannot because minimum wage is too high to make him/her affordable. Therefore, the business owner decides he/she cannot hire that person at all. Consequently unemployment. Now that person, instead of starting at the bottom and working up, stays at the bottom and goes nowhere. Why is that a hard concept for you in congress? I think it's because you like to promise people more money to get votes and not have to deliver on that promise. You fool people into voting for you. At least for a while. I assure you that we are catching on.

Your government career will not last unless you remember who you work for and represent. Please remind our President of the same. He and his wife think that we are all uninformed and unengaged. We hired you both to represent us, not yourselves. Now do it. Be what you are meant to be, and we, the people, will appreciate you for it. Or you can spend your life trying to impress our moronic media and congress' liberally minded wannabe dictators.

un-frickin-believable

Presented without comment.