I am humbled and grateful....

Stacy McCain, a long time friend, proved once again what a stellar friend he is.  Smitty too.  They read my blog tale of financial woe and published an appeal for folks to send me money, and the response has been amazing.  Other bloggers also created links asking their readers to help.  What great people bloggers are, and those who follow them.

My wife, like me, is not used to getting paid and giving nothing of value in return, so she asked me to make a list to pay everyone back!  I will probably just "pay it forward," being extra generous in the future to conservative bloggers trying to make it.  In any case, I suspect wifey won't be so quick in the future to tell me that blogging is a waste of time!

I have offered whatever services I can to those who have donated.  Only two have taken me up on it.  One was a blogger who had a glitch in her blog format, and I helped her solve it rather quickly.  Another has asked for assistance on a graphics project, and I readily agreed to do it for her.

Fellow conservatives, I owe you big time.  If I can do anything for you, please do let me know.

Thank You to All Who Donate!

Thanks to all who have donated to Saber Point since yesterday.  The donations have ranged between $5 and $150, and I am indeed grateful.

It is in times like these that you know who your friends are.  The conservative blogosphere is pretty special and have proved it to me personally.  I am humbled and gratified by your generosity.  Many thanks to Smitty and the Other McCain, to Old Rebel and others.

I know that some of the donors are themselves struggling with these hard times, yet they donated what they could.  As I told one donor, your contribution does good to my soul even more than it does to my bank account.

In good times I have donated to blogs I read, too, and I will do so again.  Sometime after November, I suspect.

Meanwhile, I will gladly provide graphic art or blog help to any donor who desires it.  Send me a scan of an old family photograph that is wrinkled, torn or otherwise damaged, and I will restore it for you.  If you have a blog, let me know if you need a banner or ad for your sidebar, or an original banner for your blog.  If you need an avatar, I can create one of those too.  Just let me know.  You were there for me, I am also here for you.

The Password is "Victory or Death"

Fellow patriot Tony Caputo sent me the link to an incredible speech....by Newt Gingrich!  Normally, I don't give Gingrich the time of day because he is a "moderate."  He has little credibility with me.  However, in his speech last November to David Horowitz's Restoration Weekend, he sounded quite a bit less moderate.  In fact, he sounded like an old fashioned patriot of the American Revolution.  He noted that the password among American troops at Valley Forge was "victory or death," and we need that same resolve today to defeat the socialist left.

Watch the video, it is certainly worth your time.

Sean Hannity Spanks Democrat Bad-Boy Anthony Weiner

Democrat Congressman Anthony Weiner made a complete ass of himself on the floor of the House this week, over a bill that didn't pass.  The bill was to provide health services to first responders of 9/11.  Some firemen  and policemen have incurred health problems from breathing the thick concrete dust from the collapse of the towers, and for other reasons.

Of course, most congressmen would vote for such a bill, if that was all the bill was about.  But Democrats like to stick other things into a bill that are more controversial.  In order to vote for the first responders, you would have to vote for a number of other things as well.  It is these "other things" that caused the bill to fail.  I don't know what those things are, I haven't read the bill.  However, it goes to show that passing the bill is not so straight forward as it seems at first glance.  (Update:  the apparent problem many congressmen have with the bill is that it will raise the corporate income tax to pay for it.  Corporate taxes are already too high and raising them will retard the recovery.)

Anthony Weiner is a raucous Democrat who tries to shout down all opposition and use bullying tactics to berate and intimidate his opponents.  Weiner, it seems, is a wiener.  However, he made the mistake of trying these tactics on the Sean Hannity show and got his ass handed to him.

The Blog Prof has the story and the video.  Good show, Sean Hannity!

Give 'Em Hell, Larry! Lawrence Auster's Take on the Arizona Court Decision (AZ SB1070)

Welcome to La Casa Blanca!

Lawrence Auster is in the habit of telling the unvarnished truth.  I like that.

Today he discussed the utter lawlessness of the Obama regime and the absurdity of preventing a state from enforcing federal law.  He righteously rants:

What would the Founding Fathers recommend if they were alive today and in Arizona? Would they counsel waiting for a year until Judge Bolton’s “temporary” restraining order blocking enforcement of SB 1070 is made permanent in a federal trial—probably presided over by herself? I don’t think so. Arizona must forcefully defy the present lawless federal government. I don’t know exactly what form that defiance should take—ranging from putting SB 1070 into effect and daring the feds to stop it, to riding Susan Bolton out of the state on the back of a pickup truck. But it must consist of something other than going through more “legal” procedures under the auspices of a federal court system which has been revealed as an arm of the Obama takeover of America.

I vote for the pickup truck. This is not the first time such an idea has been put forth. Dr. Walter Williams once advised the state of Colorado to use the state's national guard to oust certain misbehaving federal officials. That may seem extreme, but as Auster asks, "The federal government is waging war on America: do we ignore that fact and continue playing by the rules?"   Read it all here.

Photoshop:  Distribute freely (use as you see fit)

Home Foreclosures: The Viscous Brown Stuff Hits The Fan

Home foreclosures are continuing at a brisk pace, according to an article by McClatchy News.   Many of the first foreclosures that began three years ago, when the housing bubble began to burst, were for subprime mortgages.  Now, however, a fresh batch of foreclosures is occurring because people have lost their jobs and can't pay them.  I am now in that category.  I didn't pay my July mortgage payment and probably will miss August as well.  I haven't been answering the phone, which rings constantly from bill collectors.

Our savings kept us afloat for a year.  When it was gone, I borrowed the equity out of my life insurance.  That's gone too.  We were hoping to ride out this recession, to survive until it was over.  However, it is the longest lasting and deepest recession I have ever seen.  And I remember when Eisenhower was president, to give you some perspective.  (Okay, okay, I actually remember when Truman was president, but I was VERY young.  Practically a fetus, mind you.)

It's just a matter of weeks before I lose my home. I never, ever thought I'd be in such a predicament.  This happened to other people, sure, but not to me.  I am a college graduate and a CPA.  Accountants were supposed to be immune from unemployment.  Not any more.  The fact that I am well past 50 doesn't help.  Seniors and new grads are the hardest hit.

I am not feeling sorry for myself.  I am pissed, but have entered a phase of my life where nothing surprises me anymore.  If one could get jaded to bad news, political malfeasance and power-grabbing, I am about there.  No outrage now seems to surprise me.  The neo-Marxists now running the country are capable of the most outrageous usurpations of the Constitution, which in effect, is no longer the law of the land.  It is merely a quaint old parchment kept under glass in the museum of history, for people to gawk at.  The economy is being destroyed by fools, mostly Democrat fools, but with the assistance of RINO Republicans who haven't the sense or the gonads to resist.

I have come to the conclusion that it is futile to look for a traditional job.  Somehow I have to think differently, act differently.  I have to have a plan, and I don't have one right now.  This weekend I will try to think of workable scenarios:  what to do and where to go, when.

Related video:  Money Makes The World Go Round (from Cabaret)

Worthwhile Stories Today on the Internet

There are a lot of interesting stories on the web today.  Here are some of them.

The Real Story of Shirley Sherrod is Still Untold (American Thinker).   Sherrod apparently was behind a racial-gaming scam to grant black farmers $50,000 each for past "discrimination," including other perks, like loan forgiveness. Sherrod profited from the deal herself, getting $330,000 for "mental suffering." Following the Clinton Administration's settlement with the black farmers who sued, thousands more jumped on the band wagon and demanded the same reward, which was granted, to the tune of $1.25 billion dollars paid out of taxpayer funds. The only problem is that the actual number of black farmers is substantially smaller than the thousands who collected.

Snooki Arrested in New Jersey for Disorderly Conduct (TMZ, via Blazing Cat Fur).  This brings up a very important question: who the hell is Snooki, and why should I care?

Coast Guard Screw Ups Caused the Gulf Oil Spill ( Hot Air via Free Will). Hot Air has the story on the latest wrinkle in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It seems that the Coast Guard's botched response to the initial fire contributed, at least in part, to the sinking of the rig which made a bad situation into the (switching to ominous voice) worst oil spill in American history: Did the government cause the oil spill? Obama Administration apparently trying to hush up the story.

Judge Bolton Defangs the Arizona Immigration Bill (Another Black Conservative). Now the Arizona police cannot check the immigration status of criminals arrested for other crimes. Maybe they should just raise the Mexican flag over the White House and be done with it.

Chelsea Clinton's Wedding (View From the Right). Chelsea's wedding is almost the perfect storm of liberal cliches. Since Chelsea is a Christian and the groom is Jewish, the wedding will be presided over by both a minister and a Rabbi. Food served at the reception will be vegan/vegetarian, which is Chelsea's position on food intake. VFR points out that both the father of the groom and the father of the bride are both criminals and both will be in attendance.  How quaint.

Communist Answer Coalition Spearheads Immigration Protests in Phoenix (American Power). Communists like anything that erodes American sovereignty and adds to general chaos and costs citizens tax money and social peace. It's all part of the Antonio Gramsci theory of Communist revolution, though Donald doesn't say this.

Those are the best stories I have found. What did I miss?

Harry Reid: A T*RD in a PUNCH BOWL? (Lampoon/Cartoon)

I saw this title over at Left Coast Rebel, "A Democratic Turd in a Punch Bowl."  The post was deleted, but the title immediately conjured up an image in my mind:  Harry Reid, sitting in a punch bowl, soaked with punch and holding lemon and orange slices.

So here, for your enjoyment, is "Harry Reid In a Punch Bowl."

Distribute freely.

Global Warming Fries Los Angeles as Thousands Clamor for Al Gore's Wisdom

Whoops, I got that title a bit wrong.  There are record low temperatures in Los Angeles, below 70 degrees in several places.

Read about it here.

Laugh at Islam

An intelligent rant, along the lines of Pat Condell.

In Honor of the Beatles in "Help!"

As Smitty has pointed out, today is the anniversary of the 1965 release of the Beatles' second film, "Help!"

It's hard to believe that 45 years have passed.

The Beatles were, IMHO, simply the best rock group to ever set foot on a stage.  Of course, they were more than rock and roll; a lot of their songs (like this one) were unusual and beautiful, touching the heart like no other popular music could. They were truly original and unique.

Here is a video segment from "Help!" with John Lennon singing "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away."

Embedding has been disabled so I have posted the direct link (above).

A Word About My Graphics Services to Bloggers

I have been mostly unemployed for over a year.  That means two things:  (1) I'm broke, and (2) I have a lot of time on my hands.

You can take advantage to this by getting graphics, Photoshops, cartoons, drawings, blog banners or what have you, fast and cheap.  Let me know what you need or think you need; no charge for consultations.

What if you don't like the product?  I will change it to your liking or you don't pay.

What if I don't like what you order?  I reserve the right to decline any orders; I won't do anti-American images, anti-Tea Party images or anti-Conservative images.

What if you don't pay?  Aha!  You need to pay in advance through my donation section in my left sidebar.  If you aren't happy with the end product, I will refund your donation.

To see what kind of graphics I do, browse my blog for examples.  Here's one I did for American Power blog, Donald Douglas's response to a leftwing pest.

Here's another I did for my own amusement.  See before and after Photoshop.

Graphic Arts & Digital Drawings Services

I have decided to provide graphics art services to bloggers and others who need such services, fast and cheap.

Here are the services I will provide, along with samples.  You decide what you want in the graphic, and I will do my best to get it for you.


1.  Simple graphics for your blog sidebar or as an illustration for a blog post:  $5.  Here are some examples (click on images to see them full size):

2. Logos & Simple Graphics:

3.  Repaired Photos  (This one $10):
































4.  Photoshopped Images -- Here a couple of my best ($20):

5. Simple Drawings ($5 to $10):

6. Cartoons  (This one $75); I created it for Daniel Pipes and Campus Watch.

Now you can get something in return when you donate to Saber Point!  Tell me what you need; let's discuss.

Geller Does It Again: Honor Killing Ads Open on New York Taxis

Pamela Geller has more guts than a platoon of combat Marines.  Her organization, Stop the Islamization of America, began a new ad campaign in New York today.  The Muslims and the liberals have to hate this with a passion.   Naturally, I love it.

Read all about it here.

Learning How To's on My New Computer

About a month ago I got a new Dell Studio laptop computer.  I love it.  It came with Windows 7, which I also love.

I am interested in downloading YouTube and other videos as well as recording streaming audio.  The first thing's not so hard -- just go to keepvid.com, put the URL of the video into the download window, click on the "Download" button and a copy of the video will be deposited onto your hard drive.  Very cool.

The other thing -- recording streaming audio -- wasn't as easy.  You can record from your computer speakers easily enough, but the recording can be distorted by background noise and the quality is mediocre.  You can't, for instance, record in stereo this way.  To get high quality recordings from streaming audio (meaning, audio from videos, from internet radio, from Yahoo Messenger or Skype), you need to record directly from your sound card.  Also, you will need third party software to do it, but I found a great free program on the web, called "Free Sound Recorder 2010."

This was easier to do in Windows XP, but both Vista and Windows 7 made it more difficult.  I could find nothing about it on the web, just a forum where someone asked how to do it, and no one knew the answer.

But I figured it out.  You just need to change a setting in your recording devices.  Now I can record the audio from any video, Rush Limbaugh broadcast, whatever.  These recordings can be in stereo (if the original is in stereo) and there is no loss in quality at all.

When I am figuring something out, I often forget the time.  I didn't get to bed until well after 1 AM.  That's why I haven't posted anything since Saturday.

That Fearful Right-Wing Horde of Anonymous Bloggers

This morning I read a news article about a CNN host, John Roberts, suggesting that there needs to be some kind of government crack-down on bloggers, i.e. right-wing bloggers.  Apparently, this was because after a right-wing blogger posted a video of USDA rep Shirley Sherrod, bragging to an audience of the NAACP that she had withheld help from a white farmer.  Sherrod was forced to resign over the revelation, but within two days the leftists in government decided that her remarks were taken "out of context" and she was reinstated with an apology from Obama.

If Sherrod was innocent of what was shown in the video, it isn't obvious to me.  Nevertheless, Roberts decried "anonymous bloggers who disparage others on the internet."  What he really meant was "those who disparage Democrats on the internet."  Note that hundreds of scurrilous, libelous accusations by leftwing bloggers were thrown at Sarah Palin and her family, but no CNN official ever objected to that.

Yes, I am an anonymous blogger, and for good reason.  I live in the far-left land of California, where being a conservative means that I am either a "racist" or a "fascist" or both.  Try getting work with that libel hanging over your head.  I am anonymous because of leftwing hypocrites like John Roberts, who use the politics of personal destruction and slander against their opponents with impunity, but who howl like little schoolgirls when unflattering truths are disclosed against their fellow leftwingers.

If Sherrod had been a Republican, there would have been no reinstatement and no apology, no rationalizing or parsing what she said or didn't say.   She, her reputation and her career, would be toast, with no appeal available.  The mangled corpse of her reputation would be paraded as a bloody war trophy, providing rich political propaganda to help elect Democrats and prove that Republicans and conservatives are "racist."

No Sheeples Here also does an effective job of taking this CNN asshat to task in her article, "Fear the Blogosphere."

Proof at the Left Coast Rebel also has his say in "On Anonymity and Blogging."

Left Coast Rebel is on the "Daily Caller" Today

My good friend the Left Coast Rebel (aka Tim Daniels) has an article on the Daily Caller today.  Be sure and read it.  It's called:  "Ringing the Bell at the Top:  Paging Chris Christie."

"The Obama Deception": Pure Paranoia, Demagoguery & Hokum (or "Alex Jones Is Still Nuts")

At the urging of one of my cousins, I watched the film by Alex Jones, "The Obama Deception."  It is crazy propaganda, a conspiracy theory on steroids.  I estimate that 40% of the film is paranoia, 40% sheer hokum, 10% sheer lunacy and 10% somewhat truthful.  The truthful parts, however, have their credibility seriously eroded by the other reckless and insubstantial claims.

It is an almost two hour long video screed of how a high cabal of international bankers rule the world behind the scenes, orchestrating every war, every financial collapse, every political upheaval.  This cabal is called such things as "the Wall Street Oligarchs," "the banking cartel," "the globalists" or simply "the elite."

The alleged reach of this cabal is amazing.  For example, they are described as being behind every dictator inspired war since Napoleon; they controlled not only Napoleon, but Hitler, Stalin, FDR, George Bush, and now, Barack Obama.  How and why the cabal did this is never explained.

Barack Obama is described as the most pro-Wall Street president in U.S. history, a mere puppet to the cabal, who slavishly carries out their wishes.

The conspiracists, mysteriously in control of market forces, caused gasoline prices to soar to over $4 a gallon a couple of years back.  They are now orchestrating the recession while they seek the financial collapse of the entire world.  Once it does collapse, they will buy up all of the world's productive assets and reduce all of us to a kind of slavery.

Of course, they ran the "false flag" operation called 9/11 (the "inside job" theory).  They assassinated both Lincoln and Kennedy for resisting the control of international bankers.  Al-Qaeda is described in passing as "an arm of the U.S. intelligence community."  What a bunch of frigging idiots.

This tiresome film does not explain why or how or even what is to be accomplished by this giant conspiracy, or what we should do about it.  It just wants us to be as paranoid as its authors.

This notion of a "high cabal" operating behind the scenes, controlling world events, is nothing new.  Robert Welch of the John Birch Society used to say that the (real) international communist conspiracy was only a front for the real villains, a high cabal known as the Illuminati.  The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" was an anti-semitic fraud that sought to prove that Jews were a high cabal seeking to control everything.  Then there are the Masons, often accused of being a secret society with global-political goals, the Bilderbergs, the Skull and Crossbones Society, the Knights Templar, Alexander's Rag Time Band and Joe's Bar & Grill, among others.  Get a program; you can't tell your global conspiracists without a program.

There are indeed forces that wish to erode the sovereignty of western democracies, to be replaced with international laws and courts; the Kyoto Protocol, for instance, was one; the Law of the Sea is another; and a proposed world court in which American forces could be tried for crimes still another.  Cap and trade and global warming are a subterfuge by which income redistribution is to finally be achieved, making the world socialist and accomplishing the economic goals of Marxism under false pretenses.  But Jones & Co go way too far.

Alex Jones and his cabal of talking heads express many opinions in this film, few of which are supported by any facts or evidence.  In many ways they are more leftwing than rightist:  they despise Wall Street, oppose U.S. participation in any and all wars, despise corporations and are opposed to trade treaties like NAFTA.  They not only dislike their own government, they seem to hate it.

The "Obama Deception" is almost pure demagoguery.  Don't waste your time.

Poll: Obama Does Not Deserve Re-Election; Would Lose to Any Republican

Per KSDK.com:

KSDK -- A new poll by Quinnipiac University shows that more voters would choose an unnamed Republican on the 2012 ballot over President Barack Obama.

The poll showed a 48-43 percent approval rate for Obama. The poll was taken May 26 nationwide.

A good portion of voters also said Obama does not deserve re-election in 2012. The poll revealed a great deal of anti-incumbent sentiment across the country.

Read the details of the results here.

A Scary Unemployment Graph

From the Atlantic:

The median duration of unemployment is higher today than any time in the last 50 years. That's an understatement. It is more than twice as high today than any time in the last 50 years.

Al Gore: Two More Massage Therapists Claim Groping Incidents

The National Enquirer has an article about two more massage therapists who claim sexual assaults from Al Gore.

In an earlier post a few weeks ago, I said Gore deserves the benefit of a doubt, until and unless corroborating evidence was forthcoming.  It may have just arrived.

Read the article here.

July 20, 1969: America Lands on the Moon

Forty-one years ago today I was sitting on the floor of my parents' living room in San Jose, California, watching the first moon landing.  This would be the first time in human history that a human being would set foot on another heavenly body.  We were aghast at the gravity of this undertaking...and that we were alive and present to witness it, an event comparable to Columbus's discovery of America, the Wright Brothers first flight, and many other historical events.

It was scary, watching the Apollo 11 lunar lander make its descent to the surface of the moon.  The landing was televised live and we were glued to the television set.  I could see dust kicking up from the lander's exhaust, my heart beating in my throat.  Then the dust stopped and I heard Neil Armstrong say, "Houston, Tranquility Base here.  The Eagle has landed."  I slapped my hand hard against the hardwood floor and yelled, "THEY'RE ON THE MOON!"

We watched Neil Armstrong climb down the ladder on the side of the lunar lander, where he tested the surface with his toe, then made full contact with the surface.  "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," he said.  Soon Edwin Aldrin joined him, and we watched them frolic on the lunar surface, bouncing around in the lower gravity, planting the flag and setting up equipment.

When the television coverage was over, I went outside of the house and looked up into the sky.  It was still daylight, but I could see the moon.  It looked like a white potato chip against the blue sky.  The moon looked like it always did, but it was different somehow.

"They're up there," I said to myself.  The inviolability of the moon was a thing of the past. It now belonged to Man.

Note:  I once saw a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institute.  It included some moon rocks from one of the NASA missions.  They were a light yellow/white in color, somewhat translucent, like quartz.

"Star Wars" is Finally Here: US Navy Shoots Down Drones With a Laser Beam

Remember back when Ronald Reagan proposed "Star Wars," a highly technological shield against attack?  Liberals screamed in outrage and the USSR went bankrupt trying to keep up.

Well now it appears that, thirty years later, we are finally on the verge of getting Star Wars.

See Bee Ess has the story here.

Jim Morrison: Dionysian Shaman or Acid-Addled Freak?

Photo:  Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson.

I watched Oliver Stone's 1991 movie on the life of Jim Morrison, on Hulu.com last night.  It stars Val Kilmer as the strange rock star of the Doors, an acid rock band that performed and recorded from 1967 to 1971.  The Doors are famous for such rock hits as "Light My Fire," "LA Woman," "Riders on the Storm," and "No One Here Gets Out Alive."

Kilmer actually sang the Morrison songs in the 1991 film, and he was simply awful.  He portrays Morrison as he most likely was in life: a narcissistic, self-absorbed addict who made a concerted effort to erase all viable brain cells with a steady regimen of hard liquor and drugs.  In the process, Kilmer's Morrison goes on stage wasted, insulting the audience, improvising incoherent lyrics to songs, and greatly aggravating both club owners and fellow band members.   Off stage, Kilmer's Morrison is depicted as screwing every female within a three mile radius.  Naked women are seen running through the halls of his hotel while his common law wife, Pamela Courson, suffers the infidelity.  When he isn't copulating, Morrison is depicted smashing things and screaming at Courson.

The film portrays some real events in the life and dubious career of Jim Morrison:  his confrontation with the police in a New Haven, Connecticut concert, where he was arrested on stage, leading to a fan riot in the streets; his alleged indecent exposure on a Miami stage.  Per Wikipedia:

During a Doors concert on March 1, 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, Florida, Morrison gave a controversial performance. The restless crowd was subjected to Morrison's lack of interest in singing, as well as to his emotional outbursts, screaming challenges to the audience, and making irreverent social statements. A few days later, on March 5, the Dade County Sherrif's office issued a warrant for Morrison's arrest claiming Morrison deliberately exposed his penis while on stage, shouted obscenities to the crowd, simulated oral sex on guitarist Robbie Krieger and was drunk at the time of his performance. Morrison turned down a plea bargain that required The Doors to perform a free Miami concert. He was later convicted, sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay a $500 fine. However, Morrison appealed this conviction and died in Paris before serving his sentence.

In fairness, the bit about exposing himself was later proved untrue; only one witness claimed to have witnessed Morrison's penis, and she was a cousin of the arresting officer.  However, Morrison was guilty of all the other charges, e.g., public drunkenness, public obscenities, etc.  Some sources say he tried to induce the Miami audience to riot, but failed in the attempt.

At the end of his career, Jim Morrison was showing signs of substance-abuse dementia at the band's last and final concert:

During the Doors' last public performance, at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 12, 1970, Morrison apparently had a breakdown on stage. Midway through the set he slammed the microphone numerous times into the stage floor until the platform beneath was destroyed, then sat down and refused to perform for the remainder of the show.

Morrison moved with his common law wife, Pamela Courson, to Paris in March 1971.  He spent several weeks taking walks through the city and visiting all of the usual tourist attractions.  However, on July 3, 1971, after spitting up blood and complaining of chest pains, decided to take a bath.  Courson found him dead in the bath tub at 5 AM.  Morrison had apparently died of a heart attack induced by a drug overdose.  No autopsy was made, however, to confirm the cause of death.  He was 27 years old.

Morrison was buried in the famous Parisian cemetery Pere Lachaise on July 7, 1971.  This cemetery holds the remains of many famous people, such as Frédéric Chopin, Eugène Delacroix, Marcel Proust, Gertrude Stein, and Oscar Wilde.  One of my favorite French singers, Yves Montand, is buried there as well.

Morrison's grave was soon a gathering place for fans who share Morrison's fascination with death; they scaled the walls at night to place lighted candles on his headstone, while smoking pot or drinking booze, leaving used needles, flowers, empty bottles and other paraphernalia behind. Morrison's bust (a statue of Morrison's head and shoulders) on the grave, as well as surrounding walls and tombs, were soon festooned with graffiti. In later years, someone stole the bust and cemetery officials removed the graffiti. Night patrols now discourage nocturnal visits from drug-addled fans. But they still come in the daylight.

Morrison's wife, Pamela Courson, went home to California and died of a heroin overdose in 1974.  Her ashes are entombed there.

The Jim Morrison story is interesting to me. He, like Obama and many other "celebrities," has become a fantasy for fans, who impute great poetic, intellectual or shaman-like qualities to their idol. Morrison, however, was a weak man of limited talents who self-destructed in an orgy of nihilistic self-indulgence.

Here's a video of Morrison performing his most famous hit, "Light My Fire":

Global Warming Kills 9 in Argentina

No, wait a minute, the 9 victims froze to death!

Didn't I recently read in the news that 2010 is the "hottest year on record"?  Yes, I believe I did.

Liberals continue to lie about climate change.

Some Design Changes for Saber Point

I feel so smart.  I was able to figure out how to change some design aspects of my blog by changing the html code.

I have long admired the background color of the sidebar titles, like those at American Power and No Sheeples Here.  I figured out how to add that aspect to my blog as well.

I also shortened the width of the sidebar and increased the width of the main posting page.  Then I added a background color to my sidebar text columns, to better differentiate the sidebar from the main page.

Blogspot's new "Template Designer" may be worthless, but it did force me to learn some html in order to tweak my blog, and that's a good thing.

Alliances Against Islam and Why You Should Support Them

As Lawrence Auster of View From the Right points out, Gert Wilders is one politician who understands that the enemy of western democracies is not radical Islam, or Islamism, but Islam itself.  Islam is radical.  It is also, by design, violent, totalitarian and barbaric.  It is absurd that so many western countries have allowed in massive immigration of Muslims.  Such a move is transparently suicidal.  This immigration must be stopped and reversed.

Wilders recently launched a new western alliance against Islam.  He said:

I want to announce today that we will start an international movement, the International Freedom Alliance. "Geert Wilders International Freedom Alliance," it has even been called, is an international organization which focuses--allow me to say it first in English--on two points: Defend Freedom and Stop Islam. The defense of our freedom and stopping Islam in the Western world. This will be an international organization. We will focus first on five countries: Canada, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

Auster has the complete transcript. Read it here.

Another anti-Islam alliance is the English Defence League of Great Britain. Here's a declaration from their web page:

We, the English Defence League Jewish Division, support the British Armed Forces, the IDF and the British people.

We are English, we love England, and we are committed to combat racism, fascism, anti-semitism, the biased media, and uninformed politicians.

We are here to fight for all people - Jews in England in particular - against attacks by pro-Islamic, anti-Jewish, anti-Israel media propaganda and lies, relating to Jews, Jewish culture and beliefs, and against blood-libels propagated by the left, Nazis and Muslims.

We are committed to waking up the sleeping Jewish press, e.g: The Jewish Chronicle, to the threat of Muslim attacks on Judaism, Zionism and to Muslim attempts to delegitimise Jews, the Jewish state of Israel and to force, by stealth and overt means, sharia law on England.

Our EDL units have gays, transgender, Black, Sikhs, Hindus, Jews and ex-Muslims (apostates) members. We are professionals of ALL classes!

We are the only organisation in the UK that demonstrates against Muslim violence and discrimination against women, such as forced marriages, underage marriage, female genital mutilation and honour killings. Not one so-called feminist has spoken out against these terrible things, preferring to collude with male Muslims and respect these appalling acts as “culture”!

Our Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/EnglishDefenceLeagueJewishDivision?ref=ts -by invitation only.

We are also connected to the wonderful English Defence Youth, who have their own website which, we contribute to.

Our fight is worldwide: against Muslim hegemony, polygamy, misogyny, sharia law, the building of any more mosques in the UK, racist attacks on non-Muslims (or kuffar as they call us!), homophobic attacks, Islamic no-go areas for British people, Muslim-only services paid for by the tax-payer, laws just for Muslims.

We repudiate preferential treatment for Islamic hate-speakers, terrorists and groups/organizations like IFE, Muslims against Crusaders, who, apart from being sponsored by terrorist organizations, proselytise against our armed forces and against the freedoms that the generations of English people have fought for!

This struggle is everyone's struggle, and remaining silent is no longer an option.

No Surrender!

English Defence League Jewish Division

Morrigan Emmaleth

Naturally, the mainstream press in the U.K. has labeled the EDL as "far right" and "with links to fascist groups."

Neither Geert Wilders nor the EDL is remotely "fascist;"  they are like the Free French during the Nazi occupation; instead of cooperating, as did the Vichy French government, they are finding ways to resist a new totalitarian movement that is bent on the destruction of western democracy.  I openly and fervently support both of these groups.

Related Post:  Blazing Cat Fur posts video of EDL speech yesterday regarding Sharia Law.  See it here.

Pat Condell gives some perspective on "the Enemy Within" (hat tip Gates of Vienna):

My New Blog for Bass Players/Bass Students

I started a new blog called "Musings on a String Bass."  In it I hope to provide a learning path for others who want to play the bass.  There is a lot of information on the web, but it is scattered and disjointed and very hard to follow.  So I am going to try to take info from the web and from my own knowledge and put the info into a comprehensible and systematic series of bass topics designed to help new bassists learn to play.

This is not only to help others learn; it will help me too.

Here's the link.

Blogspot's New "Template Designer" Sucks

Until recently, it was easy in blogger to change fonts, font sizes, text and back ground colors, etc.  It isn't anymore.  Now there is a tab called "designer" that allows you to choose among a small number of cheesy blog templates.  So your ability to change your "design" is highly limited, compared to what it was before.

Now if you want to change some feature, you have to go into the html panel and change the code yourself.  Since most of us aren't html programmers, that is easier said than done.  However, there are forums that help you do it.

Today I was able to add a background color to my sidebar titles and change the title color to white, thanks to these forums.  Use Google to find what you need.

Stanley Crouch: a Righteous Black Man With a Message

Reader pjm directed me to this article by a black man, discussing black on black crime.  It is well worth reading: A Rage in Oakland.

Fatwas, Racism and the Coming Demise of Democrats: An Analysis

There has been a lot of bad news this week.   I feel like we are on the Titanic, the lifeboats are all gone and our choices consist of drowning or freezing to death.  Nevertheless, here's my take on it all.

1.  Fatwas:  Some Imam with an unpronounceable name (Anwar al-Awlaki) issued a fatwa, called for the assassination of an American citizen, for starting the "Draw Mohammed Day."  All those who participated are equally condemned to death, and all who support US laws and freedoms, which includes me and most of you.  In response, I hereby declare an infidel fatwa on al-Awlaki, who should suffer the same fate that he wishes on us.

Meanwhile, once again ad infinitum, this proves that Islam is incompatible with western democracy and should be outlawed throughout the USA, Canada and Europe.  All mosques should be torn down, all Korans confiscated and burned, and all Muslims deported.  That's my stand, and I'm sticking to it.  Of course, I may be irrationally intolerant of a "religion" that preaches and practices mass murder.  I'm so ashamed!

2.  Racism:  The NAACP adopted a resolution that the Tea Parties are racist or at least, have significant "racist" influences.  Their silly declaration is a transparent partisan gimmick, likely to fool no one.  At one time, charges of "racism" were deadly from a social perspective; the charge was like the Christian cross to a vampire.  If anyone in the media (or its extensions, like the NAACP) called you a racist, your career was over.  You became a pariah, shunned like Hester Prynne with the Scarlet Letter, only this one was an R instead of an A.

Once forced to wear the Scarlet R, the targeted group or individual was effectively neutralized as a political force.  Now he or she was condemned to spend the rest of his life apologizing, explaining, bowing and scraping, and vociferously denouncing the evil attributed to him.  This was the result the NAACP was hoping for:  to implicate the Tea Parties as "racist," to damage their credibility and reputation, to plant the seeds of doubt in the electorate.  This time, however, it isn't going to work.

We are now in the 21st century.  Out of sheer auditory exhaustion, most people now realize that the overused charge of racism is usually empty and dishonest; it goes in one ear and out the other.  The caustic weapon has run out of ammunition and is now shooting blanks.  I'm a racist, you're a racist, we're all racists, racists, racists.  When everyone is a racist, no one is a racist.  Screw you, NAACP.  (See Bob Belvedere's withering description of this racial relic, "Descent Into Absurdity.")

3.  Demise of the Democrats.   The economy continues to tank, oil continues to befoul the beaches of the Gulf states, and the sheer vacuity of our president becomes increasingly obvious.  Some say this hurts Democrat chances in the coming elections of November.  Like Mencken, however, I will never lose faith in the intelligence of the American people.  If there's a way for Americans to shoot themselves in their collective foot, they will find a way.  That's American know-how, baby.  USA!  USA!  USA!

However, there may be a window of opportunity here.  One can only hope.  We may be able to vote in enough Republicans to reverse the Obamunism of America, at least for a time.  However, let us not fool ourselves.  Any change in the control of the House and Senate will be temporary.  Once the recession eases and jobs begin to appear, all memory of Democrat malfeasance will evaporate.  Political stupidity will return to the American landscape and the people will vote, once again, to give the Dems another chance.  And the nasty cycle will begin again.

Moon Dance

Today I decided to figure out how to make YouTube videos.  It ain't so hard.  Here's one of my band playing for a Palo Alto street party on June 10, 2010.  If you listen with earphones or through quality speakers you can hear the bass, but it won't come through on small computer speakers.  The bass has a very low frequency and needs big speakers or earphones to be heard.

Our band did well at this party. Not bad for playing on the street with no acoustics.

Kenny really rocks on the flute in this song.  Our singer Deena is quite soulful and good in this song.  I'm the glum looking character on your left playing a red bass.  I had bursitis that day and didn't feel very cheerful.

Folks Get Along in Nevada

My older brother, Bro, loves animals (as do I).  So he feeds all of the wild creatures along with the domestic ones.  The pic below was taken in Nevada where he lives.

Jimmy Buffett: a Line from "Margaritaville" Was Truly Prophetic; This Could Be Obama's Theme Song!

Jimmy Buffett sang only one song that I like, and that was "Margaritaville."  Yes, it is a song about a lush somewhere on the Gulf Coast, looking for his "long lost shaker of salt" who awakens one day to find he has a tattoo ("how it got there I haven't a clue.")

I know this song; it's easy to play and has fun lyrics.  But then it dawned on me:  this song could be Barack Obama's theme song!  The singer describes himself as someone wandering about in a stupor, making missteps ("I blew out my flip flop...stepped on a pop top"), not having a clue and denying that anything is his own fault, while "watchin the tourists all covered with oil."  And boy, are they.  The latter verse goes:

Nibblin on sponge cake
Watchin the sun bake
All of those tourists covered with oil

Yep, thanks to Obama's incompetence or malfeasance, there are now plenty of tourists all covered with oil.  And we're not talking about sunscreen.

Jimmy Buffett, the author and singer of this tune is a big Obama fan.  He recently claimed that the Gulf oil spill is "Bush's fault," because somehow Bush was "chummy" with the oil industry...or that he used oil in his pickup...or something.  Fox News has the story.

Readers at Fox News have been castigating Buffett for the ignorance of his remarks.  Here are a couple of examples:

chrisxx

Jimmy would do well to do a tad more research on more reputable news sources than his apparent "guiding lights" on the far left. Denzel Obama had the Supreme Court overturn a Bush Administration decision banning deep water drilling without a disaster plan AGAINST the advice of President Bush. BP also contributed $1 million dollars to Denzel's campaign and they are the number one fuel source for the US military. Perhaps that could be a factor in why he sat on it for nine days before uttering a frigging word and also why it's STILL leaking! Snap out of it Jimmy...or should we call you Lemming Buffett?

raleigh222 

Hey Jimmy, It was OBAMA that gave deepwater and BP the waiver, not Bush. Stick to margaritas and music, Thanks for trying to help.

Obama should be singing along with Buffett:  "Some people say there's a woman Bush to blame...but I know...it's my own damn fault."  Here are the words to "Margaritaville."  Let's all sing along!  Or not.

Margaritaville
By Jimmy Buffett, 1977

Nibblin on sponge cake
Watchin the sun bake
All of those tourists covered with oil

Strummin my six-string
On my front porch swing
Smell those shrimp they're beginnin to boil

Chorus:
Wastin away again in margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
But I know it's nobodys fault

I don't know the reason
I stayed here all season
Nothin to show but this brand new tattoo

But it's a real beauty
A Mexican cutie
How it got here I haven't a clue

Chorus:
Wastin away again in margaritaville
Searchin for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
Now I think
Hell, it could be my fault

I blew out my flip-flop
Stepped on a pop-top
Cut my heel had to cruise on back home

But there's booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on

Chorus:
Wastin away again in margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
But I know it's my own damn fault

Yes and some people claim that there's a woman to blame
And I know it's my own damn fault

This last line could really apply to Obama.  After all his denials about the oil spill, he finally has to admit that it really is "his own damn fault."

Racial Politics and Justice

The Obama Justice Department is apparently dissatisfied with the Johannes Mehserle verdict and is now considering bringing charges against former BART cop and prosecuting him again for the same crime.  No matter what your rationale, the Feds being able to try someone twice for the same crime is "double jeopardy" and unconstitutional.  However, the Feds like being able to use crime and racial politics to further political goals, i.e. to pander to a certain voting bloc.

George H.W. Bush did it against the cops who arrested Rodney King, after a California jury found them largely innocent of wrong-doing.  The cops were tried a second time in a federal court, found guilty and sentenced to prison terms.  There is no doubt in my mind that this was done to placate the majority of American blacks (blacks are far more racially conscious than are whites).

Justice had little to do with it.  Had the races been reversed, there would have been no federal retrial.  Think of O.J. Simpson, an obvious double-murderer with mountains of seemingly irrefutable evidence of his guilt.  A mostly black jury let him off.  It was clearly a case of jury nullification, i.e., delivering a verdict that was contrary to the evidence.  This was done because the black jurors did not see the case as the people vs. an accused murderer; they saw it as a case of white people vs. a black man.  To the jurors, skin color pre-empted any consideration of justice or evidence.   No Justice Department ever considered retrying O.J.  He was the wrong color, as were his victims.

Under Obama, this disparity in justice on the basis of race will only get worse.  Per the Hillbuzz blog:

Testimony from Justice Department officials has revealed a policy under Holder not to prosecute blacks accused of crimes against whites. Black people are not to be prosecuted, and, under Holder, are to be treated by a different set of laws than whites.

Now Eric Holder is thinking of retrying Mehserle, himself a white victim of circumstance in an accident that killed a black man.  Perhaps Mehserle will be the next sacrificial lamb on the altar of racial preferences.  You see, to liberals, black people are really a nation of Dali Lamas living in our midst, a sacred tribe whose every prejudice and paranoia must be gently handled with great deference and sensitivity.  It is more than a crime to ever offend a black person for any reason at any time:  it is a terrible sin.  If it ever happens, heaven and earth must be moved, if needed, to remove the offense and right the wrong.  If that means retrying a man already convicted, in order to get a more stringent verdict, so be it.

And that, my friends, is why we have a different standard for black people than we do for white people.  And if you think this unfair, you're a raaaaacist.

Oakland BART Cop Mehserle Convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

LOS ANGELES -- A jury found former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle guilty Thursday of involuntary manslaughter, concluding that he did not intend to kill train rider Oscar Grant when he shot him in the back on New Year's Day 2009 but acted so recklessly that he showed a disregard for Grant's life.

This was a strange story.  On January 1, 2009, BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle attempted to stop a fight between two BART passengers.  Mehserle testified that he attempted to tase one of the passengers, Oscar Grant, of Oakland.  Instead of grabbing his taser he grabbed his gun instead and shot Grant in the back, killing him.  Mehserle held that the shooting was an accident, made in the haste of the moment.

Officer Mehserle is white and Oscar Grant was black.  Grant's family and much of the black community in Oakland were hoping for a 2nd degree murder conviction and were disappointed when they didn't get it.  Oakland Police were put on standby in the event of riots over the verdict.  So far, protests are said to be "mostly peaceful."

No doubt the Left will call Grant's accidental death a case of racism, and black people will continue to believe that their group is unfairly targeted by the police.  However, few people want to discuss the unpleasant statistical reality that most of the violent crime in the United States is committed by blacks.  Most of the cops killed in the line of duty are slain by black assailants.

In the past two years, four white Oakland Police officers were murdered by a black criminal; more recently, another four white Police Officers were murdered in Washington state by another black criminal.  Police are more wary of blacks due to this knowledge:  in a confrontation, if the suspect is black, he is statistically more likely to kill you.  I wish it were otherwise, but wishing won't change things.

I wondered what the statistics would tell us about cops killed in the line of duty.  What percentage of those deaths were from a black perpetrator?

I looked it up at the FBI website.  In 2008, 40 police officers died in the line of duty.  30 of these officers were white, or 75%.  21 of the 40 assailants were black, or 53%.  The latter percentage should be compared to the fact that only 12% of the population is black.  These recent statistics confirm my argument in the second prior paragraph.  If you are a white police officer, the criminal who kills you is likely to be black.  

Could that unpleasant reality have been a factor in the Oscar Grant tragedy?  Did Mehserle, in fear of his own life, make the tragic mistake in a panic?  How many cops have died when a black suspect made a similar decision in a moment of panic?  I suspect that the latter case has happened a lot more than the former.

In any case, I agree with the verdict, which seems fair in the circumstances.  I can only hope that the sentence will also be fair, and not some draconian abortion of justice merely to placate the violent black underclass of Oakland, California.  Mehserle should be given the same sentence he would get had Oscar Grant been white. I doubt, however, that will be the case.

Update:  It didn't take long for the "mostly peaceful" demonstrations to turn violent.  American Power has the story here.

In Spite of Whitewash, Anthropogenic Global Warming is Still a Fraud

Several months ago, a computer hacker released emails from a British research facility that indicated the Global Warming alarmists were cooking the books and manipulating the data.  Now a panel of British reviewers have investigated and declared the scandal moot:  the British AGW alarmist-scientists were not cooking the books, regardless of what their emails said.

To refresh your memory, those emails spoke of discrediting AGW skeptic articles in peer-reviewed journals, of "hiding the decline" in temperatures, of refusing requests for data under the Freedom of Information Act, of deleting emails that did not advance the AGW cause.  But, according to AGW apologist Gene Lyons, the scientists were just being "bitchy," not fraudulent.  You could have fooled me.

Gerald Warner of the U.K. Telegraph has called the British inquiry a "whitewash."  I agree.  It is a case of leftwing scare-mongers taking care of their own.  The alarmist case for global warming has not been demonstrated, either in the lab or in the environment.  Where is the proof?  Why aren't people melting?  Why is the temperature here in the west coast only in the 60's, in July??  Why is it only 53 degrees F where I live, in Hollister, California?  Why are polar bears thriving instead of dying off?  

I believe that AGW is a hoax because the political left has too often demonstrated its utter ruthlessness in pushing any scheme to gain greater power over citizens.  If AGW were real, they could begin regulating every aspect of our personal lives and achieve their major dreams:  massive wealth redistribution on a global scale, a one-world government, and massive control of industry.  The myth of AGW is the left's key to replacing our republic with a new fascism.    We must resist at all costs.

NASA's New Outrageous Outreach: Muslims R Us

Words cannot describe how much I despise the Obama Administration.  I not only want to kick the bum out, I want to beat him up first, kick him in the ass with a combat boot, push him down a flight of stairs, stick his finger in a light socket, hit him in the face with a custard pie, give him a wet willie and a wedgie, and finally, tar and feather him and run him out of town on a rail.  Then I want to fumigate the White House before an actual American president moves in.

Why am I so irritated?  It's because this braying jackass has filed suit against the State of Arizona for attempting to police their own borders.   Imagine, suing to prevent a state from enforcing the law.  We need a good old fashioned civil war.  Where did I leave my Confederate musket?

A smaller irritation is his attempt to use NASA to "build Muslim self-esteem."  The best way for Muslims to improve their self-esteem is to convert to another religion.  In any case, I have a new logo in mind for Obama's NASA.  It's on the right.

Service to Vets: The Stogie Five Entertains at VA Facility in Menlo Park

How very nice for me, to be able to provide service to wounded and other veterans at the Veterans Administration facility in Menlo Park today.  Our band played for two hours for a July 4th celebration attended by veterans from all wars, from the Korean War on.

We played outside in a square where tables and awnings had been set up, decorated with red, white and blue bunting.  Most of the vets, their families and volunteers were dressed in patriotic garb.  Picnic style food and soft drinks were served.

Several veterans approached us in the bandstand and said, "Thank you for doing this!"  We replied, "No, THANK YOU, thank you for your service."

As I was playing bass, a line of red, white and blue bunting came undone and draped me in red and white stripes and white stars on a blue field.  I kept playing anyway.  When a volunteer came over to retie the bunting, I told him, "I like to wrap myself in the flag!"

Here is the set list of songs that we played:

1. Peter Gunn Excerpt
2. Fever
3. Secret Agent Man
4. Moondance
5. Girl From Ipanema
6. Rio de Janeiro Blue
7. Why Don’t You Do Right
8. Rickie Don’t Lose That Number
9. Besame Mucho
10. It’s Too Late
11. My World Is Empty Without You
12. Whatever Lola Wants
13. Damn Your Eyes
14. Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
15. That’s Why I’m Crying
16. Groovin’
17. Unchain My Heart
18. Crazy
19. Summer Time
20. Ain’t No Sunshine (When She’s Gone)
21. Stand By Me

Now I'm back home in Hollister, sitting in the back yard and enjoying the fireworks bursting in the night sky.  My dog Bogie felt that the explosions were a bit nerve wracking, so he retired to the house to hide under a bed.

Photos:  
Top, the band on the band stand.  I'm in the back with the hat.
2nd from Top:  Our sultry singer.
Bottom:  Stogie wraps himself in the flag.

July 4th, 2010!

Happy July 4th everyone.  I am off to Menlo Park to play for the V.A. facility there.

Stogie Art: Piss Andres (Andres Serrano)

Andres Serrano is the "artist" who created the "Piss Christ" art, depicting a crucifix immersed in a jar of urine.  Donald Douglas has a post about this nasty little man at American Power today.  Check it out.

I decided to make my own art.  It's called "Piss Andres."  See below.

Melanie Morgan's Troop-A-Thon Raises Thousands for Soldier Care Packages

I am watching, live, the Troop-A-Thon live at this link. Andrew Breitbart is there with the lovely Melanie Morgan. They interviewed Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin.

After the first hour of the Telethon, over $300,000 was raised for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I captured some pictures from the live broadcast, and they are included in this post.

The lovely Melanie Morgan is the Excecutive Producer of the Telethon.

Sarah Palin speaks live

Screen shows total contributions after only one hour.

Andrew Breitbart reads a snarky comment from a leftwing blog: "At last Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh are together with Richard Nixon's corpse." (The broadcast was televised from the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California.)

The broadcast panel interviews Sarah Palin live.